Lee student creates online shop promoting eco-friendly thrifting
Photo by Rhianna Barrow.
Ethical Thrift, a social media shop started by senior TESOL major Bethany Clayton, seeks to support local missions by selling eco-friendly finds from local thrift shops.
The shop started out of Clayton’s love for thrift shopping alongside making a little extra money for college expenses.
“Honestly, I was in need of a job,” said Clayton. “ I am a full-time student, an RA and a volunteer teacher at Lee’s [Center for English Language and Literacy] program, so I am a pretty busy girl. I had been in prayer, asking the Lord to provide an opportunity that would be flexible with my schedule but would also be purposeful.”
For Clayton, this business was a way for her to showcase her passion for thrifting between managing a full-time schedule.
“The mission of Ethical Thrift is two-fold,” said Clayton. “First, it is to provide beautiful pieces of clothing and décor in an ethical and sustainable way. By reclaiming thrifted items, or, as I like to refer to them, “pre-loved goods,” we are able to reduce waste, enjoy beautiful products and support local organizations in the community. Second, Ethical Thrift’s mission is to educate and promote awareness [about fast fashion].”
Clayton is utilizing her brand’s platform to raise awareness about the environmental dangers of fast fashion and its contribution to slave labor.
“Fast fashion is sustained through slave labor and an ingrained social disorder in which privileged individuals feel a need and desire to continually be consuming new products,” said Clayton. “Most of these harmful practices remain hidden or may seem unavoidable once you are aware of them. By purchasing from a thrift store, you are not contributing to slave labor. Currently, around the world, 40.3 million people are slaves forced to work with little to no pay. About 90% of that is in the current private economy; people are being exploited for their labor and not compensated fairly.”
Ethical Thrift’s mission statement promises to donate 10% of all sales to Samaritan’s Purse, an organization Clayton has supported for years.
“A big part of Ethical Thrift’s purpose is to serve, which [it] does through the proceeds with Samaritan’s Purse,” said Clayton.
Clayton’s merchandise comes from local thrift shops. Clayton feels that her shop has extended space for community to take place through her followers’ mutual love of thrifting.
“I like that the items that Bethany brings to her business are sustainable but also really cute and simple. You can tell that Bethany cares a lot about what she is doing.” said senior psychology major Kassidy Howard.
With her shop’s Instagram surpassing 500 followers in one month, Clayton has been grown her business and engagement immensely since the start of September.
“The fact that Bethany started up this very professional business from scratch speaks volumes about her willingness to sacrifice time, effort and maybe even comfortability to follow the Lord’s calling to love our neighbor as ourselves — even if that means selling thrifted items to help them,” said junior elementary education major McKenzie McLeod.
Beyond the brand, Clayton’s passion for helping others is witnessed by her close friends to extend past Ethical Thrift.
“I think my favorite part about Ethical Thrift is Bethany herself,” said McLeod. “If you ever get a chance, you should definitely sit down with this loving and passionate girl and hear her heart about helping others. She is beyond amazing, and I believe Ethical Thrift is just one step on her path to changing the world.”
As for the future of Ethical Thrift, Clayton hopes to continue interacting with her followers and creating content tailored to them.
“In the future, I would love to find ways to collaborate more with others as well as creating more engaging content for my followers,” said Clayton. “ I recently did a ‘thrift with me’ story on my Instagram that I had a ton of fun making and that my followers seemed to really enjoy, so I hope to put more interactive communally oriented content out there in addition to my products.”
