Are second-hand shops a real solution to decrease our C02 footprint when it comes to the fashion industry?
By Ona Canales Angerri
According to Circular Copenhagen, every year approximately 6,000 tonnes of textiles end up as residual waste for incineration in Copenhagen. The Nordic Co-operation affirms in a study that nordic citizens consume more textiles than the global average, wearing between 26 and 48 garments per person every year. Europeans throw about 11 kg of textiles each year, and only 1% is recycled.
What can be done in Copenhagen to lower its C02 footprint when it comes to fashion consumption?
We already know the answer: reduce, reuse and recycle. These are the basic, elemental habits to start changing our way to consume. And Copenhagen is aware of that. The city has plenty of second-hand stores full of reused and repaired clothes, ready to be worn again and have longer shelf lives.
second-hand store, Copenhagen. Photo: Ona Canales Angerri.
Juan de Marzi (30, Argentina) works in Episode, one of those stores that also sells new clothes made from old leftovers. Reduce, reuse and recycle. When I asked him why there are so many second-hand shops in Copenhagen, he quickly answered. “Activism and fashion. There are a lot of people crazy about fashion and also a lot of other people against big companies, so that’s important. It’s a mix of both.”
Makes sense. But is this enough for second-hand stores to actually survive as fashion businesses? De Marzi believes so, “because most clothes are made with good materials, so they last longer. If you compare Levi’s trousers with H&M trousers, the ones from H&M will look completely different or start ripping apart after washing them a few times. Levi’s ones are going to last, at least, fifty years.”
Impressive. However, their economic viability does not necessarily guarantee an environmental mindset. Clothes not able to be resold, for example. What happens with them? Are they thrown away? “No, no”, he responded. “Clothes with holes or something like that have to be sent back to the head office, where they get fixed or sent to other places to sell them, but nothing is thrown away. We sell reused clothes made from old, broken ones.”So they never die. Circular economy, said someone. De Marzi also pointed out that “all the stuff that we sell here passes through a really deep cleaning, like an industrial cleaning, so it’s kind of brand new.” Just in case someone was still against second-hand shops.
He admitted that, when having to choose which clothes to resell or not to resell, not everything is selected. “There is some stuff that we have in big quantities, but we have limited storage, so we check where the clothes come from. Also, most people working here are involved in fashion, so most of them know what people like.” That does not mean, though, that anything discarded will become waste. Another shop (or business) may want it.
So, answering the big question, “yes, of course.” De Marzi mentioned that “the best option is to trade between each other and without money involved. But perhaps when you want to find something really special for you, the search becomes more difficult. But yes, I believe that buying in second hand stores and trading between people is a good way to reduce our impact on the environment.”
This story is for an audience in Spain and could be published on https://www.vogue.es/