50 Times People Hit Jackpot While Thrifting And Just Had To Brag About It Online (New Pics)

Thrifting has become wildly popular in recent years, especially among the younger generations. People are buying more consciously, and secondhand stores are the place to be when it comes to sustainable fashion.

There might have been a stigma attached to buying second-hand clothes a few decades ago. It was seen as "less-than." But nowadays, thrifters are considered cool, socially conscious, and fashion-forward. For some, it’s more than just shopping… It’s a lifestyle.

Thrifting goes hand-in-hand with sustainable living, say the environmentalists at the University of Colorado Boulder. And there are several reasons why buying secondhand goods is good for the planet.

“Most clothes are made from synthetic materials, which take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills,” reads the university’s site. “When you thrift, you help extend the life of clothes, which can reduce the volume of clothing sent to landfills each year.”

According to the activist group Greenpeace, 1.92 million tonnes of textile waste is produced every year. And a staggering 92 million tonnes of discarded garments find their way into dumps around the world—out of the 100 billion produced annually.

The clothing industry—especially fast fashion—and its consumers also contribute to wasted resources. Making clothes takes a whole lot of water. Like, a lot of water. According to the University of Colorado, one pair of jeans is estimated to consume about 1,800 gallons of water during the manufacturing process and the cotton growth stage. Greenpeace adds that 2 billion pairs of jeans are produced every year.

Meanwhile, that t-shirt you're wearing probably took around 700 gallons of water to produce. To put it into perspective, that's the amount of water an average person drinks over the course of 900 days.

Studies have shown that many people don't keep the same clothes in the cupboard for more than a year. And one study found that a lot of garments are chucked out after no more than 10 wearings.

“Thrifting keeps clothing in use for longer, which can help limit wasted resources through decreased demand for new products,” say the university's experts. The Geneva Environment Network adds that the fashion industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for 2-8% of global carbon emissions.

'Waste not, want not' is a good rule to live by. "In today’s society of consumerism, people often buy things without realizing they don’t really need them, and with items that are cheap and accessible people tend to throw them away," notes Goodwill International.

"To help lessen the impact that this has on the environment, you can choose to donate things instead of tossing them and consider looking for an item secondhand next time you need something."