The Little Green Larder Staff do Second Hand September
Hello thrifty readers,
To welcome in the autumn season, we are going to be chatting about fast fashion and Second Hand September.
Here at The Little Green Larder we are all about sustainability, so avoiding fast fashion is second nature to us. This year our green team are taking part in Oxfam’s Second Hand September to promote to our amazing customers how rewarding wearing preloved clothes can be.
Did you know that every year £140m worth of clothing goes to landfill in the UK alone? That’s 13 million items of clothing going to UK landfill each week! That’s a heck of a lot of textile waste.
Each year, Oxfam runs Second Hand September, which involves not buying any new clothes for 30 days. At Oxfam, no donated clothes go to waste. If clothing can’t be sold, its recycled into things like mattress filler.
Our fabulous owner Jillian has always been a lover of vintage fashion and often says she was born in the wrong era. She believes in ‘make do and mend’ and loves scouring vintage shops for one-of-a-kind pieces - then convincing her mum to alter them so that they fit her perfectly.
Jillian
Megan has amazing sewing skills and likes to tailor her second hand finds- pulling in the waist, adding straps and even embroidering our logo onto a shirt! She loves pre-loved clothes because she can find pieces that are better-made than most fast fashion brands and she says its like hunting for treasure – who doesn’t love a bargain find?
Megan
Alice and Flora love thrifted fashion because they can find clothes unique to their style. Alice always co-ordinates outfits with the brightest colours and Flora puts together outfits with cool vintage pieces that she can DIY, like cropping an old rugby sweater.
Alice
Josh says that he shops second-hand for all his wardrobe basics, like a raincoat or a comfy tee.
Globally, it’s estimated that £360 billion of value is lost every year through under-wearing and the lack of clothes recycling. Shopping sustainably is a better option than buying fast fashion as it doesn’t contribute to the massive production of synthetic fibres like polyester that are just adding more plastic waste and carbon emissions to our planet.
On top of that, factories that produce fast fashion are taking up valuable space that could be used for growing food or absorbing carbon, meaning fast fashion is indirectly contributing to climate change. Click here for more info.
You can find pre-loved clothing in so many places. Try looking not only in charity shops but also in vintage stores, vintage markets, car boot sales, independent eco clothing brands and even online marketplaces such as Depop or Vinted.
We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog and that it has inspired you to try pre-loved clothing.
Say yes to second hand!
The Little Green Larder Team