Daisy Dewsnap: Support our charity shops

Regular columnist, secondary school student Daisy Dewsnap explains why shopping at charity shops will not only save you money - but could also help save the planet!

One of my favourite things to do is browse the charity shops, looking for unique finds to take home with me! 

Charity shopping, otherwise known as thrifting, is becoming more and more popular as more of these shops open on our high streets and in various shopping outlets for people to visit looking for second-hand bargains. 

As someone who thoroughly enjoys buying from these shops, I wanted to put together an article on some of the reasons why you should shop at charity shops.

We all love a good bargain, don’t we? Something that I love about charity shops is how cheap they are yet you can find some incredible things there. 

In the past, I have bought countless books and clothes for such great prices and representing amazing value for money. It goes to show that you don’t have to go on a huge spending spree to purchase some lovely new stuff! Due to many of the items being second-hand, there will be huge reductions in the prices and cost of them.

While these affordable prices are great and benefit us as shoppers, we are also helping the charities and those in need. 

As well as giving money to a good cause, we are also helping to raise awareness and spreading the word about many different charities and what they do.

It always gives me a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I’ve helped people and put my money towards a good cause. 

Plus, some of the clothes that you can purchase are just like new and in perfect condition so it’s a win-win for both the customer and the charities!

Another reason why I love shopping in charity shops is because it is great for the environment and sustainable! 

If we were all to shop in these charity shops, then there would be much less pressure and demand for new clothes to be produced.

This would mean that fewer clothes would have to be made, therefore there would be much less energy being used to make and transport these. This decrease in energy needed, will lead on to a reduction in the carbon footprint! And this all stems from you buying these recycled goods from charity shops!

The final thing that I find is a huge advantage of purchasing clothes, bric-a-brac and furniture from these individual shops is how unique it enables you to be. 

You can find products that are no longer being sold by global fashion retailers or chains of high street shops. 

I love the freedom and originality you can have through buying these one-off items. I read another article that described charity shops as a museum of vintage goods and I think this perfectly sums up just how many hidden gems you can find in these places.

These are only four of the reasons why everyone should consider buying from charity shops, though there are countless more besides! 

I hope that this article has spurred you on and encouraged you to take a visit to one of your local charity shops.