Second-hand Shopping: Sustainable for the Earth and Wallet

Second-hand shopping: sustainable for the earth and the wallet

Companies follow the money, and thankfully consumers are leading them to more sustainable ways.

By Anushka Joshi

Today, the fashion industry makes up 10% of carbon emissions globally, and that number could rise to 25% of the global carbon budget by 2050 if consumer behaviors do not respond. Nowadays, it is as important to appear socially conscious as it is fashion-forward. As the stress of climate change increases, 74% of 18-29 year-olds lean towards shopping from sustainably conscious brands, which proves that sustainability is no longer just a perk, but a priority to consumers (ThreadUP). In a generation where consumers value socially conscious shopping as much as being unique, thrifting has found its home. That 70’s disco-esque shirt is not actually from the mall, but it is an original swooped up at the thrift store for $7. After decades of sitting on a dusty shelf, clothes can now be seen curated on a clothing rack. As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

The trend of sustainable shopping comes after the fast-fashion takeover of the 2000s. Fast fashion refers to purchasing replica items of trends for lower quality and lower price. This concept was born out of a desire to fill consumer's needs immediately, instead of waiting months for a runway style to hit the department stores. Many members of Generation Z and Millennials grew up in the fastfashion boom. It provided instant gratification while shopping and affordable prices. However, the cheap quality, environmental impact, and the high chances of someone wearing the same clothing were deterring factors. Since 2000, clothing production has doubled and that is no coincidence with the rise of fast fashion. There is a massive turnover of owning clothes due to the constant outpouring of products streaming from the fast fashion industry. Traditional fashion labels used to put out 2 collections a year, but companies like Zara put out 16. The impact this has on the environment is unparalleled. Up to 85% of textiles go into landfills each year, which is enough to fill the Sydney Harbor.

An allure to fast fashion was being able to get high-end styles at a fraction of the cost. But through consignment stores and companies like TheRealReal, consumers can buy used luxury items at a fraction of the cost. For example, a Louis Vuitton bag that would regularly retail for $1,210 is listed for $625 on TheRealReal. Shoppers can also opt to rent clothing through Rent the Runway. Knowing that someone has used the clothing before and the lower price tag caters to the consumer's desire to wear clothes once or just a few times––a result of our desire for individuality–then sell it without feeling guilty about sunk cost or material waste.

Each year, 108M tons of non-renewable sources are used to produce clothing, and the textile waste crisis is accelerating, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. One garbage truck’s worth of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second. Goodwill NYNJ alone saved 38 million pounds of clothing from the landfill last year. The collective impact of all of the consignment/second-hand stores and businesses around the country are sure to make an impact on the total waste each year.

Millennials and Gen Z’ers are more socially conscious than the generations that preceded them and they are more inclined to shop sustainably. This value-driven economy is changing our consuming experience as a whole. The fashion industry used to be led by top-down influence, coming from fashion designers and runway shows. Today, it is driven by bottom-up forces, meaning influencers and the prominence of social media (Forbes). With Generation Z having a buying power of more than $500 billion already, companies will have to adjust to their needs. With young shoppers swarming to second-hand shopping, the resale economy has already begun to slow down fast fashion.

As consumers become more environmentally conscious, these numbers will grow and large corporations will begin to notice the shift––and will make changes in their own companies to become more sustainable too. Companies follow the money, and thankfully consumers are leading them to more sustainable ways.

According to a ThreadUp Fashion Resale Market and Trend Report in 2019, 72% of secondhand shoppers shifted spend away from traditional retailers to buying more used items. The fashion industry adapted to the fast fashion market, and it will confidently accommodate to the new demands–both from consumers and the world at large. Mass-market retailers like Macy’s and JC Penney are adding resale boutiques to their store layouts, further expanding the secondhand apparel market. Mass market/fastfashion brands like Urban Outfitters have added “vintage” sections and their “one of a kind” pieces are promoted on their Urban Renewal line. There are popular brands that are sustainable from the start like Re-Done, and Reformation. According to Fortune, the resale market has grown 21 times faster than the retail market in the past three years. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, these numbers will grow and large corporations will begin to notice the shift.

Business practices are shifting to become more unique and sustainable. Nearly 9 out of 10 senior retail executives are finding ways to get into the resale business. As per the same ThreadUp report, these executives are first motivated by revenue boosts, then sustainability, and finally customer loyalty. Whether or not their first reason is environmental responsibility, these large companies will make a huge impact. This year, if everyone bought one used item instead of a new item, that would save the amount of CO2 as 500,000 cars being taken off the road for a year, enough energy to light up the Eiffel Tower for 141 years, enough water to fill up 1,140 Bellagio fountains, and the weight of 1M polar bears of trash (ThreadUP). The average secondhand shopper replaced 8 new apparel items with used items in the past year. As the number of secondhand shoppers increases, the carbon savings will grow exponentially.

The future of second-hand shopping will disrupt the fashion industry as we know it today. While the fashion industry at large is worth more than $2 Trillion, the secondhand market is projected to hit $41 billion by 2022. As of 2018, the second-hand economy was valued at $24 billion and is projected to grow 1.5 times the size of the fast fashion market within the next 10 years. Second-hand shopping has unlocked an endless supply chain of buying and reselling clothes and continues to benefit all parties involved through the constant exchange of goods. Thrifting is a tradable asset, which means that there is still value even after the first time it was purchased.

We have moved into a sharing economy, and the popularization of second-hand shopping is an extension of that. However, the sustainability of the resale market is not limited to clothing and it is inspiring new shifts. Companies have begun to design new products that are meant to be shared. Airbnb is looking to build homes that are designed to be shared and not owned. IKEA will start renting furniture instead of just selling it, and companies like Rent the Runway and ThreadUP are exclusively producing lines of clothing that are only for renting or reselling. Just as technology and the internet forced companies to rethink their business models, sustainability efforts will do so as well.