This holiday season, shop secondhand

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Holiday shopping is notoriously stressful. It’s no different for me. Each year, as we creep closer to December, my nostalgic excitement about finding the perfect gifts for my family is overshadowed by dread and panic.

Shopping for gifts can get expensive, and buying lots of new things can also feel at odds with my concern for the planet and my desire to lessen my impact. Given the monetary and environmental price tag that comes with each purchase, choosing the right gift feels really important.

But this year, I have a renewed sense of energy around holiday gifts. The reason? I’ve decided to do all of my holiday shopping at the dozens of brick-and-mortar secondhand stores in the Twin Cities.

You might also want to give it a try.

For one, shopping for used items is often less expensive than buying new. Secondhand shopping is already on the rise as a result. A recent report estimates that the U.S. secondhand market will more than double by 2026, reaching $82 billion.

Younger generations in particular are embracing resale shopping, with 62% of Gen Z and millennial consumers looking for items secondhand before buying new. Many resale shoppers list cost as a top reason to choose secondhand.

For another, vintage and antiques stores often sell unique, well-crafted items that are no longer available anywhere else. Glass vases, ceramic kitchenware and wood furniture all hold up well over time and can be found at most secondhand stores.

Secondhand shopping can also help reduce waste around the holidays. A 2023 report by the Center for Biological Diversity, where I work, found that the amount of household waste in the U.S. in the month of December is 23% higher than in other months of the year. In part, that’s because of the high volume of shopping for new products around the holidays and all the packaging that comes with them.

A 2017 survey also reported that one-third of Americans threw unwanted holiday gifts in the trash.

Last year, 196 million Americans shopped in-store or online during the week between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While all of that new stuff may increase corporate profits, it has tremendously negative implications for our environment.

Secondhand goods, in contrast, are a boon to the environment. Shopping secondhand breathes new life into old items and extends the lifespan of a product, meaning that the original resources that went into creating it are still in use. Reusing items in this way lessens our reliance on extracting new resources to make new products at a time when our planet could really use a break.

Holiday shopping offers a great opportunity to explore thrift, resale and antiques stores in your neighborhood, support small businesses and invest in our local economy.

As for my holiday shopping, turning to secondhand items will help my budget go further while still allowing me to find high-quality gifts that fit my family’s wish lists. I’ll be in the aisles hunting through mugs, vintage jewelry and lamps this December. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Malia Becker lives in Minneapolis and is an organizer at the Center for Biological Diversity, where she leads the Simplify the Holidays campaign. She can be reached at mbecker@biologicaldiversity.org.