'Once Upon a Child'... Have you ever heard of a better child's consignment store name? I love it!
I must start stopping by this shop more often. It's only a small shop next to Kroger on Hodgson Memorial. I wouldn't go there with anything very specific in mind, though they do have a limited school uniform section now, so it's a good place to periodically peruse for my children's sizes.
I ran by there last week and scanned my children's sizes for any new good stuff. I found some great striped Izod polos for Alex, which we're fairly sure are brand new, and I bought Fiona an Old Navy pair of jeans and three cute tops. All this for only $27!
I get very tickled by good deals, and the clothing there is generally of fairly high quality. For adult clothing, Plato's Closet near Bed, Bath & Beyond is a similar sort of place. Higher quality...many brand-new items.
I give myself big bonus points for shopping at consignment stores. I used to actually order fairly expensive, beautiful organic clothing for the kids quite a bit. The rationale was to support an industry which respected the environment and to reduce toxic chemical exposures on my children. I still believe that, but I haven't ordered from those catalogs for years. My favorite catalog, full of absolutely gorgeous European organic clothing for children, went out of business, and it was truly my primary source. Also, most of the reasonably-priced children's organic clothing are only available in small sizes, which my children are too big for now.
There are, of course, a few websites with adult organic clothing, and Patagonia is a clothing manufacturer who makes quite a nice selection of sporty adult-sized clothing made of organic and eco-friendly materials. Truth be told, I feel like I have to try on my clothing, as I discard the majority of things I select on the hangers, so I'm a bit loathe to order some expensive item only to not like it on me. Also, the selection was frankly not so great last time I looked--at least, not as good as the kids' selection! Not to dissuade anyone from seeking organic clothing...that would be optimal!
Consignment shops, however, fit my requirements very well. Environmental impact? I consider it negated fairly well, in general, since the first owner paid for that. No additional environmental harm came from it being passed on. If it is a new item, then at least the company probably hasn't profitted from any environmental damage incurred...meaning that I'm not directly supporting that environmental damage, even though it did occur.
Also, about a quarter-pound of chemicals go into making a single t-shirt. If the consignment item has actually been worn and washed a few times, then the chemical level is reduced for my kids. This is a really important point, actually...it's as though the item has been 'broken in' by someone else, who washed out many of the chemicals which would have effects on my kids or me. My skin and Fiona's skin will sometimes even react to certain new clothing items, and we rarely see this with used clothing.
This concept even extends to cars, actually. The off-gassing of chemicals used to make the interiors of cars occurs hugely in the first year after production, so it seems ideal to buy a one-year-old model of car for health reasons. Already off-gassed and most of the life of the vehicle ahead of it...plus the price of the car has generally dropped by over 1/3. We did this with my Mercury Sable.
Speaking of Sable, she's getting on in years. For financial reasons, I hope to drive her until she putters out of old age. I recently had a bit of trouble with her, which turns out would probably have been avoided by sticking to the scheduled maintenance plan. It was simply a clogged fuel filter, due to be changed only 2 months prior, but, given the car's age, I was suddenly gripped with the conviction that it had come time to seek out a new car when she began the troubles. Michael seems to have straightened her all out, though, and I'm hugely relieved that she seems okay for the time being.
Have you ever just LOVED your car? Sable has historically been very reliable. She's rather sporty for a full-sized family car and gets optimal gas mileage on the interstate running about 80 miles per hour. She has a powerful V6 engine and handles extremely well. Michael has always bought me super-deluxe tires, too, in the interest of safety (they do have a negative impact on gas mileage, but I figure if they save me from an accident and having to buy a new vehicle, then they're an environmental plus). I love my power seat, too.
So...when gripped with that 'conviction', I spent time researching more environmentally-friendly vehicles, such as the Prius, which would still be my replacement car of choice at this time, though test drives and more research might change my mind. It was so depressing, though, to read in consumer reports that the Prius doesn't handle as smoothly and has a more sluggish get-up-and-go. (Goodness, hope I'm not talking anyone out of a Prius!) I was so bummed...trade my beloved sporty, peppy, well-handling comfy car for one without those features PLUS get a big monthly car payment PLUS have to pay for full insurance coverage. The new car excitement faded very quickly!
I'm so happy that Sable is doing better now. She's an old dame, though, from last century--a 1999 model. So long as she's not a safety hazard, I want to hold on to her. I'm sure that at some point I'll need to give her up, but I hope that point doesn't arrive for at least a couple more years!
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