Bargain buying that's good for the planet and your pocket - here's why I shop second hand

Clodagh McKeon

In Ireland there are half a tonne of clothes dumped into landfill every minute. Materials like these can take 200+ years to decompose into the earth, which is a mind boggling number.

The wellbeing of our planet is one reason why I shop as sustainability as I can.

It’s also why we, as a nation, must stop contributing to the growing fast fashion industry.

Fast fashion contributes to mountains of waste every year.

On a positive note, the last couple of years has seen a large increase in people buying pre-owned, and vintage clothes.

It's also become popular for people to up-cycle their existing clothes which I personally love because it’s a creative and innovative way to be more sustainable while giving your ‘old’ clothes a new lease of life.

People re-dye and re-shape their clothes to give them a completely different look or they take a piece of material and create a different item of clothing altogether.

A friend of mine who takes her old jumpers and creates handbags from them. Another friend collects used t-shirts and re-works them into a blanket - very impressive.

I took an interest in shopping for pre-owned clothing almost two years ago.

I enjoy the entire experience, from searching for clothes in charity shops to browsing online vintage stores. I like it and I get a lot of satisfaction from finding good pieces.

The main reason I started shopping for pre-loved clothes was because it gave me the opportunity to own and wear new things, without the guilt that comes with buying from fast fashion retailers.

In lockdown everyone's favourite hobby became online shopping and even thoughI joined that club, I only shopped from small vintage stores that I found on social media or from a popular second-hand e-commerce app.

What appealed to me most is that second hand and vintage stores have a variety of unique clothes that aren’t found in your regular retail store.

I prefer to wear clothes that aren’t on trend if it means I can still dress well and that's what sustainable shopping allows me to do.

Here in Mullingar we are lucky to have many charity shops that have quality pre-loved clothes and accessories.

So, I decided to set a challenge for myself.

Coming into summer, people tend to update their wardrobes with new pieces, so I’ll do that but in a sustainable way and I’ll share my experiences here so you can do the same.

This week I visited the Oxfam charity shop on St Oliver Plunkett Street in Mullingar town.

My goal was to find quality summer outfits that I could wear to any outdoor event, to work or off on my holidays.

After spending just five minutes in the store I had already found the perfect summer outfit.

I picked up a colourful, maxi dress that was in immaculate condition and cost just €8.50.

In my walk around the store, I spoke to shop manager, Dorothy McGee who said she has noticed a considerable increase in people shopping second hand since the Covid pandemic.

“Ever since the pandemic we have seen an increase in people shopping from the store. Unfortunately, there are not as many clothes donations or volunteers giving up their time to help out, but there are definitely more people purchasing.”

It’s easy to go through the clothes at this particular store because the volunteers have organised it so well.

The clothes are organised by colour and so each colour has their own section on the railings, super easy and clear.

Dorothy said, “What a lot of people don't realise is that a lot of hard work goes into running the shops. We select what goes out to customers, we steam the clothes before they go to the floor, we organise them and sometimes we’ll do repairs on them.”

Another volunteer said, “The hard work does have its benefits.

"We’ve had two people go on to full time employment.

“It’s great to get involved here if you’re new to the country because you meet new people, pick up the language quicker, pick up new skills and learn about the community.”

In the current economic crisis you would wonder whether people are shopping from charity shops to save money, support the charities themselves or whether they are taking a genuine interest in shopping ethically to lower the impact on the environment.

Ernesta, a volunteer at Oxfam said, “I shop in all the charity shops in Mullingar. I get the best clothes that sometimes still have the tags on them and I get them for cheaper.”

Continuing on my shopping spree led me to put my hands on a staple summer piece, a blue denim jacket.

This jacket was designer and at a bargain price of just €20.

It was in perfect condition with no marks or dis-colouration and I knew it would look great paired with my ‘new’ dress.

Now with my dress and denim jacket secured, I needed shoes to complete my outfit.

To no surprise I found the perfect pair of sandals in my size so I snatched them up for just €9.

An entire summer outfit perfect for any outing and in the same condition as you would find in your popular town retailers.

Next, the goal was to dress Oxfam volunteer Ernesta.

We gathered some fabulous summer outfits that all cost under €30.

All clothes pictured are in perfect condition, some are branded, are designer and most have never been worn.

Ernesta wears a summer skirt (€7.50), a DKNY blue top (€4) and a pair of never worn beige heels (€9) totaling €20.50.

The second outfit sees the model wearing a Zara dress (€8) with a long denim jacket over her shoulder (€6.50).

Next up Ernesta wears a colourful Summer dress priced at just €12.50.

The next Summer outfit is perfect for a few casual drinks.

She wears a Topshop sparkly top (€6) and a pair of jeggings still with the original tags on (€5).

The fifth outfit sees Ernesta looking beautiful in a designer white dress (€10) and brand new satin heels from Marks & Spencers (€10).

The last Summer outfit for this week is one perfect for the annual horse races.

It's a Karl Lagerfeld pink and navy dress (€12), a navy hat (€7.50) and blue wedges (€9).

All the clothes remain in the Oxfam Mullingar.

So, with this inspiration, go treat yourself to a new yet not so new summer outfit with no cost to the environment and almost none to your pocket.

Stay up to date with our second hand shopping sprees and join me next week as I visit another charity shop in Mullingar.