{"id":777518,"date":"2021-05-14T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/blog\/general\/three-reasons-why-thrifting-is-better-for-the-environment\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:58:14","slug":"three-reasons-why-thrifting-is-better-for-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/blog\/shop\/three-reasons-why-thrifting-is-better-for-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Reasons Why Thrifting is Better for the Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\nThrifting or shopping secondhand is\u00a0a great way\u00a0to reduce your environmental footprint\u00a0while finding some\u00a0really cool\u00a0and unique items that you\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0be able to get elsewhere.\n\nBuying\u00a0items\u00a0brand\u00a0new might not seem like it has\u00a0a very big\u00a0impact on the environment, but every small action counts. By shopping for things second\u00a0hand, you are voting with your dollar as a consumer to not support the industries that cause pollution and tons of waste.\u00a0Here are some of the many reasons why thrifting is better than buying\u00a0new items.\n
1) Less Resource Consumption<\/h5>\nThe creation of new things takes a lot of resources, especially in today\u2019s world of fast fashion and hyper-consumerism. Some of these natural resources are being used at a rate that is faster than they can be produced and\u00a0are\u00a0non-renewable. When it comes to clothing, electronics, and other home goods, it takes a lot of water and energy to make these items. When you thrift something, you are not directly supporting the demand for new things to be made, and this has a positive impact since resources and energy were already used to create that item. Specific to clothing and textiles, less fabric is wasted, and the water footprint of an item becomes less since the life of the item is extended.\n
2) Fewer Things are Thrown Away<\/h5>\nNot only are we using\u00a0fewer\u00a0resources when we thrift something, but overall, less things are thrown away as well.\u00a0Shopping second\u00a0hand is a great way to\u00a0give a new home to some awesome items that would otherwise\u00a0end up in the trash.\u00a0In today\u2019s society of consumerism, people often buy things without realizing they don\u2019t really need them, and with items that are cheap and accessible people tend to throw them away. To help lessen the impact that this has on the environment, you can choose to donate things instead of tossing them and consider looking for an item secondhand next time you need something.\u00a0One thing might not serve the person that originally bought the item, but maybe\u00a0it\u2019s an item you\u2019ve been looking to have or something that goes great in your home. With thrifting, you keep these items from going to waste by giving them a new life.\n

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3) Less Chemical Pollution<\/h5>\nIt takes a lot of manufacturing and processing to be able to create new things. When it comes to clothing, textiles need to be grown using pesticides, and then those fabrics are treated with harsh chemicals and dyes that can be not only harmful to the environment but also to our health. When we create synthetic fabrics, greenhouse gases are released which contribute to climate change. These chemicals contaminate our water, soil, and air, and this can impact wildlife and the quality of many resources we use to survive. Toxins can also disrupt our\u00a0hormones and gut microbiome, and there\u2019s still research to be uncovered as to how these chemicals can impact our bodies. By choosing to buy secondhand, you aren\u2019t supporting the demand for new products to be made using these chemicals, and the negative impact the item has on your health can also be much less compared to buying the item brand new.\n\nThese are just a few of the reasons why shopping second\u00a0hand is beneficial for the environment.\u00a0Whether you find something new with the tags on it still or a pre-loved vintage item, you are choosing an option that didn\u2019t involve new resource and energy consumption, potentially saving something from being thrown into a landfill,\u00a0and\u00a0lessening the burden of pollutants on the environment that come from consumerism.\u00a0Shopping at a thrift store like Goodwill is a great way to find some pre-loved pieces that still have a lot of life in them.\u00a0The beauty of thrifting is that you never know what you\u00a0are\u00a0going to find! Whether you are donating your unwanted items, looking for something specific, or just seeing what is out there, Goodwill is a great resource to find cool items while saving money and the planet.\n\nThis article was originally featured on the Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago blog.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thrifting or shopping secondhand is\u00a0a great way\u00a0to reduce your environmental footprint\u00a0while finding some\u00a0really cool\u00a0and unique items that you\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0be able to get elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":777521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-777518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777520,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777518\/revisions\/777520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}