\u201cLooking around my sittingroom, everything but the sofa and TV were either second-hand or free,\u201d she says. \u201cThe only other thing that was new was my bed, and that was after using a wooden bed given to me by a relative, which lasted for ages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carton, who is 35, believes her appreciation for other people\u2019s cast-offs stems from growing up in a home where making, repairing and handing down clothes was the norm, placing a value on what you have rather than what you want.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lived with my grandmother and we only had her widow\u2019s pension, so there wasn\u2019t a lot of disposable income,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wanted something, I saved my pocket money whenever I got some to get it, but most of the time I would make my own things. My aunts had worked in sewing factories when they were younger, so that skill was a big part of my life that has continued into my adult life. Second-hand clothing or hand-me-downs from family members was the way it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Melissa](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/3MPZCCONQVCLJHMUU2M7POPN7U.JPG\")
Melissa Carton at home. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n
Carton is one of a growing global movement of people who consciously seek out the old over the new<\/a> when it comes to dressing themselves or decorating their homes. \u201cMindful consumption\u201d or \u201cthe age of deconsumption\u201d are labels attributed to those turning their backs on disposable and throwaway products, in a bid to live more sustainably<\/a> and do better by the environment<\/a>. In short, buy less, use less and waste less.<\/p>\n Orla Martin is a 26-year-old primary schoolteacher from Cabra, Dublin, who has turned her love of second-hand clothes from charity shops into a personal shopping business for preloved-only garments.<\/p>\n [\u00a0What happens to trousers put in a Dublin clothes bank? One pair was tracked to LibyaOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Preloved styling by Orla\u2019 started on TikTok, asking people what items they wanted me to source from charity shops for them, but I would also style the item for them and create look books,\u201d she says. \u201cAn Post got on to me about their boxes being sustainable, so the item is not only preloved, but the packaging is environmentally friendly too.<\/p>\n \u201cI love fashion but money was always an issue, and I never wanted something that wasn\u2019t unique so the charity shops were a big draw. But a friend really educated me on sustainability and that has become a main part of all of this. You\u2019re giving used clothes a new life and you\u2019re taking away the stress of charity shops, where things can be all over the place and you might not find what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n While such anticonsumerism crusades are commendable, the practice of consciously reducing one\u2019s consumption of material goods could prove bootless when going up against the giant powers of fast fashion<\/a>, namely Chinese shopping sites such as Shein<\/a> and Temu<\/a>.<\/p>\n With US president Donald Trump\u2019s elimination of the de minimis loophole \u2013 where parcels under $800 could enter the US tariff-free \u2013 the ecommerce giants have been forced to hike up prices in their biggest market by as much as 145 per cent. But this still leaves a $2 T-shirt within an affordable price range at $4.90.<\/p>\n It also means European customers \u2013 and there are many, with 130 million active users for Shein and 92 million for Temu \u2013 are the new favourite children, bombarded in recent months with even more ads and coupon deals while US customers grow accustomed to their new norm on imports.<\/p>\n The EU\u2019s trade chief Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u0107ovi\u0107 announced in May that the EU is preparing its own war on low-value packages by imposing a \u20ac2 flat fee that would remove the customs-free status of packages worth less than \u20ac150, but it has yet to materialise. Figures show 12 million low-value items come into Europe each day, amounting to 4.6 billion consignments under \u20ac150 in 2024 alone.<\/p>\n [\u00a0US shoppers ditch Shein and Temu as Trump closes tax loopholeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n France is leading the charge against the behavioural and environmental effects of inexpensive mass-market clothing. In June it passed a Bill to target \u201cultra-fast fashion\u201d with the introduction of eco-taxes, ad bans and mandatory sustainability disclosures.<\/p>\n The Bill, which has been criticised for putting only Shein and Temu in the \u201cultra-fast fashion\u201d category, but not high-street labels such as Zara and H&M, can apply taxes of \u20ac5 per item, and includes a ban on advertising for these brands along with sanctions for influencers who promote them online.<\/p>\n [\u00a0We\u2019re familiar with the evils of fast fashion. But is high fashion so much better?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n As France aims to bid adieu to social media feeds flooded with \u201chaul culture\u201d from such cheap brands, some European countries, including Ireland, are calling on Shein to rectify practices on its platform that potentially breach EU consumer law<\/a>.<\/p>\n As the problematic effects of fast fashion rattle on \u2013 not least including unethical labour practices \u2013 there is a concerted effort to inform consumers about the consequences of such shopping behaviours. In June the Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> (EPA), published a 2024 nationwide survey that gathered insights on sustainable fashion practices.<\/p>\n Findings show that one in four adults buy clothes they never wear or end up wearing only a few times, 46 per cent of people buy clothes frequently, and, while 40 per cent of people often donate clothing and other textiles to charity shops, only 20 per cent bought a second-hand item in their last three purchases.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, this is about durability and buying items for the long term and caring for items, in how we wash and repair, can increase the life of a textile, and that reduces the environmental impact of an item,\u201d says David Flynn, director of the EPA.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily about where you buy the clothes from but how long will they last, what can we do to care for them, and from the EPA\u2019s point of view, how can the impact on the environment be lessened? But also, at the end of life, where do these clothes go? We\u2019re finding that a lot of textiles are ending up as waste; they are just going into people\u2019s black bin \u2013 almost 10 per cent of black bin waste are textiles. These could be donated to charities, or there\u2019s lots of new online platforms where people can put their own clothes up for sale or to swap.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Use your clothes for nine months more and reduce their environmental footprint by up to 30%Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201cBut data from the survey also shows that people do care, and 87 per cent agree that it\u2019s important that the clothes they buy are produced to last. About 75 per cent of people feel that the clothes are grown and made by workers that are paid a fair living wage. But when we look at data around climate change<\/a> impact on clothes, you can see that people aren\u2019t making the connection between buying clothes that are never worn and the impact that has on climate change.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly 40 per cent of people see that link. So I guess the crux of the issue is that people care but they are not quite making that connection between the consumption patterns and that environmental impact. And then, separately, it is about having options so that when people are finished with clothes that they are collected, sorted and reused so it brings them back into the circular economy.\u201d<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t have to mean no satisfying shopping spree either. Recommerce, as it is termed, is proving more of a hit than ever before among conscious shoppers. Vinted, the second-hand fashion marketplace, is already gaining popularity in Ireland, alongside Depop. In France, Vinted now sells the most clothing in terms of sales volume, outranking Amazon.<\/p>\n In Ireland ventures encouraging consumers to embrace the idea of preloved place an emphasis on repairing items, and learning how to keep and mind textiles is on the increase.<\/p>\n![\"Mary](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/N5BN5Y5YMVDK7N376XYSRVZRVE.jpg\")
Mary Fleming: ‘What we\u2019re trying to do is create products from scrap textiles and work and train long-term unemployed people in the process’ <\/p>\n