Today, 17th August, marks National Thrift Shop Day, when people are encouraged to shop second hand to help their budget and the environment. As thrift store shopping is one of the best and most common methods of being more eco-conscious with your style, today is the perfect day to look at more ways you can be more sustainable when it comes to fashion.

1. Get thrifty

Of course this has to be the first way in spirit of today. Buying second hand is one of the easiest ways to be more sustainable with your fashion choices and it gives you the chance to get some really nice, potentially expensive pieces for a lot cheaper just because they’re pre-loved. Clothes that would be thrown out and go to landfill get a second chance to be enjoyed and worn by someone new, so make sure you donate any unwanted pieces to a charity shop too! Or you can hit up a kilo sale and get some amazing vintage pieces for super cheap. Next time you go to town for some shopping, definitely pop into a local charity or second hand thrift store for some bargains and for the chance to be more sustainable.

2. Do it online

Apps and websites like Depop and eBay act as the online equivalent of the thrift store. These apps have become a great way to make some easy money from clothes you no longer wear, and again by selling them onto someone else who wants them when you no longer do you’re preventing the clothes from being thrown out and going to landfill. Of course you can also buy some other people’s unwanted pieces, you can even get clothes that are still brand new in store for over half the price less and sometimes they even come unworn with the tags still on. Reworked vintage brands that often sell on places like ASOS Marketplace and Depop are also great too, taking old or damaged items and customising them into cute new crops and two piece outfits. With the online and in store version of thrifting, it means clothes from fast fashion brands don’t have to be as harmful because multiple people can get good wear out of them instead of throwing them away when they’re no longer in style.

Online thrift purchases.
Photo: Yasmin Syed.

3. Sustainable brands

Shopping sustainable brands is a pretty obvious but sometimes expensive method to be more sustainable with your fashion but it’s definitely worth doing if you can. Get researching some brands and how they’re sustainable, Thought and Komodo are a couple that have been popping up in the sustainable fashion brand searches recently. You can shop ethical outfits at a more affordable price too though. Tala is a brand I’ve been loving and buying from regularly, they create clothes from recycled materials like old cotton and plastic bottles and try to match similar high-street brands prices. Some places have ethically conscious lines within their range too, with some of the fabric used being recycled, so there’s always an option for whatever your price range to shop more ethically and sustainably.

4.  Clothes swaps

A similar version of the thrift store but a swap. Gather your friends together and see if you can trade off on each other’s unwanted items of clothing so again, each piece gets a longer life instead of being thrown out. You can do this on apps like Depop too, offering to swap something on your page for something that someone else is selling. If there’s anything you’ve ever been eyeing up in your friend’s wardrobe this is a good way to try and get your hands on it by offering something in return.

Sustainable fashion brand Tala.
Photo: Yasmin Syed.

5. Shop your closet

The easiest way to be sustainable with your style! Go through your closet or wardrobe or drawers and have a good rummage through all of your clothes – there could be something buried at the bottom that you forgot about and now love again. Rewearing old pieces and styling them up in new ways with all your existing clothes is free and allows you to re-discover some old clothes you haven’t worn in ages or find new ways to wear some recently purchased items so you don’t have to go buy something new to create a new outfit.