Shop secondhand to help save the environment

The fashion industry is said to be the second most polluting industry in the world, right after oil. Currently, textile waste accounts for about 5 percent of all landfill space, according to The Council for Textile Recycling, and that T-shirt you’re wearing took upwards of 715 gallons of water to produce (WWF).

As a first-year landscape architecture student at Cal Poly, I care deeply about our environment and the impact we as consumers leave behind. Luckily, San Luis Obispo is full of secondhand stores that offer a cheaper and more sustainable way to shop, especially for a young college student. Upon moving to SLO, I was impressed by the selection of secondhand stores, although I wish there was more of a trend for students to shop at them. Giving them your business not only helps to keep clothing out of landfills and from being produced, but also harbors a greater sense of style and individualism.

My hope is that consumers in SLO continue to support and find value in their secondhand stores.

This story was originally published April 8, 2017 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Shop secondhand to help save the environment."