Buy Used Instead of Buying New

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by

James Walters
in
Buy Used Instead of Buying New to help climate change

Here we look at; Where to Shop for Used Items and Buying New If It’s the Only Choice. This is one of over 40 ideas in our Sustainability Roadmap with Solutions to Climate Change, and part of our series on Living Sustainably.

If you already know it’s important to cut down on the consumption and waste created from buying new products, here are the options to switch to buying used items:

  1. Oxfam Online Shop | Second-hand, ethically sourced, charity gifts
  2. Facebook Marketplace: Buy and Sell Items Locally or Shipped
  3. Gumtree | Free classified ads from the #1 classifieds site in the UK

If you want some more facts before making any decisions, let’s get into the details:

Buying used, instead of buying new, has never been easier.

Buying used is one way to help climate change by reducing our consumption and waste. Buying used can also cut out deliveries and transport because you can often find used items locally.

Buying new might be the best choice for some items, such as if you’re looking to Avoid Plastic Pollution with Reusable Coffee Cups, however, buying used is normally right for most items.

It’s also great to see more and more people searching for used things for sale:

Even though there’s a lot of used stuff for sale, I still only buy things when I really need them. Otherwise, the curse of consumerism never ends.

We keep on and on buying ‘stuff’ just for the sake of buying, and that just creates clutter and noise in our homes and our lives.

There are a lot of options to buy used so I’m just going to include the main places that I shop for second-hand items.

Where to Shop for Used Items

We usually start our search in local charity shops.

As well as buying what we need, second-hand, it’s good to know that our money also helps to support local people.

If we can’t buy what we need locally, I usually check the Oxfam online shop.

Oxfam Online Shop

Buying from Oxfam is another way to support Oxfam charity shops, even if they aren’t local to you.

The money that you spend at Oxfam goes to help ordinary families to work their way out of poverty.

Oxfam’s Online Shop Includes:

  1. Books
  2. Music
  3. Womens items
  4. Mens items
  5. Kids items
  6. Home and gift
  7. Collectables

The online shop includes a mix of second-hand as well as brand new items that have been ethically sourced.

Take a Look at the Oxfam Online Shop

If Oxfam doesn’t have what we need, then we check Facebook Marketplace.

Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace is where you can buy and sell used items.

There are also companies selling new products and services so you have to keep an eye out for what the ads say. Some of the ads show £0 when the products or services do cost money, so keep an eye out for what the ads say.

There’s no point in listing what you can buy on Facebook Marketplace because there’s almost everything.

The trick is to only search when you really need something. I avoid just browsing through the ads because it’s too easy to get sucked into an impulse buy. I always keep my searches to only what I ‘need’.

Once you find what you need, be ready to go and collect it as soon as possible.

Take a Look at Facebook Marketplace

If Facebook Marketplace doesn’t have what I need, I check Gumtree.

Gumtree

Gumtree is another place to buy and sell items, cars, properties, and a lot more. It’s another mixture of new and used items for sale.

If they don’t have what you need, you can set up an alert for when items do get advertised.

Take a Look at Gumtree

And if none of those have what I need I’ll consider buying new.

Buying New If It’s the Only Choice

If I’m buying new then I’ll do my research and find a product that’s going to last as long as possible, ideally forever. Otherwise, I’m just wasting my money and creating waste by buying products that keep on breaking.

Ethical Consumer has tons of product guides so I’ll start with those to shortlist the brands and products I’m going to look at.

Here Is What You Can Do

Want to Continue Your Journey?

Where Next?

There is so much inspiring information to give you ideas of how to help climate change by growing, eating, and living sustainably, you can:

  1. Read Our Articles
  2. Sign-Up to Our Free Email Newsletter
  3. Get Started and Vote with Your Money
  4. Try the Sustainability Roadmap
  5. Use the Company Directory
  6. Support Nafford Junction

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  1. Become a Patron to Give Regular Contributions
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  5. Go to NaffordJunction.co.uk/support

Sources Used to Create This

  1. Oxfam Online Shop | Second-hand, ethically sourced, charity gifts
  2. Facebook Marketplace: Buy and Sell Items Locally or Shipped
  3. Gumtree | Free classified ads from the #1 classifieds site in the UK
  4. Ethical Consumer

Production Notes

This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.

Any advice given is the opinion of those involved and does not constitute medical, financial, or legal advice.

* We include links we think you will find useful. If you buy through those links, we may earn a small commission. It’s one way to support our work and to inspire as many people as possible.