Second Hand September – in November!
I don’t know about you but I find it hard to keep up with all the initiatives these days. I missed Scotland’s Storytelling Festival and Book Week – or is that still to come? There was Poetry Day and a Festival of the Future over in Dundee. Film Festivals? Art Events? Write a Novel in a Month? The list seems endless but I couldn’t believe I’d missed, Second Hand September, because I need no persuading or arm twisting to promote charity clothes shopping.
I love clothes and I love shopping in second hand shops and…it just so happens it’s good for the environment, too. I’ll quote only one statistic in this article: every week the UK sends 11 million items of clothing to landfill. Second Hand September was initiated and promoted by Oxfam and the point is to buy no new clothes for 30 days. However, if like me you want to refresh your wardrobe, let me encourage you to go seek out the wonderful second hand shop we have on the main street of Tayport.
Going there you are greeted with a cheery smile and there is no blaring pop/rock music to annoy you. You are left to browse in peace and there is a great range of clothes and labels I would never be able to afford at full price.
There are no queues at the till and an empty changing room. And just to be clear, this article is for men too! My husband and brother both love a bargain from a charity shop. My granddaughter, too, is clothed mainly second hand – in New-Zealand!
My initial impulse to shop like this came out of financial necessity when I went part-time in my job. A friend introduced me to the joys of charity shops and me – and my wardrobe – have never looked back since. Any clothes clear out I have, goes back to the charity shops. It is shopping with a clear conscience and I never feel embarrassed about admitting that the vast majority of my clothes are second hand. There are great charity shops in all our nearby towns; believe me, I’ve hunted for bargains in all of them! A clothes swap is another sustainable antidote to my shopping habit and I usually head across to Dundee, once a month, for the Clothes Swap and Repair café, on the Perth Road. The next date is Saturday, 30th November.
So, good luck with Second Hand September in November or December or any other month you fancy trying out second hand shopping!
