Here’s why you should be shopping second-hand this Earth Day

For more than five decades, Earth Day has mobilised people around the world to spark conversations around creating a more sustainable future.

We have many environmental challenges to face, but one industry has emerged as a polluter that must be addressed: fashion. With its fast-paced cycles of production and consumption, the fashion industry has emerged as one of the most significant destroyers of our planet's resources. In a summary published on earthday.org, major fashion companies were blamed for contributing to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, and are said to be responsible for 200 million trees being cut down each year. This toll that clothing production has on the environment is shocking, and it’s only forecast to grow.

To tackle this problem, we all need to reevaluate our shopping habits and move towards ethical methods of consuming fashion if we want a more sustainable, carbon neutral future. Second-hand shopping and practicing circularity in our wardrobe are some of the ways that we, as individuals, can reduce the environmental impacts associated with our clothing choices. 

When you choose to embrace pre-loved fashion at Vinnies, you're not just making a fashion statement; you're making a statement for the planet. Here’s why you should shop second-hand at Vinnies this Earth Day.

Pre-loved fashion has a smaller carbon footprint

Buying pre-loved fashion items (and donating your unwanted ones) is a surprisingly impactful way that you can reduce your environmental footprint. Use the Charitable Recycling Australia ReuseCalculator to discover how much better it is to shop second-hand instead of buying new. If you pop into a Vinnies store and pick up a tshirt, a jumper, and a pair of pants, you’d be saving approximately 45kg of CO2 emissions - that’s the equivalent of 23 trees absorbing CO2 in a day!

Our 220+ Vinnies stores across NSW are stocked with a treasure trove of outfits brimming with life and character. Thanks to your generous donations of quality clothing, a staggering 3.9 million pieces found new homes through Vinnies stores throughout NSW last financial year. This thriving ecosystem of pre-loved fashion promises a guilt-free shopping experience while championing environmental stewardship. Sign up for a #prelovedpledge and join the movement!

We don’t let unsellable garments go to waste

It would be ideal if we could resell 100% of the clothing that we receive as donations at Vinnies, but due to a variety of reasons including items that are in poor condition (dirty, stained, or torn), it’s unfortunately not possible. A report published by Charitable Recycling Australia states that only 16.5% of clothing collected by charities ends up sold in shops.

At Vinnies, we strive to ensure that as little as possible ends up in landfill, which is why we have the Vinnies Textile Recycling (VTR) program. Through a range of international partners, we pass on the stock that we can’t sell for repurpose domestically or overseas. Some of this stock might end up on the racks at a second-hand reseller in another country, or the threads will be broken down for respinning into new garments. Sometimes the fabric is stripped down to be recycled into homewares. Where the stock goes will depend on a number of factors in the textile recycling economy, so the destination of the clothing in our VTR program will vary depending on global demand.

Our recycled homewares save textiles from landfill

The amount of textiles going to landfill is alarming - in Australia, it’s nearly 6,000 kilograms of textiles every 10 minutes. It’s crucial that we find new ways to reuse clothing that would otherwise go to waste. The new Vinnies re/CYCLE range of homewares does just that - each product exemplifies the transformative power of upcycling by using existing fabric materials to make new, useable products. The range caters for modern shoppers wanting eco-friendly and sustainable home decor - there are rugs, throws, mats, towels and door runners in a range of patterns to adorn your home with an eco-chic vibe.

Bonus: Our shopping bags are all recycled and reusable

In 2022, lightweight plastic shopping bags were banned along with a range of other single use plastic items in New South Wales, making disposable shopping bags a thing of the past. Some of the primary goals set out in the NSW Plastics Action Plan is to significantly increase the use of recycled content by government and industry and to triple the plastics recycling rate by 2030. Vinnies has risen to the occasion by utilising existing resources with a selection of sustainable shopping bag alternatives that are both recycled and reusable.

Option 1: Recycled paper bag ($0.50) for when you need a discount option for carrying home a spontaneous purchase of a pair of casual jeans.

Option 2: Recycled textile tote bag ($2.95) with the famed ‘GOT IT AT VINNIES’ slogan which comes in a range of colours to choose from (why not collect them all?). 

Option 3: Recycled plastic bottle oversized tote ($3.95) for when you accidentally buy an entire season’s worth of clothing in one mega op-shopping spree (yes, it happens).