Second Hand September
Whether you have just started at university or you are returning, being away from home means fending for yourself and budgeting, which is a great reason to embrace Second Hand September (SHS). Buying food and paying bills will be the priority, along with perhaps a bus pass to get you to your campus. By cutting out online and high street clothes shopping for the month, you will not only be saving money but reducing waste and environmental impacts. Started in 2019 by Oxfam, SHS attempts to promote sustainable fashion, reduce the environmental impact of clothing production and aims to change consumer behaviour to support second-hand markets as a key part of the solution to the fashion industry’s waste problem. It also supports circular fashion encouraging re-purposing and repairing clothes to extend their life and reduce waste, which in turn will reduce the environmental impact of the industry. To be involved, all you need to do is avoid buying brand new clothes during September, and if you do need to make a purchase, buy second hand instead.
How to get involved:
Shop second-hand: Visit charity shops and online marketplaces. Many charities now have online shops.
Repair and re-use: Learn how to repair damaged clothing rather than throwing items out.
Donate: If you have any unwanted items donate them to a charity shop.
Clothing swap: Organise or attend a clothing swap.
Raise awareness: Share tips and purchases on social media.
Although SHS is aimed at cutting waste and improving sustainability in the fashion industry, the principles can be applied to all items we purchase.
More ways to have an impact on sustainability and reduce environmental impacts:
Charity shops don’t just sell clothes. If you need items for your student accommodation, you may be able to find them in a charity shop. Merchiston campus is conveniently situated for several charity shops in Morningside, but there are many shops all over the city. As well as clothes you will be able to find crockery (mis-matched is very on trend), glassware, books to read and board games to play in your spare time and small furniture items all at reasonable prices.
Sites such as Gumtree offer all sorts of free items which may be just what you are looking for or are suitable for upcycling.
Learn how to:
Edinburgh Libraries have many books on sewing and upcycling which you can borrow to learn how to do repairs and repurpose items. Membership is free and borrowing books is both sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Repair Cafe Edinburgh offers advice and help from volunteers. Booking a slot is recommended and can be done through repaircafeedinburgh@gmail.com
Edinburgh Tool Library has thousands of tools which can be borrowed to carry out your upcycling and repairs.
You Tube has lots of videos on how to mend clothes and upcycle household items.
Other benefits of taking part:
You will learn new skills.
You may get to know like-minded people and make new friends.
Initiatives are mostly staffed by volunteers. Shopping in a charity shop or attending a repair class might make you try volunteering yourself and will make a valuable addition to your CV.
Making purchases in charity shops also benefits their fundraising efforts.
Edinburgh Napier Campus Libraries
Borrowing books from our libraries is of course sustainable and cuts environmental impacts. Throughout the summer we have been withdrawing stock which is no longer relevant or contains out of date information. Our withdrawn stock is packed up and sent to Better World Books who divert books from landfill and sell them on second hand at affordable prices or donate them to non-profit organisations. As part of their commitment to environmental sustainability they never throw away a book. They recycle any book for which they cannot find a proper home – that is why they have gained B corp certification which is awarded to companies which achieve high standards of social and environmental performance.
You may also find using ebooks convenient. These can be found using our catalogue Library Search and as they are in electronic format they have little environmental impact. Most of the articles we have access to are available electronically too, so using these resources reduces waste from our libraries.
Give Second Hand September a try and you may find you get the second hand bug!
By Vivienne Hamilton
Get cosy with some Autumn posts
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