In the past few years, thrift shopping has gained popularity, and there’s good reason that it has. Along with the great variety of clothes and the cheap prices compared to outlet stores, thrift shopping is also a great way to reuse, reduce, and recycle.

In a world full of mass production and mass waste, thrift shopping is a great alternative way of shopping that doesn’t contribute to the impact on the environment created by mass clothing production. We live in a materialistic world, but our desire to own products has an adverse effect on the environment. Every piece of clothing produced takes energy and oil and creates byproducts such as toxic gasses and chemicals. When you go thrift shopping you’re not participating in this destruction of the environment.

I personally grew up shopping at thrift stores so that my parents didn’t have to spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothing for a fast growing girl, but this childhood practice became so much more to me as I grew up. I realized it was a great way to express myself with a wide style and be fiscally responsible at the same time.

As Erin Hutcheson, an avid thrifter said, “I enjoy thrift shopping because it gives me the opportunity to have original clothes and branch out in style. It is also fun to look around and it’s great that it’s affordable.”

The one downside of thrifting is the mass amounts of grandma clothes you have to dig through to find the hidden gems, but even that makes it a little adventure of its own.

And if all of that isn’t enough, many thrift stores are non-profits and give back to the community by giving jobs to the people in the community who need them, and providing affordable wear and goods to all classes.