Second Hand September: Eight ways to avoid fast fashion
Throwaway fast fashion is a huge problem for people and for the planet. Every year, 350,000 tonnes of clothing ends up in UK landfill, and the textile industry is thought to contribute 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. On top of that, things can really be too cheap to be true, with clothes manufacturing linked with modern slavery and exploitative working conditions around the globe.
To help us break our fast fashion habit, Oxfam launched Second Hand September – an initiative encouraging people to pledge to only buy second hand clothing for 30 days or more.
Here are some of our top tips for buying second hand and mending and reworking what you already own:
Get second hand clothes by shopping and swapping
Buy second hand on the high street
Charity shops: Charity shops are a great place to shop to support second hand September (and beyond). You can often find a brilliant item that someone is too busy or generous to list for their own benefit. What’s more, the money you spend is going to a great cause, which needs the income far more than the fast fashion brands do.
Vintage shops: Vintage shops pride themselves on stocking quality clothing for resale – items from another era that have made their way back round into fashion. A bit more pricy than the average charity shop, but a great way to find a really unique piece.
Swap: Your friends might be as tired of some of their clothes as you are of yours. Why not swap a few items during second hand September for a bit of a refresh? Or look for a local ‘swishing’ event, where attendees bring along pre-loved clothes to exchange, often in return for donating to a chosen charity.
Buy second hand online
Vinted: Vinted enables people to sell and buy a range of pre-loved high street, novelty and vintage pieces via an easy to navigate app. It has experienced an astonishing growth of 680% over the last year and a half, fighting both the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis.
Ebay: You can find lots of second hand items on Ebay, often for a really low price. Practice a few times to learn when to place that winning bid.
Facebook marketplace: A great place to trawl for kids’ clothes, school shoes and bundles containing a few hidden gems. You pick up locally, so it’s a quick second hand September win.
Repair and rework your existing clothes
In house repairs: Lots of companies out there want your clothes to stand the test of time.
For example, Patagonia and Finisterre offer repairs for their clothes and wetsuits, and at Rapanui you can send back your worn-out T-shirt to be re-spun for credit, meaning nothing is wasted.
Upcycling: There is also plenty you can do at home to mend and upcycle your clothes to avoid buying new. Are the knees worn out in your jeans? Try patching them or turning them into shorts instead. Could an old tshirt lead to a good craft project with your kids?
Beyond September, continuing to resist the urge to buy items driven by fleeting trends can make your own wardrobe greener and help tell the fashion industry that it needs to change. Together let’s prevent clothing going into landfill, reduce the marketplace for ‘too cheap to be true’ suppliers, and focus on a more sustainable fashion future.
Want to find out more?
Want to swerve fast fashion after second hand September? Here are some great further resources on environmental and ethical issues in fast fashion, as well as how the industry can change for the better:
- The True Cost – documentary focusing on environmental issues and workers’ rights
- To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World? – hard hitting book by ethical living journalist Lucy Siegle.
- Can Fashion Ever be Sustainable? – A BBC Future article that takes an in-depth look at environmental issues surrounding clothing, and how to shrink your fashion footprint.
- Can we shop our way out of a climate crisis? – Listen to our founder, Juliet Davenport, chat with guests including Mart Drake Knight and Sikisa, on the popular podcast, Great Green Questions.
