Clothes sharing in the family
Hi, my name is Tito, I’m in year 12. This year I decided I would stop buying new clothes.
So what forms can this pledge take? The one I would consider easiest, cheapest and most underappreciated is sharing clothes within your family. Who doesn’t like their dad’s way-too-big hoodies and tops? In my case, I have taken t-shirts that my dad would never wear and, as a result, I have not needed to buy any brand-new tops. Of course, this saves money and, in my opinion more importantly, resources.
My favourite ‘borrowed’ items of clothing (above) are a green and blue striped long sleeve polo that my dad used to wear when he was about 16 like me and a white t-shirt with lots of doodles of cats with comical faces. They are both in great condition and I wear them often, showing just how useful this sharing is.
Another sharing idea we have at home is to share jackets and coats. Good quality coats are particularly expensive, so it would not make sense to get a new one if the old one is not very damaged. Also, this has obvious environmental benefits, as jackets require a lot of material to make and this should not be wasted.
This (sadly) should also go the other way, so as I am roughly the same size as my dad, he sometimes borrows my clothes, meaning he does not need to buy new. These trades can take some negotiating skills but, in my opinion, this is a great way to vary wardrobes for free in an eco-friendly way.