Clothing hasn’t always been unsustainable. According to goodonyou.eco, “Clothes shopping used to be an occasional event… but about 30 years ago, something changed. Clothes became cheaper, trend cycles sped up, and shopping became a weekly hobby for many.” Fast fashion companies can pump out trendy, inexpensive clothing very quickly. Many of the top brands in the fashion industry are fast fashion companies. Fashion companies such as SHEIN, H&M, and Forever 21 “generate an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste globally every year,” according to earth.org.  As fast fashion companies became popular, the demand for more expensive, yet more sustainable, clothing has decreased. The younger generations of Millennials and Gen Z tend to be more concerned about the environment than older generations “Large majorities of [Gen Z and Millenials] say it is at least one of several important concerns to them (76% and 75%, respectively).” according to pewresearch.org. 

In the last few decades, a rise in demand for second-hand clothing has risen. With a growing concern for the environment, and a need for inexpensive clothing a solution emerged, thrift shopping. Thrift shopping is shopping for goods that are pre-owned and are usually sold for lower prices than typical stores. 

Today thrift stores are a 14.4 billion dollar industry, but they haven’t always been so popular. For much of its history, there was a stigma surrounding thrifted clothing, but with a rise in social media thrift-shopping trends, and growing dissent of fast fashion, they have become extremely popular with Gen Z. The #thrifthaul tag on TikTok has over 633 million views, and #thrift, #thrifting, and #thriftshop all had over 2 billion views each. Second-hand shopping apps such as ThredUp and PoshMark have been steadily growing in popularity. Buying clothing second-hand is cool to teens and cool to the environment, saving around “...5.7 billion pounds of clothing each year from landfills,” according to the Washington Post. 

“I love thrift shopping, it’s cheap and I feel responsible doing it,” said Hannah Mehalko