| {{B}}Shopping at Second-hand Clothing
Stores{{/B}} When 33-year-old Pete Barth was in college,shopping at second-hand clothing stores was just something he did -- "like changing the tires on his car. 'He looked at his budget and decided he could save a lot of money by shopping for clothes at thrift shops. "Even new clothes are fairly disposable(用后即丢掉的)and wear out after a couple of years," Barth said. "In thrift shops,you can find some great stuff whose quality is better than new clothes." Since then,Barth, who works at a Goodwill thrift shop in the US state of Florida, has found that there are all kinds of reasons for shopping for second-hand clothing. Some people, like him, shop to save money. Some shop for a crazy-looking shirt. And some shop as a means of conserving energy and helping the environment. Pat Akins,an accountant at a Florida Salvation Army(SA)(救世军)thrift shop, said that,for her, shopping at thrift shops is a way to help the environment. "When my daughter was little, we looked at it as recycling,"Akins said. "Also, why pay 30 dollars for a new coat when you can get another one for a lot less?" Akins said that the SA has shops all over the US -- "some as big as department stores. "All of the clothes are donated(捐赠), and when they have a surplus(盈余), they'll have "stuff a bag' specials, where customers can fill a grocery sack with clothes for only 5 or 10 dollars. Julia Sloeum, 22, points out, however, that the huge amount of second-hand clothing in the US is the result of American wastefulness. "I'd say that second-hand stores are the result of our wasteful,materialistic culture,'said Slocum, who works for a pro-conservation organization,the Center for a New American Dream. "Thrift shops prevent that waste from going to landfills (垃圾填埋场); they give clothing a second life, provide cheaper clothing for those who can't afford to buy new ones and generate(生成)income for charities. They also provide a way for the wealthy and middle classes to shed摆脱)some of the guilt for their level of consumption." |