Second Hand Clothing and The Environment

Second Hand Clothing (Vintage/Retro)

What is Second Hand Clothing?
Why Should You Be Interested in Second Hand Clothing?
The Stats Behind Second Hand Clothing for the Environment.
How to Purchase Second Hand Clothing.

What is Second Hand Clothing?

Second hand clothing is clothing that has been used by a person or people, previous to the current purchase or attainment of the said item of clothing.

Why should you be interested in Second Hand, Vintage or Retro Clothing?

This particular style of clothing is a great way to be unique and stand out, while getting a bargain at the same time. Often in vintage and retro clothing stores, you will find items that are extremely hard to come by and ones which are not obtainable in a regular store. The items are often branded with some unbranded. The items are also usually on sale at a much reduced price to that of the RRP in high street stores. This allows for the consumer to pick up a unique piece of clothing to help them stand out and also a piece of clothing at a bargain price.

Despite all of these benefits, the main benefit for us as a collective is that the second hand clothing market is extremely environmentally friendly. The second hand market is essentially recycling clothing and this helps drastically reduce our carbon footprint and is something we all need to look into doing.

The Stats behind Second Hand Clothing for the Environment

If one million people bought their next item of clothing second hand instead of brand new, we would save 6 million kg of carbon pollution from entering the atmosphere.

That is an alarming statistic, and one which we should all be aware of.

A study done by Systain and the Otto Group studied the process behind creating a white shirt to when it is purchased in a store. Their findings are truly alarming.

According to the study, the carbon footprint of a white shirt is the same as a 40km drive by a car. The item travels from the cotton fields in the USA to the factory in Bangladesh and then to Germany, where it finally reaches the consumer. This distance comes to a huge 35,000 km, which the study states is the equivalent to one trip around the world.

The study further explains that a large amount of greenhouse gases are released through the production phase due to the fact that in Bangladesh they need to generate their own power to create the shirts.

This is just an example of how one shirt is made. When you consider the amount of items that are created in similar ways daily, it is a truly frightening thought.

This is why we should purchase more second hand, vintage and retro clothing, as it helps to eliminate the carbon footprint we all help create through the purchasing of new products.

How to Purchase Second Hand Clothing

There are many places that you can purchase second hand clothing. Our website is an example of a fine selection of second hand vintage and retro branded items at bargain prices. There are many other businesses just like ours in every town and city worldwide.

We should all consider changing towards second hand clothing. We desperately need to act on different elements of our lives or else we will be left to deal with the consequences of global warming.