.jpg)
.jpg)
Recycle your clothes
I made a commitment a few years ago to buy all my non-essential clothing (essential being underwear and some business attire) from op-shops only. I’ve stuck by that commitment and although I was possibly born without a fashion sense, I’ve found some pretty sweet items of clothing over the years that have cost me next to nothing. On top of that, by essentially recycling clothing, I’m helping to reduce waste, save money, and stop purchasing clothing that was likely made in a sweatshop. So, ditch the new clothes and go vintage or hold a swap meet with your friends and trade it instead of trashing it!
Here are 3 really great sites that you need to check out:
The Clothing Exchange: http://www.clothingexchange.com.au/
“Since 2004, hundreds of super-savvy ladies have made their way to our signature swaps with bags-full of fashions, fads and styles in tow. Our regular exchange events are a treasure trove of fabulous frocks, nice knits, slick suits and a colorful array of accessories. When the shop opens excited guests share histories of garments given and parade the one’s they’ve got. Buttons are the only currency that counts to buy a whole ‘new’ wardrobe at the exchange! Swap to shop and save your pennies and the planet!”
Freecycle: http://www.freecycle.org/group/AU/
“The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,801 groups with 6,576,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely non-profit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free.”
Swapstyle: http://www.swapstyle.com/
“Swapstyle is an online fashion swap party where you can swap clothes, swap accessories, swap cosmetics, swap shoes and lots more with people from all around the world at any time, day or night. And it’s Free!”
Sounds great…. in theory. I’m sure it would work for most people – and op shopping is where I get 90% of my daughter’s clothing but quite simply I am lucky if I find one wearable item of clothing for myself once a year.
I’m a larger lady and the few items in op shops that are actually large enough are usually stained/stretched/falling apart, or look like they were made for great grandmas – and even then, they cost more than what it would cost to buy new.
That is one of the biggest I won’t shop at 90% of op shops – the prices are a joke. How is it encouraging people to support their charity and do good for the environment by recycling clothing when the op shops sell a stain ripped item for twice the price of the brand new identical item in a retailer.
And this is no joke… many items I’ve looked at for my daughter have been twice the price in op shops for rundown items after seeing the same item for half the price in a major retailer.
Ridiculous.
And as for swap meets…. sound great in theory again, but not one of my close friends are the same size – ranging in size from sz 6 to sz 30. However, we all find it more economical and good for the environment to simply choose wisely in the first place and wear an item until it is unwearable – when it becomes unwearable in public, it becomes something to wear around the house and when it becomes totally unwearable, it is turned into cleaning cloths.
Personally I think that is much more useful than opshopping – choose items wisely in the first place, and buy only what you will wear til it literally falls apart (and buy something that is well made so it stays together longer).
Great points Julie! Op-shopping won’t always work for everybody and some op-shops do have some pretty high prices.
Choosing clothing wisely is good advice. Being sure that new clothing is from the right sources is also important. Much of the brand name clothing we see in our stores come from sweatshops, but we can ensure the clothing we buy doesn’t:
http://www.nosweatstuff.com.au/
http://www.nosweatshoplabel.com/
http://www.fairwear.org.au/