Band 6+: In recent years, there has been a rise in the popularity of second hand clothing amongst the younger generation.1. Why is this happening? 2. Do you think its a positive or negative development?

In recent years, there hes been an increased tendency amongst youngsters to use second-hand clothing. In my opinion, this trend results from young people’s demand to try new clothes without spending too much, coupled with the development of the fast fashion industry which makes people have more clothes than they need. I think that this development is negative as it encourages over consumption, which harms the environment.

There are two major reasons why young people are using second-hand clothing more and more. First is that such clothes are cheaper compared to brand new ones and they can still satisfy people’s demand, which is to have new experiences. Such new experiences are welcomed by young people due to their monotonous lives nowadays, which consist of only studying and doing house chores. To illustrate, a survey took place in Vietnam last year found that buying new clothes is one of the most popular stress relievers among teenagers. The second reason is the exponential development of the fast fashion industry. As consumers are constantly told by fashion brands that they need their products to be happy, people are more likely to buy clothes impulsively, hence, they get more than what they need, and a viable solution is to sell these second-hand clothes to others.

So how does this trend affect us? As young people are buying more clothes than what they need, it is inevitable that a large amount of these go to landfill sites. And it is impossible for that massive chunk to be completely processed as such deed requires not only money but time and effort. Without being processed, these clothes are left alone, which damages the environment. To illustrate, each second, 3 trucks ful of clothes are heading to the landfills and clothes on 2 out of the 3 are disposed off without being processed.

In conclusion, the popularity of second-hand clothing amongst the younger generation is a result of their lack of new experiences and the exponential growth of the fast fashion industry, and this trend is causing serious harm to our environment.