Shopping for Recycled and Reused Retail Goods

Urban Green Shopping

Shopping is on every one's mouth when it comes to the holidays. Mall wide sales and extreme discounting schemes are coming out one after the other just to convince people to shell out their hard earned money. I have always believed that this is a ploy of mall titans to raise their sales figure or try to salvage what's left in the market to reach or go beyond their annual sales target. This is also a strategic move in making sure that the cash flow in the retail industry is still normal and one great indication is the power of the people to purchase basic and complex goods.

Now looking at how shops lower down their prices just to accommodate this "seasonal" sale extravaganza, some shops would go as low as 70% off on all their merchandise. When you think about it, who would say no to that. It is really a bargain that is way too much to resist. As a consumer, this made me think on the pricing scheme of these shops and how much they can afford to loose if they opted for 70% off all year round. Maybe, the shops are secretly pricing their items3 to 4 times the total cost just to afford the losses of the calendar year. Or it may be that the items being sold are either their old stocks or poor in quality.

Now as a consumer, it wouldn't really matter how shops tagged their items as long as it's a good bargain and it makes me feel good about myself. But as a passionate environmentalist, this really is an issue since the price can easily be lowered to an amount that is highly questionable. If prices can be lowered to such an amount, it means that its either the quality is poor, which will result to poor quality raw materials or poor manufacturing process, or the items being sold are old stocks.

As an environmentalist, I think there is an environmental threat when it comes to the retail industry. I think that people are focusing today at affordable shopping that being an effective product steward is no longer in effect. If retail goods are being manufactured poorly, then the process itself and the equipment being used to produce these goods are harming the environment since they do not conform to environmental standards. It does not follow that poor quality is a result of good manufacturing process and neither it is for the opposite. So how does one meet both ends? How does one shop for Eco-friendly items without sacrificing their budget. I know that organic or Eco-friendly merchandises cost more than regular products. But there is actually a solution to this...

Fashionistas fret no more since the retail industry is now slowly moving towards an age of producing greener goods. Doing my research for this topic, I found out that there is this great store in the US that offers recycled and reused goods for a very affordable price. They are Savers and they are a chain of stores that accepts goods that can be recycled as donations to create new pieces to quench the thirst of fanatic fashionistas.

I really admire these stores because not only they promote greener alternatives but they actually lessen energy consumption, raw materials procurement, eliminate waste and best of all, reduce the number of landfills that was used to be for the items not being recycled.

During this holiday season, shopping is inevitable. So plan ahead and try to shop within budget. Look for retail stores that offer recycled goods and who knows, maybe it might suit your taste.