As concerns about textile waste grow, shoppers are turning to sustainable shopping as an alternative to traditional retail.
In turn, thrift stores, secondhand stores, and reuse centers are growing in popularity to help tackle fashion waste.
Resource Depot is one of them.
Located on Florida Avenue near downtown West Palm Beach, Resource Depot is a nonprofit creative reuse center that collects donated creative supplies and unique items then redistributes them to the community for artistic and educational projects.
The center offers two main shopping experiences.
In the Materials Marketplace, visitors can “shop-by-the-bin,” filling a $5 small bin or a $10 large bin with any donated treasures they find. The TreasuRE Boutique offers shoppers unique, pre-packaged and locally made items.
“Not only are we keeping them out of the waste stream, but most importantly, we’re fueling creativity in the community and we’re providing these materials at a fraction of retail value,” said Jennifer O’Brien, the executive director of Resource Depot.
Resource Depot is centered on promoting behavior change and sustainability in creativity. They regularly receive donations of reusable materials that total hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.
Catering to the community, especially local artists, students and educators, their mission is to turn “waste into wonder” and upcycle materials that can spark creativity.
Though not everyone may need arts and crafts supplies.
But clothes resonate with everyone, O’Brien said.
Maybe too much.
In the United States alone, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated about 17 million tons of textile was generated in 2018. Of that, only about 15% was recycled, but around 65% ended up in landfills.
Globally, about 92 million tonnes of 100 billion garments go to landfills. If the fashion waste cycle continues, it could go up to 134 million tonnes a year by 2030.
The amount of time a piece of clothing is worn before being thrown away has also declined to about 36%, with the average American throwing away about 81.5 pounds of clothes each year.
Fast fashion, a decline in recycling, throwaway culture and low-quality materials are to blame, yet fast fashion brands are producing more each year and more clothes are going to waste in a continuously harmful cycle.
Organizations like Resource Depot have taken notice and action to help break the waste cycle.
For a weekend each year, Resource Depot dives into pre-loved fashion.
During Resource Depot’s fifth annual REfashion Weekend, ‘REfashionistas’ browsed through racks of donated women’s clothes, filling their bags and restyling their closets with style and sustainability in mind.
“It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Chelsea Passauer, Resource Depot’s program coordinator, said. “It shifts us a little from what we usually do to something that is also equally important, which is thrifting our clothes.”
The art supplies and creative novelties are nudged aside and replaced with racks and shelves of gently used women’s clothing, accessories and shoes for a three-day sustainable shopping spree.
The event kick-started on March 6 with an early access VIP experience and continued with morning and afternoon sessions on March 7, allowing shoppers to rediscover sustainable styles with deals and discounts.
The event wrapped up with Fashion by the Pound Monday, a new addition to REfashion Weekend, where shoppers paid $2 per pound.
“It’s just another way to get people who may have a lower budget be able to participate in the programming and with the fundraising, which I think is a wonderful way to get our whole community involved,” Passauer said.
The remaining items were picked up by Resource Depot’s charity partners after the event.
“It would be a good problem to have if we didn’t have enough donations because it means people are holding onto their clothes a little longer,” O’Brien said.
The first-floor GalleRE space, which normally exhibits local creative reuse art, was transformed into an eco-friendly boutique with some individually priced and designer pieces.
Others were priced by category with formal dresses, casual dresses, suits, matching sets, jackets, bathing suits, shorts, denim, blouses and more, all organized on racks with discounts.
Jewelry and accessories, from pearl necklaces and brooches to pieces made from reusable materials, were marked with colored stickers indicating prices from $2 to $10. There was also a section with shoes, hats and bags.
Upstairs, which is typically used for workshops and field trips, the Fill-A-Bag experience took over.
Shoppers were handed a tote bag, as part of their entry ticket, to fill with any treasures they found.
There were shelves with folded shorts, plain shirts, bathing suits, denim and more, clearly labeled by size and type. There were also hangers with graphic tees, long-sleeve shirts, blouses, dresses, button-ups and more, some hung by color.
Olivia Shand, a Palm Beach State College student who exclusively shops second-hand, sifted through a rack of jeans with her tote bag half full, not looking for anything in particular.
But that was the magic of it.
“I love it,” Shand said, grinning. “It’s the rush of finding something new and you can find good designer things if you take the time to look.”
Shand compared clothes to heirlooms, emphasizing the importance of not wasting anything.
This year, about 200 ‘REfashionistas’ attended REfashion Weekend and Resource Depot collected about 4,000 pounds of clothes.
The event proceeds went towards Resource Depot’s community outreach programs and O’Brien hopes they can make young people see that second-hand is okay and erase the taboo surrounding it.
O’Brien believes that with the current state of the world, people are starting to reflect on their habits and consumerism and by attending fun community gatherings like REfashion Weekend, they’re already making positive, sustainable choices for the planet even if they don’t know it.
Shoppers are already showing an increasing trend towards upcycling and secondhand shopping.
In 2024, 58% of consumers shopped secondhand for various reasons, including better deals and helping the planet.
Already, younger generations are attaching to the trend, with 68% shoping secondhand in 2024 and for 48% having secondhand options as their first choice.
Moreover, resale is growing online and on social media and will nearly double over the next five years to $40 billion.
O’Brien put it best: “Being sustainable can be stylish.”
