Is it better to buy second hand clothing or fair trade?
I have decided to start living a more sustainable life style and I was wondering which is better for the enviornment (and the people who make the clothes).
I would have to say Fair Trade.
The Fair Trade label helps indigenous workers achieve a proper working wage and they’re almost always made by using materials local to the workers. This means that they’re not trucking or flying in materials from distant sources and they’re not using dangerous synthetic chems. However, the clothing is usually shipped long-distance after it’s completed, so boo to the amount of fuel wasted to get them to your door.
Second-hand stores provide a greater range of interesting clothes. However, buying second-hand is not actually preventing the major manufacturers from producing sweat-shop clothing loaded with nasty chems. The only way they would produce less of this clothing would be if EVERYBODY bought stuff second-hand and the truth of the matter is that most people don’t. So you’re still dealing with the nasty chems and the child labor and sweatshops.
Given a choice, I would buy the fair-trade stuff every time. However, a comfy pair of fair-trade jeans is difficult to find. So sometimes it just pays to buy second-hand.
I would say support Fair Trade where you can and buy second-hand when you can’t.
Fair Trade Nomads Clothing Happiness
