A Truly Green (and Frugal) Fashion Choice: Thrift Stores

by Karla Zens

It feels like a new socially responsible fashion line emerges every week: handbags made from organic hemp, sunglasses fabricated from 100% renewable materials, jewelry crafted from recycled gold and responsibly mined gems. Green fashion is almost mainstream: you can purchase your organic cotton t-shirt from Barney’s…or from Old Navy. Don’t get me wrong, these are all wonderful developments, but they continue to feed our insatiable appetite for consuming “new stuff.”

It’s time to start thinking about a fashion choice that doesn’t come with a “feel good” eco sound bite: your local thrift store, vintage shop, or a clothing swap between friends. With the economic downturn, shoppers have started to wean themselves off Macy’s and learned to love pre-owned designer merchandise. (Oh, and if you’re turned off by thrift store cooties, I’ll help you get past that a bit later.)

For the eco-minded out there (those of you who shop locally, bring your own bags to the grocery store, monitor the parabens and bisphenal A in your life), it’s time to take note: besides being a way to snag high-quality, fashionable threads for a bargain, second hand shopping is one of the most socially responsible shopping choices you can make.

Just consider today’s most rampant “disposable fashion” item: a cotton shirt, available for less than $20. This fictional shirt started out as cotton in a pesticide-laden field in the US. It was shipped to China, where it was milled, woven, and then dyed using harsh chemicals that leaked into the local water system. It was cut and sewn by children working in appalling conditions, before being shipped back to the US and sold. It’s a process that keeps the price low at the expense of quality, the environment, energy resources and labor practices.

And even your sweat shop-free, organic, vegetable dyed, carbon offset garment has consumed energy. Some virgin materials were likely used. The item was produced, packaged, and shipped, perhaps several thousand miles. It was likely marketed in some way, maybe on the pages of a magazine that was printed on virgin paper.

Comparatively, no energy is spent to create a second-hand item. If you purchase a shirt from a thrift store, you’re basically saving it from landfill (according to the EPA Office of Solid Waste, Americans throw away more than 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per person per year). Another benefit: second hand products have also likely finished “off-gassing” their most noxious chemicals. Many new items such as clothing, carpet and furniture release potentially harmful gases (including VOCs: Volatile Organic Compounds). Off gassing usually decreases as products age, are washed, etc., making second-hand items a safer option for your home.

If you think thrift stores are home to nothing but pilled sweaters and 1980′s prom dresses, think again. You may have to weed through a lot of fashion crimes, but you will find amazing designer clothing that looks like it’s never been worn (and quite often, it hasn’t). I have found a drawer-full of pristine cashmere sweaters, designer handbags (including a gorgeous white Ferragamo purse), Ellen Tracy blouses and a Benetton suit with the tags still on…along with a closet-full of other fashion scores. Oh, and I rarely pay more than $8 for any item! And if you’re tired of “throwaway fashion:” items that wrinkle, bunch, tear along the seams and shed buttons, go to your thrift store, where you can suddenly afford cashmere, wool, silk and designer labels.

Thrift stores are also a fantastic way to support your local community in these tough times. Your money is almost always going towards a charitable cause, and the stores themselves often serve as job training programs.

Not into wading through heaps of junk? Head to a chic vintage shop, an upscale consignment store, or a resale chain such as Buffalo Exchange or Crossroads Trading Co. You’ll pay a slight premium for the benefit of an organized and well-edited shopping experience, while still reaping the benefits of thrift store shopping.

Finally, if you’re squeamish about thrift stores and the “pre-owned” factor: have you have ever stayed in a hotel? Are you sure they washed the comforter or wiped down the remote? If you eat food from restaurants, do really know what’s lurking under the salami in your sub sandwich? And if you’ve tried on pants in a store, chances are they’ve made contact with someone else’s crotch, and you’ve been exposed to just as many cooties as you’ll find at the average thrift store. Carefully inspected and then laundered, second hand fashion is cleaner than the escalator handrail at the mall.

So give recycled fashion a try: it’s cheap, chic and truly green.