Who’s gonna buy it all?

Is it just me that’s a bit overwhelmed after December? I feel like I’ve had a constant overload of impressions where the majority wants me to buy something new for my loved ones, my family or my friends, and it doesn’t stop at Christmas because then I must go out and buy all the things I didn’t got. So, January feels like the best time to reflect over my consumption patterns.

I think it’s really important to think about the life your stuff will have after they are no longer in your life. While I truly think it’s a good thing to donate things to second hand shops one really must ask the question of what happens next. Because it is a fair risk that the clothes or things you donate won’t get picked up by anyone.

Stockholms Stadsmission is a Swedish non-profit organisation which are running several initiatives to help people and prevent exclusion due to social or economical background. One way to support people in need is to sell second hand clothes that are donated in shops. Every week they receive 42 tonne of textile but who is going buy it all? We are not helping the planet by donating unused things to second hand shops if we still continue to buy newly produced things.

What can you do?

• Question yourself if you really need new stuff?

• If you need something new can you borrow it from someone or buy it second hand?

• Practice “unbuying” i.e. make an effort to find a new home for things you no longer use by for example selling them.

• Spread knowledge and set requirements on the industry. For example, question a fashion brand’s sustainability work. It’s not enough to use a few percentage of recycled material and call it sustainable if the business model is unethical and unsustainable as a whole.