Often, people tend to assume that when it comes to shopping sustainably, you need to spend more money. But how can you make more sustainable choices when it comes to shopping and be on a budget as well? A lot of people have started making more conscious and sustainable life choices, especially when it comes to fashion because of the whole problematic concept called fast fashion. Fast fashion is basically an industry which produces trendy clothes, made of low quality as mass produce, on an everyday basis and these clothes are often thrown away once the style is out of sight, or rather when the season or trend dies. This is one of the leading reasons for the exploitation of human and natural resources.
So, what exactly is sustainable fashion?
The whole idea behind sustainable fashion is that the production of the clothes as well as the distribution of them, be it clothes, shoes or even accessories, is done keeping in mind the environment and the socio economic impact it will have. It also reduces the exploitation of human and natural resources and again, to keep in mind is that sustainable fashion is not absolute, every brand is not completely sustainable, it is quite impossible for that to happen, but they are sustainable in terms of the raw materials they choose to make their products out of, the way they make their products or even just their packaging. Because of all this, sustainable fashion does seem to be on the higher end as compared to fast fashion because of the whole process of sourcing the raw materials, producing the fabric out of these raw materials, the process of dyeing these fabrics, packaging with care and the charges of labor as well.
Which brings us to the question, how to shop sustainably on a budget?
- Always choose quality over quantity.
We often tend to focus on quantity rather than focusing on quality, which is why we are often forced to buy a new piece of clothing rather than using the old one. Investing in long lasting pieces which are made of good quality fiber helps in saving you the trouble of buying new clothes all the time, and saves you money in the long run as well.
- Go through your closet and check out what you already have.
We always tend to forget what we have in our closets, and end up buying the same piece of clothing all over again. After going through what you have, you can always find inspiration to work with what you already have, or rather, you can always upcycle your old clothes, and instead of buying new clothes based on the new trends, make your old clothes work with your very own trends.
- Do your research before purchasing from a sustainable brand.
Do your research before buying from a sustainable brand mainly because it helps you know what exactly are the values of this brand that claims to be sustainable, and it also helps you come across a variety of new sustainable fashion brands that help you broaden your perspective and options as well. There are plenty of sustainable brands that are affordable and would fit your budget, style and help you make the right choice too!
- Thrift shopping.
The whole idea of thrift shopping has become insanely popular, because the concept behind thrift shopping is that you are in the end, buying used clothes that were worn by someone else but later, they had no use for it and instead of throwing those clothes out, they either sold it or donated it to a thrift shop. There are shops that also allow you to rent and borrow clothes, rather than buying clothes for just that occasion, which not only helps you save a lot of money, but also helps you make the sustainable choice because let us face it, after probably wearing that fancy dress once for that occasion, we are probably going to forget about it or never wear it again, and then this dress would be lying on some corner of our closet. You can even look for some of the best wholesale liquidation stores like Quicklotz for the great variety and availability of wholesale clothing liquidation pallets at really affordable prices.
- Only buy what you need and calculate your expenses.
Calculating our expenses often helps us reduce our need to buy something new, and will also help us evaluate if we really need that piece of clothing or not. Often, we do not even need it, we just tend to shop because of the impulse to buy.
Sustainable fashion may be expensive when compared to fast fashion, but you have to keep in mind that you are buying clothes that are of a much better quality when compared to the clothes from fast fashion stores, and will also last for a very long time.
