Two Students Shopping at the Pop-Up Thrift The Xavierite
The Green Movement held their Spring semester Pop-Up Thrift on April 15. The pop-up is hosted every semester, while encouraging students and faculty to prevent landfill waste by donating their old garments.
A collection drive was held from February 1 until March 14. To prepare for the pop-up, the organization utilized donation bins in various on-campus locations such as the center main lobby, diner and McGuire Hall.
Garments and items that were allowed to be donated included tops, hoodies, bottoms, dresses, accessories, and more. All were required to be in good condition; undergarments were not allowed .
Prices ranged from $.50 to $3, with many items averaging around $2. Some of the items, such as pants, sweaters, and dresses, were priced at $2, while tops were priced at $1. Accessories or other items varied.
The pop up thrift began three years ago with the intention of educating students on sustainability through thrifting, according to the green movement’s president, Emily Saldana.
“We wanted to do something that would really help promote sustainability and get students a lot more involved. The first thing that pops into our brains is thrifting since it’s been a very popular thing for a while now,” Saldana stated.
The pop up thrift is also one of the green movement’s most popular events, according to Saldana. It is one of their biggest fundraisers that aids in the creation of future events.
“Typically it helps to fundraise for any events that we do throughout the semester. So whenever we do this, not only are we creating an opportunity for students to be able to buy stuff at an affordable price, it’s also an opportunity for us to fundraise and be able to offer students more, stated Saldana.
Students seemed to agree with this sentiment, with many noting the prices were quite low. “The prices were very good, I thought it was affordable,” stated second-year Ya’Khira Hall.
Saldana went on to detail a few of the events the green movement has been able to create through this fundraising including movie nights, clean-ups, and most recently a trip to the Lincoln park zoo.
Saldana emphasized the importance of the pop-up thrift not only for the green movement, but also for the students. She discussed how it is an option for those who need it especially during the current economic state of our world.
“It [pop up thrift] gives students an opportunity to be able to buy stuff at an affordable price, because everything in our economy is not that great. Especially for students who are in college, they often have other expenses and other responsibilities [to take care of],” Saldana stated.
It is also described as a way to get people to practice better sustainability, as the majority of clothing ends up in landfills. By thrifting and repurposing the clothes, less waste is created.
“I feel like a lot of people sometimes think like, oh, [you need to] exchange other items for eco-friendly items that are expensive. There’s this thing called greenwashing. You call something sustainable and you sell it at a higher price and people will fall for it,” Saldana said on misconceptions about sustainability.
“Sometimes it’s not about buying things that are much more pricey. Sometimes it’s just going for something that may have been already used, that may need a new life and being creative and sewing and stuff like that. Practices like that,” She continued.
Saldana hopes students continue to educate themselves on sustainability and practicing environmentally conscious habits.
Saldana further described how the pop-up thrift doubly serves as a way to fundraise further green movement events and projects.
One of these projects includes raising butterflies, which Saldana says the green movement intends on releasing towards the end of the semester.
For students, many enjoyed the pop-up but wish there was more knowledge about it. Somewhere unaware the pop-up thrift was happening entirely.
“I didn’t know they accepted donations. I just walked past the wiseman and saw [the event],” stated Liliana Beltran, a student at SXU.
Beltran went on to say that the green movement does a good job at achieving their goal of promoting sustainability.
“It’s providing a service to the students, but also they are doing something good, so the clothes won’t get thrown away.”
The green movement looks forward to the upcoming school year, any future events can be found on the den.
For more information pertaining to the Green Movement and further events contact, greenmovement@mymail.sxu.edu