Buying second-hand clothing has become increasingly trendy in recent years, with websites like Depop and Vinted promoting the sale of pre-loved clothes. Figures from GlobalData claim that the clothes resale market in the UK grew by 149% from 2016 to 2022. The proliferation of charity shops has also seen increasing numbers of people sourcing second-hand pieces for their wardrobes, but is this the best way to shop sustainably in 2025?
The low prices we have become accustomed to in our charity shops often lead to overconsumption of low-quality and easily damaged clothing. Without an environmentally sound way to dispose of all the excess clothing they receive, charity shops may not be the beacons of sustainable fashion we perceive them to be.
I sat down with Erin Taylor Thomas and PJ Cunningham from Beg, Steal & Borrow to get a picture of a new approach to second-hand shopping with sustainability at its heart. A community-focused pre-loved clothes shop with premises in Afflecks and Withington, Beg, Steal & Borrow trades store credit to people who donate to the shop so that they can then spend that credit on clothes in the shop. They only accept long-lasting, unique items, encouraging customers to donate clothes and then repurchase from the shop in a circular economic cycle.
As well as providing fashionable clothing at an affordable price, a model like this could mean fewer garments being produced and bought new in the long run. Moreover, their choice to only accept certain pieces of clothing means that, unlike most charity shops, they are not inundated with clothing that isn’t sold and ends up being disposed of.
However, the most striking thing about the shop is undoubtedly its bright pink walls, and the equally bright and welcoming smiles from the people who work there. With a gorgeous fringed teal biker jacket on one rail and a sleek black leather vest on another, the atmosphere in BSB could not be further from your average charity shop.
“The most sustainable thing you can do is use clothes that are already created because there are so many clothes out there already,” Erin tells me as soon as I sit down. “I hate new clothes anyway because the quality is not very good and there’s so much morally tied to it… I find it really hard to just ignore that side of fast fashion”.
Erin gets all her clothing at the shop and circulates everything she wears back through the shop, which she says allows her to experiment with her style as often as she likes. Sporting a textured blue halter-neck top that sets off her shock of pink hair, it is easy to see how this way of shopping can be joyful as well as environmental.
Whilst it is undeniable that buying something second-hand from a site like Vinted or from a charity shop is more environmentally sound than buying new, recent years have seen more and more people waking up to the unique environmental difficulties these pose.
The lower prices which go with clothes sold in these shops, as well as the sense that you are being environmentally conscious by buying second-hand, often leads to overconsumption of clothes which are poor quality and so only worn scant times, if at all. This is coupled with the fact that many charity shops are flooded with an excess of stock which they simply cannot accommodate but do not have an adequate system to get rid of.
“People are often surprised to learn that Brits donate far more clothes to UK charity shops than they can actually sell”, says Ali Moore from the non-profit campaign Love not Landfill. “The environmental impact of all the earlier stages of our clothes are so much bigger than landfill alone. By buying less, taking care of garments, loving and wearing them for longer and then passing them on for others to keep wearing, we’re making a real difference. The fewer clothes that are made, sold and then thrown away, the better”.
The sheer amount of clothes which end up in charity shops has led to something dubbed ‘Waste Colonialism’ in which these unsold clothes are then shipped to the global south where a lack of sufficient infrastructure for these mountains of items means that they often end up as waste products in rivers and ecosystems. The synthetic materials here pose a danger to native animals and have also been known to spread plastics in water sources as they break down. We are also seeing clothing hills over 20 meters high in countries like Ghana comprised of our unwanted wardrobes.
Charity shops are increasingly taking on the role of disposing of our clothing waste as they tend to be the recipients of our wardrobe clear-out. Yet, unlike when we look at plastic or cardboard waste in our communities, they have no government help in doing this successfully and responsibly.
I asked Beg, Steal & Borrow what their policy was for unsold items, and they told me that they are very selective with the clothes they accept and so sell most of the donations they receive. The few remaining items are sold in low-price sales that seek to give lower income members of the community access to these items as well.
However, it is important to note that it is not just the consumer who is being let down by charity shops in 2025.
The proliferation of this second-hand clothing market and the low quality of fast fashion items that often end up there also means that clothes at charity shops are becoming even cheaper. Whilst this may seem like a good thing with the increasing economic instability of the UK, it also means that charities are making less money through charity shops and putting more work into them.
A report from the charity WRAP (Waste Resources and Action Programme) shows that the value of recovered textiles from textile banks and charities has plummeted in the last ten years. In 2013, clothing was worth £406 per tonne for textile banks and £432 per tonne for charity shops, however, by 2023 clothing at textile banks was only worth £172.5 per tonne and £255 per tonne for charity shops – showing this sharp decline in value.
Rachael Huttly, Head of Retail Marketing at Oxfam says, “Donations are hugely important to Oxfam; the money we make from selling second-hand clothes helps fund our life-saving work around the world”. However, looking at this decline in profitability from the second-hand market, we may be left wondering if charities might be forced to pivot to new income streams.
Perhaps it is the move to community-focused businesses like Beg, Steal & Borrow that are necessary for true sustainability. Whilst the company is not a registered charity, they are in the process of becoming a Community Interest Company, which would reflect their dedication to working with and supporting their local community.
From the art on the walls of their Withington shop, which has been sourced from local artists, to the paint which covers said walls, which was sourced from a hardware store down the road, it is impossible not to see the community values which are imbued into the very bones of the shop.
PJ goes on to tell me about plans they have for Withington sewing projects in which community sewing machines may be available to use in the shop, allowing people to repair their clothes, and seamstresses may even work in the shop to help people to fix clothes who cannot use a sewing machine.
And this is just one of the ideas the people at Beg, Steal & Borrow are seeking to pursue. “We’re just trying to work out ways we can connect more with the community”. PJ tells me, “We wanna do workshops as well and see how that can exist with upcycling and dying clothing”.
“A lot of our event ideas and initiatives and project ideas in Withington is to engage more with the community”, PJ says, mentioning the money from their end of summer sale in 2024 that was all donated to Withington public hall which was struggling at the time and was under threat of being closed down. “Our goal and our ethos is to benefit the community”.
The fast fashion industry isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and so it appears that there will always be a place for charity shops in our society, which allow people to have a lesser carbon footprint. However, having spoken to Erin and PJ, I am left convinced that these community-facing businesses are the true cutting edge of sustainable clothing.
