One man’s trash: thrifting gives old items new life and keeps them out of landfills

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — “One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure.”  

Kellen Readshaw is an avid thrifter, finding joy deep within the racks.  

“I just want to kind of like zen out, disassociate, and just kind of like go through the racks,” said Readshaw.  

Secondhand shopping is becoming more popular, especially among younger shoppers, as a way to save money, reduce waste, and repurpose old items.  

Donating items to a thrift store rather than throwing them away allows for that item’s “story” to live on, something that Readshaw thoroughly appreciates.  

“Connecting with someone’s past knowing that, you know, it’s become part of the story. You know, and that’s what’s always kind of been really interesting to me. I love picking up books, especially children’s books, and seeing, you know, that it belonged to someone once before; it was loved once before,” said Readshaw.  

Along with repurposing, thrifting keeps items out of the landfill.  

Millions of tons of clothing and household items end up in landfills every year, even though many are still in good condition.  

Joe Suleyman is the director of the New Hanover County Recycling and Solid Waste department.  

He says items tossed into landfills can last longer than most people realize.  

“When things get disposed of in the landfill, they get covered that same day, and overtime you get more and more layers of waste, and eventually the oxygen supply runs out for the bacteria that would typically break down those materials. Also, there’s no more exposure to ultraviolet light; that also helps break things down. So, once it’s consumed in that waste mass, it could last hundreds, even thousands of years,” said Suleyman.  

Along with thrift stores, programs such as the county’s “Treasure Island” initiative provide another way to repurpose old items by diverting them from landfills and making them available to the public at no cost. 

Suleyman says that keeping the landfills empty is the goal.  

“If an item’s in good condition, there’s many benefits for donating. One, it keeps it out of the landfill, which is pretty obvious, and that space is very finite; there’s only a certain amount of landfill space, and when it runs out, you’re going to have to pay more to handle it,” said Suleyman.