Why Buying Second Hand Is One of the Best Things You Can Do for the Planet

Let's be honest. Most of us don't buy second hand clothing purely because it's sustainable. We buy it because we find better brands, better quality and often pay a fraction of the original price.

The environmental benefits just happen to be a pretty big bonus.

The fashion industry is one of the world's biggest polluters, accounting for around 10% of global carbon emissions. It also uses vast amounts of water, energy and raw materials to produce clothing that, in many cases, is only worn a handful of times.

Choosing preloved clothing is a simple way to reduce that impact without changing your style.

Every Garment Already Exists

One of the biggest advantages of buying second hand is that the clothing has already been made.

Think about everything that goes into producing a new T-shirt. Cotton has to be grown, harvested, spun into fabric, dyed, sewn together, packaged and shipped across the world before it even reaches a shop.

A single cotton T-shirt uses roughly 2,700 litres of water during production. A pair of jeans uses around 7,500 litres.

When you buy preloved, you're not creating demand for another new item. You're simply giving an existing one another chance to be worn.

Wearing Clothes For Longer Makes a Huge Difference

One of the easiest ways to reduce fashion's environmental impact is simply to wear clothes for longer.

Research from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that extending the life of a garment by just nine months can reduce its carbon, water and waste footprint by around 20 to 30%.

That's one of the reasons we love older clothing.

Many vintage and older branded pieces were built to last. Brands like Levi's, Ralph Lauren, Barbour and The North Face often used heavier fabrics and stronger construction than you'll find on many modern equivalents.

Good clothing deserves more than one owner.

Fast Fashion Has Changed How We Value Clothes

Cheap clothing has made it easy to treat garments as disposable.

The UK sends an estimated 300,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill every year, and globally the equivalent of a rubbish truck full of textiles is thrown away or burned every second.

That's a huge amount of perfectly wearable clothing going to waste.

Buying second hand helps slow that cycle. Instead of another item being produced, you're helping keep an existing one in use.

Preloved Doesn't Mean Lower Quality

This is probably the biggest misconception we come across.

People sometimes assume second hand means worn out or poor quality. In reality, we regularly come across clothing that's built better than many brand new items on the high street.

A well-made vintage jacket, wool coat or heavyweight denim shirt can easily outlast something made today at the same price.

We also know buying second hand online can feel like a gamble.

That's why we carefully inspect every item before it goes on the website. We describe any flaws honestly, photograph the actual item you'll receive and grade everything consistently. We'd much rather someone knows exactly what they're buying than be disappointed when it arrives.

Small Decisions Add Up

No single purchase is going to save the planet.

But thousands of small decisions made by lots of people genuinely make a difference.

Choosing a preloved jumper instead of a new one. Picking up a quality vintage coat that you'll wear every winter. Repairing a favourite pair of jeans rather than replacing them.

Those choices all help reduce waste and get more life out of clothing that's already here.

Thinking About Shopping Second Hand?

You don't have to replace your whole wardrobe overnight.

A good place to start is simply checking whether you can find something second hand before buying it new.

You'll often end up with a better quality item, spend less money and keep another piece of clothing in circulation.

That's exactly why Brass Hanger exists.

We spend our days hunting through thousands of garments to find the pieces that are worth wearing again. Everything is individually checked, honestly described and ready for its next owner.

If that also happens to be better for the planet, even better.

Have a browse through our latest arrivals and see what you find. You might be surprised what someone else decided they no longer needed.