Consignment sales have gotten a lot of press lately with articles in the Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, and even the Wall Street Journal all spreading the word about the financial and "green" benefits of consignment sales.
The Council for Textile Recycling estimates that buying resale clothing prevents about 2.5 billion pounds of fabric from entering directly into the waste stream. This works out to about 10 pounds per person in the United States.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency "The average American throws away about 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per year." When clothes and toys are discarded they either end up in landfills or they are incinerated. Landfills frequently leak leading to water and soil contamination. Landfills also give off methane, a greenhouse gas that leads to global warming. When items are incinerated it leads to a great deal of CO2 and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, air pollution, and water pollution.
An often overlooked way that buying and selling used products improve the environment is by reducing the demand for new products. Many environmentalists believe that "buying new" is harmful to the environment. There are so many steps that lead to a new product being sold in a store that have a detrimental impact on the environment, including the growth/production/manufacturing, and transportation of the product.
Growth of cotton uses petro-chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that poison the soil and water supply. Cotton production uses approximately 80% of the world's pesticides. Birds and fish are killed by the pesticides. Livestock meat and milk is contaminated.
Rayon is made from wood pulp and its production leads to deforestation, air pollution, and water pollution. Nylon and polyester production emits greenhouse gases, produces toxic wastewater, and uses petroleum (one of our non-renewable resources). They are not bio-degradable (don't decompose easily in landfills) and use a lot of water and energy in their production. There are also environmentally harmful chemical processes used in dyeing fabric, manufacturing leather, and wool processing.
After manufacturing, the product needs to be transported to the store and sometimes to the United States if it is manufactured elsewhere. The transportation process contributes to emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels.
By selling at a consignment sale your unwanted items will not occupy precious landfill space or increase the earth's carbon emissions. As a shopper, you are choosing to buy a used product rather than a new one which reduced the demand for new items; and therefore, reduces their production. As a result, CO2 emissions, air pollution, water pollution, and deforestation are reduced.
The next time you pick up that new outfit for your child at one of those brand name stores, think twice about the process that got that outfit to the store and its' impact on the environment. Then, consider visiting a seasonal consignment sale instead to "Green It Forward" and reduce your carbon footprint.
- Maria Hoffman, owner, Kids Consignment 4 You
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