The Joy of Thrifting
Shopping at thrift stores is good for a fistful of reasons: you’ll find practical, unusual, and unexpected items at bargain prices, while at the same time, supporting our local workers, local economy and, often, local non-profits!
As a big bonus, thrift store shopping supports a more sustainable world. The embodied emissions – the energy that goes into extracting, processing, and forming raw materials into new products, then packaging and transporting them – is huge! Furthermore, the creation of these products contributes to the destruction of ecosystems and the wildlife that inhabit them, can require new roads that devastate indigenous communities, cause significant pollution in neighborhoods and communities (disproportionately those where Black and brown people live) and use a ton of water.
But buying previously owned items--from shirts, silverware, and sewing machines to bicycles, boots, bathtubs, and paint brushes--avoids all that. Pretty amazing, huh?
Best of all? Thrift store shopping is fun! Sometimes, we find just what we’re looking for at an amazing price, and sometimes we find something good enough – reminding us of the importance of flexibility and detaching from perfection and hyper-consumption. That’s pretty fun too. Use the guide below to begin your treasure hunt in Boulder County’s dozens of reuse shops!
Check out the new Thrift Store Guide developed by City of Boulder Climate Initiatives, in collaboration with the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, Boulder County and Eco-Cycle:
See outdated information? Are we missing your favorite thrift store? Let us know at zerowaste@bouldercolorado.gov
