Second Hand September

some thoughts on thrifting and ethical shopping

Second Hand September is a call to “shop second hand to take a stance against fast fashion and dress for a fairer world.” Organised by the charity Oxfam, which operates one of the largest chains of second hand shops in the UK, the campaign celebrates the benefits of buying second hand clothes, books, media, household items and anything else that you can find in a charity shop or thrift store. I've shopped second hand for many years now, though there are certain things I don't buy second hand, such as underwear or bedding. Second hand shoes will have been worn into the shape of someone else's feet, so I tend to avoid buying them, though I’ve sometimes found 'almost new' shoes in second hand shops. I buy a lot of second hand books, but I also buy new copies of books by small independent publishers. The recent second hand purchase that I’m most pleased with is this pair of curtains:

The Problems with Fast Fashion

A lot of the comments below, probably also apply to soft furnishings.

We're constantly bombarded with advertising, persuading us that we need to buy the latest new fashion. Across the world, millions of items of clothing are only worn an average of fourteen times and then thrown away. In these days of fast fashion, many items of clothing are so poorly made, that they can't be worn more than a few times without deteriorating. Sometimes, clothing is thrown away before it's even worn, as outdated clothing lines are often destroyed instead of being sold. Where does all this waste clothing go? Well, shockingly, 39,000 tonnes of clothing and shoes end up dumped in Chile's Atacama Desert.

Even leaving aside the dumped clothing, fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. The production and transportation of clothes causes a huge amount of pollution from pesticides that are used to grow non-organic cotton, through water pollution from dyes and other textile treatments to the carbon footprint of moving clothes from their country of production to where they're going to be sold and hopefully worn.

Fashion is also a very thirsty business, every year, clothing production uses 93 billion cubic meters of water - enough to meet the consumption needs of five million people.

Around 70% of clothing contains fabrics derived from fossil fuels, fabrics such as polyester. I try to always buy clothes made from natural fibres - cotton, linen or viscose (which is plant based) – largely as I find natural fibres to be much more comfortable. However, checking the label, a very large proportion of cotton items contain polyester or similar. The microplastics from polyester and other fossil fuel derived fabrics get through filtration systems and end up in our rivers and oceans, polluting the environment. Here are Seven Easy Ways to Reduce Microfibre Pollution.

Fast fashion is also bad for the people who work to make the clothes, they work for low pay in poor conditions, though some aspects are getting better. Read the Special Edition Ethical Fashion Report for an update.

By buying, wearing and donating second hand, we can reduce waste, take a stylish stance against climate change, and help create a fairer world.

However, only around 30% of clothing donated to second hand shops in the UK might end up being sold in the shop. Much of the rest is shipped out to countries in the global south, where some is sold in markets, but much may end up being dumped (that's how the clothing mentioned earlier ends up in the Atacama Desert). So how else can you reduce the carbon footprint of your clothing?

Choose better quality clothing that will last, this applies whether you're buying new from a sustainable brand or checking the labels in second hand shops

Wear your clothes until they no longer fit or are no longer fit to wear. Once my clothes get too scruffy to wear out, then I just wear them around the house. Alternatively, if you have the skills, you can alter clothing to give it a new lease of life. If the item is in reasonable condition, donate it to a charity shop. If the item is actually unwearable, the best thing is to use it as scraps – for example, use it as a duster, collect scraps to make a quilt, use scraps from one item to customise another item. I once customised a blouse by removing the ripped cuffs and adding new cuffs, I still wear the top today!

Repair things to make them last longer! Some things can be repaired quite neatly, such as hems or seams, but for stains or rips, how about using Visible Mending techniques?

Go through your wardrobe carefully and think how you can wear the items you already have before you buy new. If something no longer fits, donate it to a second hand shop.

If you want a one-off item for a special occasion, consider picking something up from a clothes swap or similar.

Ethical Consumer has a good article about How to buy second-hand clothes, and repair and upcycle clothing.

While over on The Guardian, here's some inspiration about creatives transforming rags into riches.

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This month is also Organic September:

Read about The Impact of Organic Farming on a Small Community in Western Kenya on Sustainable's Substack

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News about Birds in the Guardian.

Birders asked to help find 126 'lost' bird species .

This bird came back from extinction. Now scientists in an aircraft are teaching it to migrate.

‘Massacred for TikTok likes’: is social media feeding the slaughter of 2.6m birds in Lebanon?

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I’ve been Published!

I’m delighted to have a haiku in the Bee-themed issue of Haiku Girl Summer.

My story Best Friends was recently published on the Friday Flash Fiction website.