How to shop Sustainably
Shopping, heck living sustainably is one of the biggest impacts we can make as consumers! Find Risk Thrift’s best tips to making a BIG difference.
Reduce.
Yep, you read that right. Buying LESS is the most important step to being sustainable!
Wear and use what you already own. Be content and be respectful.
Which leads us to number two!
Respect.
It’s a weird way to look at inanimate objects, but it’s true. Your fashion and decor deserve a home with longevity.
Wash and dry your clothing the safe way. Don’t skimp on handwashing and be careful with delicate fabrics and pieces. If you don’t want to commit to that time and effort, that’s okay! Just don’t purchase the pieces that need that special care.
Repair.
Second to respecting your items, is repairing them when they need help. Don’t toss them aside when they are stained, torn, or damaged.
Reuse.
When you do decide you need a new item in your home, find them secondhand. Either from a family/friend, or from the thrift! There are thousands, MILLIONS of pieces waiting their next home. Don’t let them end up at the landfill.
Reliable.
You can’t expect “cheap” items to last. When you bring something new into your home, make sure it is crafted with quality, care, and longevity in mind. You’ll find certain materials just last better than others.
Metal, cotton, wood, linen, wool… natural materials over man-made.
Sustainable companies versus Fast Fashion and trendy companies. You get the idea?
Research.
If you desire a new item, do your best to research sustainable companies, and small businesses versus “money grabbers”.
Real people behind the scenes, who care about the earth, and the impact their business has on it.
Recycle.
Notice how this is last? Recycling almost always pops up first when talking about sustainability, when in fact, it should be one of your last steps to ensuring the pieces put into this world have a long life.
Plenty of companies can slap a “Made with 10% recycled plastic” on their containers, but that isn’t solving the problem.
When you have gone through all of these previous steps, when the item you hold can no longer be reused, repaired, or given to another person, then, and only until then, do we recycle the material.
Repeat.
Yep, keep doing these things, over and over. Sustainability isn’t a trend, some fling you toss aside when it gets too hard.
You can’t just toss the earth aside.
