WHY SHOP SECONDHAND ANYWAY?
It was three years ago when I had the most simple of revelations that probably should have come to me a lot sooner as a 28 year old. I was unboxing a new dresser I ordered online and after building it, noticed the pile of cardboard, styrofoam and plastic left behind was almost bigger than the dresser itself. And then it hit me. If this oversized pile of trash was just from MY one small dresser, how much trash from furniture and other newly purchased item packaging is being created EVERYDAY by the other millions of people buying a simple piece of furniture like myself? (The answer is 82.2 million tons in 2018, with about 28% of total trash generated in municipal solid waste that year being from packaging and containers.)
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I instantly felt guilty and looked into ways to properly recycle the materials as my apartment complex didn't have recycling set up, but rather a dumpster that all kinds of trash went into. It was on this day I did a quick Google and Facebook search and found that I could have found a multitude of dressers just as nice (if not better quality) and just as cheap from a secondhand source. By doing this, I could have avoided the guilty trash pile AND helped repurpose someone else's unwanted furniture. I realized that just as people pay attention to what they eat as a means to help the planet, I could pay attention to what I buy (or don't buy) in an effort to be more mindful and kind to the environment.
Before starting up any blame games about the circumstances of our environment, I am aware that it is large corporations themselves at the production stage that is the primary cause of our "Society of Waste" rather than the post-purchase choices of individuals. However, I strongly believe that if more people knew just how harmful overconsumption was, they would want to change their buying habits. That is why here at Strictly Secondhand, we aim to provide resources and information for those who want to do better for the environment, but don't know where to start.
Circling back to the title of this blog post, why do I think shopping secondhand is a strong answer to the overconsumption problem? In short, buying fewer new items is simply better for our planet at a turning point time where every action counts. The production of new materials means more waste in landfills, high levels of water consumption, more pollution in our air and oceans from chemicals and micro-plastics, and the emission of greenhouse gasses. While shopping secondhand doesn't directly stop companies from emitting waste, if enough people were to simply lower their own amount of newly bought items a month, we could create a new global trend to decrease demand.
Sources
EPA.gov: Containers and Packaging: Product-Specific Data
"The Political Ecology of Informal Waste Recyclers in India: Circular Economy, Green Jobs, and Poverty" by Federico Demaria; Oxford University Press, 2023
