Are you conscientious about your environmental impact? How do you try to reduce your impact on the environment?

    To be honest, I am not the most conscientious about my environmental impact in everyday life. I give no thought to using plastic bags at the grocery store or buying new clothes. However, one thing I have been thinking about over the past year, especially during quarantine has been being conscientious while shopping for clothes. Fast fashion has been a huge trend this era because of how affordable and cute the clothes are. As enticing as this may sound, there are just as many, if not more, downsides. Clothes are not made properly and are of poor quality because many people get rid of them after a year or two which just brings more clothes to the landfill. The clothes are also made of cheap material that when made, is not good for the environment and also does not decompose. Ethically, many of these companies underpay workers overseas to make these clothes in sweatshops for long hours because they have to churn out new clothes quickly. After learning all of this, I was determined to make a small impact by changing how I shop for clothes so that I wouldn't be supporting these environmentally unfriendly options. 

    The transition to stop shopping at some of these stores was very hard. Buying truly ethical pieces of clothing costs a lot of money and most of the physical stores in Champaign were not those types of stores. I also couldn't stop my parents from buying me clothes from those stores because it wouldn't be appropriate to turn down a gift because it was bought from Urban Outfitters. I couldn't go shopping at the mall and I knew this wasn't going to work long-term because I did not have the money to invest in ethical clothes. My weekly pay from the donut shop was not enough to pay for a $150 pair of jeans. 

    Then came COVID-19. During the quarantine, it was easy to not shop because I wasn't going anywhere and I didn't need anything new. I did a lot of research during this time on places to shop that I could invest lifelong pieces from, but the price range was still very daunting. This is when I started to get into thrifting and reselling clothes. I sell my own closet on Poshmark, which is an online reselling app. Along with selling a bunch of clothes, I was able to buy clothes through the app. Every time I would buy something, I would be happy the rest of the day knowing that I got a pair of new Nike shoes for half the price. By this time, I wasn't shopping for the environment, but it just happened to be that way since a lot of the in-person stores were closed. If I was going to buy clothes that I didn't know would fit me or not, why not buy second-hand?

    Since the first time I went thrifting, I have been discouraged from going again because it was frustrating looking for something you want that you don't even know is there. I wanted to try again once I experienced the joy of online thrifting, but because of the virus, I didn't feel safe touching a bunch of used clothes. In the summer of this year, I started going thrifting every single week, even multiple times a week. Since we only have a limited selection of Goodwills in the Champaign area, it was hard to find new items since I was going so often. I would get so many clothes every time I went, making me think if I'm even making the environment better because I sometimes regretted my impulse purchases. Even though it was only a $4 sweater, if I don't end up wearing the piece then I am just keeping it from being worn by someone who would wear it. So I would just resell the pieces on Poshmark for my own personal financial gain. 

    Now, the more I thrift, the more conscious I am about how much I am buying and if I will wear the clothes frequently. If I hesitate for even a second, I put the item back knowing that someone else will use it better than I will. Now shopping with this mindset, both at stores and thrifting, allows me to limit the number of clothes being added to my closet as well as forcing me to get more wear out of the clothes I already have.

    I can't get everyone in the whole world to stop shopping fast fashion. Not everyone has the luxury of buying ethical clothing or thrifting, but I believe that everyone can be a mindful shopper. To not just impulse purchase but to take your time thinking about whether or not you will use the item and if you will cherish it for a long time.