Dress: Thrifted at Goodwill SoCal | Shoes: TOMS

When I think about why I care so deeply about the environmental movement, it is because I care so deeply for the quality of life of our future generations. I care about how people’s health will be impacted by pollution and pesticides, I care about our ability to access clean water, and I care about our collective ability to live safely with increasingly extreme weather.

Until about a year ago, environmental justice was a concept I knew nothing about. According to the EPA, “Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys: the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.” Last month The Washington Post addressed this core issue of environmental justice in an article titled “Whites are mainly to blame for air pollution, but blacks and Hispanics bear the burden“. Since learning about environmental justice in one of my classes I have been trying to do as much additional learning as possible. This Fall I dedicated an entire blog post to the subject of privilege in the environmental movement. And recently, I’ve been trying to learn more about “white environmentalism”.

Similar to the idea of white feminism, environmentalism that does not recognize that populations of color and low-income populations are drastically more impacted by pollution and climate change is not really environmentalism at all. The goal of the environmental movement is about conserving and preserving the environment so that future generations are able to thrive, but focusing on activities that only benefit white and wealthy populations is not working toward a better future for everyone. 

So now that I’ve touched on environmental justice and white environmentalism, I want to talk about thrifting. There has long been a stigma attached to wearing secondhand clothing and shopping at thrift stores. TIME has a fascinating long-form piece about the history of thrift stores and the evolution of secondhand markets if you want to learn more about where these stigmas stemmed from. Thrifting was adopted by more “hipster” people a few years ago, and now it is becoming even more mainstream and cool. Recently I’ve fallen into a deep YouTube hole of thrift with me videos, thrift hauls, and thrift flips. It seems like almost everyone on YouTube is spending hours scouring thrift store racks for the best finds, touting the environmental benefits of shopping secondhand. Don’t get me wrong — it’s exciting to see people having a larger conversation about the waste created by (and promoted by) the fashion industry. By now we’ve all heard that shopping secondhand extends clothes’ useful life, reduces textile waste, and is a simple, cost-effective way to shop more consciously and sustainably. But among the hordes of Adidas tees and Levi’s jeans being emptied from thrift stores, I feel like there’s something missing from the conversation. Is thrift shopping in the name of the environment becoming a form of white environmentalism?

I love thrifting. I thrifted the dress I’m wearing in this post, I go thrifting often, and I write about thrifting often. I don’t have a problem with thrifting itself, I have a problem with people promoting thrifting in the name of the environment without recognizing that it’s a much more complex issue. We need to recognize that whether you choose to thrift to save money or to save the environment, it’s a privilege to be able to choose to shop at a thrift store. We also need to recognize that thrift shopping isn’t a be all and end all solution to climate change. Exploiting thrift stores (which are meant for low-income communities (who are disproportionately impacted by climate change and pollution)) in the name of the environment is missing the point of the environmental movement.

If thrifting is becoming a regular activity for you in your journey to becoming a more conscious consumer, here are some ways to make sure your thrift shopping isn’t a form of white environmentalism:

1. Think about your purchase-to-donation ratio. Don’t go into a thrift store, clear the racks of all the “best” stuff, and then leave those racks empty. Logan Cross, a Medium contributor, phrased this sentiment perfectly: “If you frequent thrift stores and make a lot of purchases but aren’t giving back, you’re taking advantage of something that wasn’t really created to benefit you. Not recognizing that, at the least, is an issue.” If you have a platform on social media or in your community, make sure when you promote thrift shopping you also promote donating to thrift stores as well.
2. What you donate matters. Thrift stores are not alternative trash cans for stained and ripped clothing. Items that are unwearable due to irreversible staining or damage belong in a textile recycling facility, not a thrift store. Donating clothing like this can make it more difficult and costly to thrift stores and volunteers to process donations. That also being said, if you have nicer items to donate, consider donating them to Dress for Success or Operation Prom.
3. Talk about environmental justice. I did not know what environmental justice was until I heard about it in one of my classes. Hopefully this post opened your eyes to the complexities of the environmental movement and has inspired you to look into environmental justice even more. Talk about it with your friends. Talk about it in your classes. Talk about it with your family. Think about it. Read about it. Become conscious about your impact on the environment, but also become conscious about whether your decisions are only helping certain populations, or are collectively serving people impacted by climate change and pollution.

I am by no means an expert on environmental justice or any of the topics I talked about in this post and am really still doing my best to learn. If this is something that interests you I would encourage you to check out any of these resources:

• History of Thrift Stores
• The Washington Post article I mentioned
• “Privilege, Gentrification and Thrifting“
• “Why Race Matters When We Talk About The Environment“
• @booksfightback
• @callmeaflowerchild
• @cookiecat.herine / Restitchstance
• @renee.elizabethpeters (especially this post)
• MyLifeAsEva video about what $100 can get you at Goodwill while talking about only being able to shop at thrift stores growing up.

Save this post on Pinterest for the next time you head to the thrift store!