By Annie Renz
Stonehill College Sophomore Maddy Raspen started
thrifting years ago with her mother. What started out as her mother’s knack for
finding collectable bowls turned into Raspen’s current passion for finding name
brand clothes at cheap prices.
“It’s bang for your
buck,” said Raspen.
A growing number of
people are turning to thrifting as an alternative to so-called “fast fashion,”
a term used for mass-production of low-cost clothing to meet the latest trends.
A major catalyst for the
current movement away from fast fashion is the detrimental impact that fast
fashion has on the environment.
According to Earth.org, 20%
of global wastewater comes from textile dying and 93 billion cubic meters of
water are contaminated by toxic chemicals.
Air pollution is another
major issue that fast fashion causes, the group said.
Earth.org said the fast fashion
industry accounts for 10% of global pollution, making it the second-largest
industrial polluter.
An evolving issue with
fast fashion is that as clothing production increases, garment usage lifetime
decreases.
Between the years 2000
and 2015, Earth.org reports that clothing sales doubled even though the number
of times an item was worn decreased by 36%.
Raspen said the limited
lifespan of a fast fashion item is a major factor as to why she doesn’t wear that
kind of clothing.
“The downside to fast
fashion would be the clothes are cheaply made so you don’t have it forever. You
would get one wear out of a SHEIN shirt, and it’s done for,” she said.
“A typical price for a
shirt at Forever 21 is 10 bucks, and it’s bad for the environment. It’s made out of crap. For 10 bucks I could get five
different shirts at Salvation Army or at a thrift store,” said Raspen.
The Salvation Army is similar
to a thrift store and is an eco-friendlier option with higher quality clothing compared
to fast fashion outlets, some say.
The Salvation Army in Brockton,
Massachusetts is a one-stop shop for cheap clothing, furniture, and home goods.
Endless racks of clothing take up the majority of the store’s interior, thanks
to the 3000 pieces of donated clothing the location receives every day.
This store is not your
typical thrift store; while some shoppers come in to find good “steals” for
name brand hidden gems, the Salvation Army also provides for people living off
very little.
There are a few
differences between the Salvation Army and other thrift stores.
“We are a non-profit,
that’s the biggest difference here,” said Dave Halter, the store manager at
Salvation Army Brockton. “Most thrift stores try to make some money, or you
have consignment that pays the person. All our stuff is donated, maybe a thrift
store owner buys stuff to sell for good money.”
The Salvation Army caters
to the needs of all people.
“That’s what Salvation
Army offers that fast fashion cannot: if somebody walks in here and has no
money, I can tell them another place to go, Salvation Army Church,” said
Halter.
Salvation
Army Church is separate from the main locations of Salvation
Army and provides vouchers to those in desperate need. With a voucher, a
customer can get clothing and household goods for free.
“We see it all,” said
Halter. “People steal a lot. I caught a guy stealing once and he was on edge,
but once I started talking to him about our church, he was agreeable.”
Halter said shopping at
Salvation Army is a better alternative to fast fashion because of the large
array of styles and options a shopper will find.
“I was a shopper [at
Salvation Army] for about ten years before working here because of the eclectic
choices offered. The stuff I would find here wouldn’t be at a store just
walking around,” said Halter.
But, if name brand, fast
fashion-esque apparel is what a shopper is after, they can find those items at
Salvation Army for cheaper prices.
“We’ve had donations from
fast fashion. We had a Zara station for two months. Zara donated all returns
and damages to Salvation Army, and a lot of that stuff was usually fine,” said
Halter.
Consignment is another
alternative to fast fashion where goods are left in the possession of another
party to sell.
Janet’s Consignments is
just a two-minute drive from Stonehill College and sells everything from shoes
and coats to ice skates. The small interior is filled floor to ceiling with
items, making it easily possible for shoppers to find exactly what they are
looking for.
Pat Hite is the current
owner of Janet’s Consignments and has been for the past nine years. She is the
third owner of the store’s 45-year operation.
“Our customers are any
age from young adult to senior citizens. We have a broad range of women’s
attire and are currently building our men’s side which would also have the same
demographic,” said Hite.
Hite said she looks for
only gently worn items with high quality.
“We don’t take Walmart
stuff… people come here for high quality bargain prices. People will find
jewelry or designer bags here and come back saying how many compliments they
receive,” said Hite.
At Janet’s Consignments,
donors and the store share sales.
“This is a partnership,”
said Hite. “People can come in with goods and the consigner gets 50%, we get
50%. We are about recycling and “go-green”, we are about someone’s trash is
another man’s treasure.”
Like Salvation Army, fast fashion clothing can also be
found at Janet’s Consignments.
“People can find [fast
fashion] items here at a lower cost and make money for their own. We feature
that on our webpage: “Posh-Consignments” to feature our posh items,” said Hite.
Another reason why Hite
said shopping at a place like Janet’s is a better alternative to fast fashion
is the higher possibility of finding different styles or trends of clothing.
“People find unique items
that they wouldn’t find at Macys, for example. We offer different brands,
artistic items, one-of-a-kind items,” Hite said.
Along with Raspen, Alina
St. George is another Stonehill student and avid “thrifter”. Like Raspen, St.
George was introduced to thrifting at a young age and has carried that interest
with her into college.
“My mom has been taking
me to cute little consignment boutiques and shops for my entire life… my older
sister, [Cadence Denniston], she’s the one who got me into going to Salvation
Army, Goodwill bins, and things like that. She will stay at the Goodwill bins
for five hours, she gets the best stuff,” said St. George.
Both students said one of
the reasons why they thrift is to find those unique items that can’t be found
at a mall.
“When you go to a mall,
you want to go into the name brand stores, you don’t necessarily think about
the other stores. When you go thrifting you have no choice, there is a huge
variety of brands and different items and styles,” said St. George.
“There’s literally
endless options,” said Raspen. “You can find cool stuff and be different from
everyone else.”
Being college students,
Raspen and St. George said a benefit to thrifting is the cheap costs with low
stakes.
“It’s definitely a big
money saver,” said St. George. “You pay so much for the brand when you go to
their stores, like lululemon, it’s ridiculously expensive. And for what?
Instead of buying them full price, even though sometimes I do, I can go to a
thrift store and those items are cheaper.”
Raspen agreed, “And
durability, they’re made to last. It’s older clothes, so it’s that good quality
stuff. It doesn’t hurt to buy from a thrift store, if it doesn’t fit, you can
always donate it back.”
Ultimately, it is the
eco-friendly aspect of thrift stores that draws St. George to the stores.
“Goodwill and those kinds
of stores create a place to give clothes that you don’t want to wear anymore.
If someone doesn’t want to wear it anymore or if they don’t need it anymore,
the clothes aren’t just going in the trash. I think that’s good for waste
purposes,” said St. George.
Both students recognize
the detrimental harm that fast fashion has on the environment.
“You’re dealing with
something ethically questionable,” said St. George. “With fast fashion, there are things that are made without the environment in
mind and often in sweatshops. It’s not ecofriendly or friendly to humans. It’s
not good for anybody and the material sucks.”
“With thrifting, when you
buy from their stores, the money is also going somewhere because some stores
help charities. When you buy from fast fashion, you are just giving right back
to a corporation and probably to sweatshops,” said Raspen.
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