Where To Ethically Get Clothes?

3 years ago by /home/pineapplelover to c/zerowaste

I don't know if this topic is appropriate for this community but there is a lot of waste generated with the clothing industry so I hope it fits.

The only resource I know of to find ethically sourced clothes is https://goodonyou.eco/. However, those can be pretty expensive so lately, I've been looking for more alternatives that are more affordable. What do you guys think of Salvation Army, Goodwill, Thrift stores? I've been hesitant on going there because I fear not having a good selection of clothes. If you guys have any experiences with these that would be amazing

jws_shadotak 25 points 3 years ago

Thrift stores are probably the most ethical because it's all donated and second hand. It's already been created, bought, and worn before you see it.

The selection isn't bad at all. Just go look.

path: 0 4901566, hotness: undefined, score: 25, children: 6

bestusername 7 points 3 years ago

I found heaps of clothing over the years with tags still on!

path: 0 4901566 4901879, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 0

pineapplelover 4 points 3 years ago

Interesting. I'll see if I can go to nice areas and check them out.

path: 0 4901566 4901812, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0

ElleChaise 3 points 3 years ago

What about the ethics of getting things for free, then selling those things for profit, even price gouging the items like good will? Shouldn't the clothing be free in an ethical world? Just spitballing ideas for a brighter tomorrow.

path: 0 4901566 4902899, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 3

jws_shadotak 9 points 3 years ago

Price gouging? All the clothes at my goodwill are cheap. They even had a sale recently where any piece of clothing was $2 flat.

What kind of price gouging have you seen?

path: 0 4901566 4902899 4903170, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 0

Bob_Robertson_IX 4 points 3 years ago

I don't know if the clothing should be 'free' from these places because they do still process the donations, and I don't even mind them putting higher prices on items they've identified as being worth more... What they shouldn't be doing is underpaying their employees while corporate leadership is making millions.

path: 0 4901566 4902899 4903137, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 1

Death_Equity 2 points 3 years ago

My big problem with them is how they were underpaying the disabled. I don't know if they have changed, but that was really super not cool.

path: 0 4901566 4902899 4903137 4909000, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0

Rocketpoweredgorilla 11 points 3 years ago

I've always thought second hand/thrift stores were great for picking up stuff cheap. The trick (at least in my area) is to hit up the ones in the nicer areas of town, the selection is usually better and it hasn't been picked through as much.

Edit: Just to add, the day of the week, and even season matters. Some places tend to put out new stuff at certain times, some just toss stuff on the shelves as they get it. So sometimes you can go one day and make out like a bandit, other days there's squat. You just have to visit a place a few times before you get a feel how they do things. Also mornings are usually better than afternoons.

Also garage sales. Same basic idea applies, the garage sales in the nicer areas usually have nicer stuff. The earlier you can hit them up the better selection you'll find, but you can often get better deals near the end of the day when they just want to get rid of something. (I bought 2 decent dressers, 2 shelving units, and a small desk for $40 last summer just because the guy didn't want to have to drag it all back into his house.)

path: 0 4901623, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0

fiat_lux 9 points 3 years ago

This is ridiculously hard, I have spent hours searching. Much of what you can find is either greenwashed, or doesn't touch social issues like sourcing.

In the end, (beyond thrifting, as noted), the most success I've found is with small-time social enterprises and/or B-Corps, and through them i found out which (if any) certifying bodies exist who audit transparency were around and not just a bought certificate.

I was looking local to Australia and found the Social Traders, but the global body is SEWF and WTFO who can point you in a good direction for your locality.

Having said that, I'm at the point where I'm just considering finding ethical fabric, because I'm both too picky and have unusual adaptive requirements to accommodate.

path: 0 4902366, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 1

pineapplelover 2 points 3 years ago

Yeah without some deep research, it's a bit difficult to find who's greenwashing and who's genuinely green.

path: 0 4902366 4903713, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0

Osa-Eris-Xero512 5 points 3 years ago

Something that goes underrated is making your own clothes and just having to worry about sourcing fabrics. The fit is unmatched, but I'll admit there's some upfront cost in both tools and time investment to get competent at the skill.

path: 0 4903152, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 1

Neil 5 points 3 years ago

path: 0 4903152 4906144, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 0

thelastknowngod 3 points 3 years ago

If you're in America..

https://www.market.unicefusa.org/

path: 0 4909474, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0

Cris_Color 3 points 3 years ago

If you want good results while thrifting it pays to get comfortable with going regularly. If you go consistently and pick through stuff you'll find great stuff, but ultimately you're picking through a haystack for the couple of needles you care about- youre getting cheap clothes but putting in your time. Also its way more fun if you go with friends, and then you can also learn what each other like and keep an eye out for each other :)

I've always thought of Patagonia being decent, does anyone know of ethical concerns with them? They're pricy though, and only have specific kinds of styles

path: 0 4904404, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 1

sin_free_for_00_days 2 points 3 years ago

If you want to, I think you could find reasons not to like Patagonia as a citizen, but in my opinion they are a pretty ethical company compared to most.

path: 0 4904404 4904518, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0

YungOnions 2 points 3 years ago

As others have said charity shops are definitely a good choice. Here's two websites that list ethical/environmentally councious clothing companies if you do want to shop brand new:

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/...

https://thegoodshoppingguide.com/...

path: 0 5181554, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0

zerowaste

@lemmy.ml

login for more options

Being "zero waste" means that we adopt steps towards reducing personal waste and minimizing our environmental impact.

Our community places a major focus on the 5 R's: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot. We practice this by reducing consumption, choosing reusable goods, recycling, composting, and helping each other improve.

We also recognize excess CO₂, other GHG emissions, and general resource usage as waste.

go to feed...

zerowaste

@lemmy.ml

login for more options

Being "zero waste" means that we adopt steps towards reducing personal waste and minimizing our environmental impact.

Our community places a major focus on the 5 R's: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot. We practice this by reducing consumption, choosing reusable goods, recycling, composting, and helping each other improve.

We also recognize excess CO₂, other GHG emissions, and general resource usage as waste.

go to feed...