Sustainable Ways To Buy Unsustainable Things

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I never used to think about the items I was buying. In fact, I used to be someone who would impulse buy regularly without a second thought. Now that I question where the item has come from, who made it, under what conditions, and what sort of environmental impact the making of that item has had on the planet, it’s safe to say the way I shop has changed for good.

I am a huge advocate for buying second-hand, as fast-fashion especially has a crazy impact on our world. Did you know that it can take an estimated 20,000 litres of water to make just one pair of jeans and one t-shirt? Aside from the negative impact the making of these items will have on our planet, due to CO2 emissions and what not, there is also the fact that millions of people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water, and yet we are using more than 13 years worth of clean water to make two items of clothing – it’s pretty shocking when you look into it. (These stats come from an Oxfam article)

I’m not going to get too heavy with the facts, as that’s not the point of this blog post; we simply wanted to share a few ways that you can buy unsustainable items in a more sustainable way. Hopefully you will find this useful and maybe even implement a few changes to the way you shop. Please do leave a comment with anything we’ve missed, we are always wanting to educate ourselves further and learn more.

Also, we do have a few “sustainable swaps” posts coming soon, so keep an eye out for those!

Go Online:

It doesn’t feel right starting this post without first discussing the online options available to us for second-hand shopping, especially as we’ve all been spending so much time in our homes over the past 12 months. There are so many different options available; we have personal preferences even amongst ourselves and are still discovering new apps, websites and ideas regularly.

Livvy is a big fan of Facebook Marketplace and regularly finds beautiful clothing, shoes and toys for her little ones, and I recently furnished over 50% of my new home with items found locally, which saved thousands of pounds compared to if I were to have bought everything brand new.

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Apps such as Vinted and Depop are great for buying and selling unwanted items, and are quick and easy to use. Disclaimer: also highly addictive, will sucker you in with fantastic deals and (if you have one) will go against the minimalist voice in your head telling you that the two dozen items you have just favourited are excessive at best, and entirely unnecessary at worst. You have been warned.

OLIO, Too Good To Go and other such food related apps seem to vary drastically in availability depending on your location, or so we’ve found anyway, but the more people discuss and use these platforms the better they will become! OLIO is an app for food-sharing, with an aim to reduce food waste; essentially in connects people who have extra food with those who wish to consume it, meaning that instead of throwing away your unwanted items you can arrange for someone to collect them from your house. Similarly, Too Good To Go connects customers with restaurants that have unsold, surplus food that you can buy for a fraction of it’s usual price. If you regularly use any other apps to help reduce food waste please drop us a note below as we would love to check more out!

Also, I simply have to mention Livvy’s wedding dress here! She bought it from a lovely lady who was advertising it on Facebook Marketplace at a tenth of the price it she paid for it, and it had never been worn! It was a beautiful fit and the whole look was tied together with the addition of a burgundy sash, made by her friend Carys.

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Carboots:

One of the biggest personal downsides to us during the past year has been the lack of carboot sales. Whilst we can understand why they have been paused we thoroughly enjoy spending Sunday mornings traipsing around a field looking for hidden gems, and are excited and hopeful that they will return this year. A personal highlight for me was getting my hands on an unworn JoJo Maman Bébé baby grow for just £1.50! It goes to show that often people just want rid of things and the pricings often reflect as much. These can be hit and miss, sometimes you will leave empty-handed and other times may require multiple trips back to the car (or is that just us?), but for a usual entry price of just £1, we think it’s worth the gamble. If all else fails at least you’ve spent a fun morning with your loved ones.

Charity shops:

Vintage & Kilo Fairs:

I cannot explain to you my excitement over the return of vintage kilo fairs this year! They are honestly SO amazing. That person selling original 1970s Nike tops for £25 on Depop may well have picked it up at a kilo fair for 75p (I have done this myself – the buying not the selling – and 4 years later I’m still not over what a bargain it was!).

Essentially, you get given a bag and let loose to browse all the items, and there are weighing scales throughout the venue so you can keep track of your spending. Quite simply, you pay for your items by weight, regardless of what the garment is – the exception being that any items heavier than a kilo are capped at the kilo price, meaning you can bag yourself an absolute steal on heavier items such as fur coats and leather jackets (not my vibe for ethical reasons but each to their own). There are changing rooms throughout and the entry fee is usually only £3 or so, often a little more for “early bird”, meaning you get to enter the venue an hour ahead of those with normal tickets.

Yes they can be busy, and you may have to hunt through the rails to find what you’re looking for but if you go with an open mind and a full tummy (energy is key!) I promise you will find some absolute bargains, and they will be unique to you and your style, which I personally love.

Sustainable brands:

Clothing swaps:

This concept was first introduced to me by a friend who was looking to shake up her wardrobe without dropping pennies, even on second-hand items. We both went through our wardrobes, collected up items we were no longer wearing and had a huge try-on party at her house one afternoon.

Now I know this isn’t necessarily practical for everyone, as we’re all varying shapes and sizes, but if you can think of someone you know who has fab style and pieces that always catch your eye, that is of a similar size to you, then why not suggest giving the swap a try? I know for me personally it’s so rewarding to see clothes that would otherwise go to charity being loved by a friend or family member.

I am also a huge advocate of borrowing and loaning items for a specific event; two out of the three weddings I attended in 2019 were in borrowed dresses (thank you again Naomi and Molly!) and no-one was any the wiser. I also cobbled together a particularly jazzy Halloween costume to wear to work for charity with the help of an old housemate, and it didn’t cost me a penny.

Flower swaps:

I’ll be honest, this wasn’t something that first came to mind when compiling this list, it was actually Livvy who educated me on how unsustainable most shop-bought flowers are. I mean, sure, flowers from supermarkets are usually wrapped in plastic which is obviously not great, but actually there are lots of other factors to consider, such chemical and transportation pollution – I am no expert on this, so I won’t go into anymore detail, but I did find an interesting article on Green Journal which I wanted to share.

When you search “sustainable flowers” quite a few companies come up, such as Bloom & Wild and The Real Flower Company, so there are options out there should you be interested in ordering fresh flowers. Of course you could also look at buying house or garden plants as an alternative, which will (hopefully) live much longer. We also wanted to mention dried or fake flowers as well; these obviously have a much longer shelf life and can really brighten up a room. The below images are from our mum’s house, she’s had the dried roses for over 20 years and they are still beautiful!

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Rent items:

Is there something that you’re interested in, but you are unsure on whether to financially commit to it? Or you like the idea of something but don’t have the space to have it permanently in your home? Renting might just be the in between stage that you’re looking for.

You can rent so many different items these days and it can be a nice middle ground that allows you to try out different things without fully committing or investing. For example, you can hire Lego – tell me that isn’t awesome?! Whether you do a monthly subscription or hire as a one off for a birthday party or special event, you could be building Hogwarts Castle or the Millennium Falcon in next to no time.

And Lego isn’t the only thing you can rent, the world has come a long way since Blockbusters. You could hire a suit or a dress for an event that doesn’t warrant the permanent addition of new clothes to your wardrobe or try out some new camera lenses to decide which one you want to invest in before making a big purchase that you might then regret. I can’t say for certain, but I think if you searched “rent X”, with X being the item you are interested in, you would be surprised with the results.

Please comment down below if you have rented something in the past and your feedback on your experience, I’m so curious to know what’s available!

Decorations:

Most of us don’t think twice about buying balloons or banners for a birthday celebration, but the reality is, a lot of decorations are single-use or too specific to reuse frequently. We are trying our best to shift our perspective of decorations so that we are making more sustainable choices, which not only supports our minimalist mindsets but is better for the environment too.

There are options available for compostable plates, cups, decorations etc, and with a bit of ingenuity you can compile your own party favours rather than buying sets, which are usually full of plastic toys that let’s be honest, will be forgotten about by the time your littles guests are home again.

We are planning on sharing what we do for celebrations as and when they come along, so be sure to check back in for more ideas from us in regards to Easter, birthdays, Halloween etc.

Eco gas & electric:

Now there are a few different suppliers available here, such as Octopus, Good Energy and Ecotricity, but after doing some research I recently decided to switch my energy supplier to Bulb.

I like Bulb because they provide their members with 100% renewable electricity from solar, wind and hydro, and their gas is 100% carbon neutral. They offset the emissions from the gas they supply by supporting carbon reduction projects around the world, and they buy their energy from renewable generators across the UK.

They are also cheaper than a lot of other companies. Their tariff rates are 3.177p cheaper per kWh for Electricity unit rate and 3.74p cheaper for Electricity daily standing charge compared to the most common supplier. Bulb are also 0.383p per kWh cheaper for their Gas unit rate and 6.16p per day cheaper for their Gas daily standing charge compared to the most common supplier.*

As well as this, the average Bulb member lowers their carbon impact by 3.4 tonnes of CO2 a year, which is the hard work of around 1,689 trees.

Plus, they do the switching for you and give you a discount code for friends and family, whereby you both get a financial bonus once it’s been activated from the switch. If anyone is interested in looking into Bulb, my referral code can be found here.

*Accurate on 04/03/21

Ask friends or family to buy an item for a special occasion:

Before you say anything, I know, this doesn’t sound like a particularly sustainable way to purchase anything, as the point remains that someone is still buying the item new, right? Well hear me out. You may be lucky enough that all your friends and family have the same mindset as you and buy everything as sustainably as possible, but that doesn’t mean that everyone has that luxury.

If you have family or friends who buy new then why not use it to your advantage and ask for specific items for birthdays or Christmas. This way you or your littles will receive something useful and wanted, rather than an enjoyable but possibly unnecessary gift. I know Livvy and Paul have done this before and have consequently been gifted truly beautiful items that they probably wouldn’t have otherwise, as they were struggling to find them second-hand.

This journey is just that; a journey. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, 100% or failure. Every small change that you make is a step in the right direction, but no path is entirely straight-forward, so cut yourself and those around you some slack, and appreciate that where you can you are making changes. If you can think of anything we have missed off our list then please get in contact, we are learning just the same as everyone else and are by no means experts.

Take care and speak soon,

Summer and Livvy