I visit the local thrift store

=> I give my things away instead of throwing them away

=> I make it easier for people in need to find local jobs

=> I reduce my carbon footprint buying second-hand items

When you’re moving in somewhere, as is my case, you quickly discover the infernal vicious cycle of becoming a serial consumer. Of course, it makes sense to make yourself feel at home, so you buy things that you need to cook, wash, entertain yourself, clean the flat, stow things away and whatnots. So how should I go around about it?

To be honest, I was lucky because I don’t have a car, supermarkets are far, and so to settle in comfortably without spending hours in mass transit I had to find a solution quickly. I’m especially lucky since a few hundred meters away from my office, there is an extraordinary site that answers all my dreams perfectly. THE THRIFT SHOP.

What is a thrift shop? It is a place that recovers and recycles old, broken or defective objects from donations or even landfills. Very often the work is done by persons who have had difficulty finding more conventional jobs. A bit of tinkering, cleaning, and buffing up works miracles and resurrects objects to a new life where they start off sold at a very affordable price.

There you have it, a slight tweak in the daily consumer routine makes it easy to buy without negatively impacting the planet (saving on waste management and production costs). Furthermore, it makes the local economy more lively as it creates jobs that are sought after by persons in need of resources.

Additionally it’s light on the wallet, and it’s a great pleasure to savor the kind of hide-and-seek feeling that you usually only get at flea markets and garage sales, opening shelves and skimming the clothes racks for that special little object that wants to extend its rich lifetime with you for a while. New is dull!

Up to you now, of course you’ll have understood that Thrift Shops like Emmaüs and others are on our side in the fight to change the world, so let’s benefit from them!