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Choosing secondhand baby clothes conserves valuable resources in a simple, affordable way. It also keeps those barely worn baby duds in circulation—keeping them out of the landfill.

Find it! Secondhand baby clothes vendors

So whether you're in need of something new for your little one, or on the prowl for a place to recycle things your child's outgrown, we've got you covered. These days there are many websites that offer a place for you to buy, sell, or trade almost anything—especially baby goods. Some, like Freecycle, even provide a place where others are offering to give away their used items for free. For a larger list of baby clothes resale websites and stores, visit Baby-Place.com.

Before you buy

Some secondhand items are in good condition, while others have seen more use. Be sure to carefully examine the item before purchase. Check snaps and other fasteners. If buying online, make sure there are good quality photos available of the item.

Choosing secondhand baby clothes helps you go green because…

• No new resources are used to produce new clothes, and therefore, no additional pesticides or other chemicals are required to grow textile crops, like conventional cotton.
• Items are resold and reused, rather than ending up in a landfill.

By purchasing used clothing there are few, if any, environmental repercussions. New clothing, sustainable or not, always has some attached environmental impact. Consider the transport of bamboo fiber from China to a manufacturer in Canada, the lax environmental regulations in developing countries where many clothes are made, or the resources used in the cultivation and production of fibers.

Fiber cultivation and production

Synthetic fiber

Synthetic baby clothes can be made of petroleum-based products like nylon or polyester, or wood-based fabrics like rayon and acetone. The search for and procurement of petroleum has had major detrimental impacts on the soil, ground water, surface water, and ecosystems of the US and around the world.[1] Petroleum refineries release toxic, hazardous air pollutants, such as BTEX compounds, and criteria air pollutants, like sulfur dioxide.[2] Wood-based synthetic baby clothes eat up a lot of water and chemicals during the extraction process.[3] By choosing secondhand clothes, no additional resources, chemicals, or pollutants are required to manufacture what you wear.

Cotton fiber

Conventional cotton is considered to be the world's most pesticide-intensive crop. In the US, an estimated one-third pound of agricultural chemicals are used to produce a single cotton T-shirt.[4] The various chemicals used to treat conventional cotton can harm beneficial insects and soil micro-organisms, pollute ground and surface water, and adversely affect the health of humans and wildlife—including fish, birds, and livestock.[5]

The farming of cotton is also water-intensive. Approximately 400 gallons of water are required to produce a single cotton T-shirt.[6] Buying secondhand means that no additional cotton had to be grown to produce your baby's clothes, keeping harmful chemicals out of the environment and saving water.

Landfill waste

An estimated 10.6 million tons of textiles were generated in 2003, with the average American discarding about 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per year—85 percent of which ends up in landfills.[7] Donating your old clothing to a thrift store or charity can help cut back on the amount of textile waste that goes to landfills, but even these organizations cannot use all the clothing donated to them. That's where textile recycling companies or textile materials recovery facilities (MRFs) can help.

The textile recycling industry prevents 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textile product waste from entering the solid waste stream every year, according to the Council for Textile Recycling (CTR). There are other benefits too: textile recycling firms are able to recycle 93 percent of the waste they process without producing any new hazardous waste or harmful by-products, and export 61 percent of their products helping to chip away at the US trade deficit.[7] The CTR estimates that 48 percent of reclaimed textiles are reused as secondhand clothing, while 26 percent are converted into fiber to be used in new textile products and 20 percent become wiping and polishing cloths.[8]

Related health issues

Chemicals released by petroleum refineries are known or suspected carcinogens, and have been linked to developmental and reproductive problems. Many of these chemicals may also aggravate respiratory conditions, like childhood asthma.[2]

Controversies

Some secondhand stores operate under the name of a charity, but are operated by for-profit companies that may not use the full amount of revenues to support the mission of the organization. Get the information you need about a potential secondhand store so that you can make an informed decision by determining whether the outlet is operated by a nonprofit or for-profit organization. Goodwill Industries International, Inc. has a checklist to make sure your money and donations go to a good cause.

External links

• US Environmental Protection Agency - Municipal Solid Waste: Textiles