OCTOBER is Vinnies’ Buy Nothing New Month (VBNN), so Vinnies Victoria has invited the public to take the #VBNN pledge – with the intention of opening their eyes to the thrill of shopping in charity stores.
Vinnies is encouraging shoppers to visit their local Vinnies Shop and commit to the pledge through the purchase of reused goods. Those on social media are also invited to spread the word by sharing an image of their favourite Vinnies find alongside the hashtags #founditatvinnies and #VBNN.
“Vinnies’ Buy Nothing New Month is designed as an annual circuit-breaker in our buying habits – a reminder that with a little extra time and care, buying pre-loved items can bring immeasurable joy to our lives and provide a meaningful connection to the circular economy too,” Vinnies Victoria executive general manager commercial services, Jeff Antcliff, said.
Speaking to the Gippsland Times at the Sale store, Vinnies Victoria head of commercial services Liz Randle said that the Gippsland community had embraced the challenge so far.
“The customers are really understanding the purpose behind Buy Nothing New. And that is to challenge their existing shopping methods for these seasonal periods. I’m talking spring, Christmas and going into the holiday period,” Mrs Randle said.
“So we’re challenging their existing shopping behaviours and saying before you go out and buy (something) new for Christmas, is there something at Vinnies that you can come get?
“See if you can do the challenge for the month of October. See if you can Buy Nothing New. Come in and Vinnies can help you.”
Mrs Randle pointed to the Christmas items on the shelf.
“It’s a very eco-friendly option to buying new. And then if you like you can donate (the purchases) back. And that’s what people do, we get a lot of customers that love to have something new in their homes at Christmas,” Mrs Randle said.
“Whether it’s a colour palette for the Christmas decorations or their table settings. And then next year they’ll want to get something surprising and new again. So what we’re offering them is a great alternative, and then they can donate it back to us.
“Christmas is huge at Vinnies for us and it starts at the beginning of October for us.”
Mrs Randle said that Vinnies was always looking for volunteers, so head to the website or visit a store to take part.
“You can even come in and work for two weeks and see if it suits you or if the hours suit. We’re very accommodating,” she said.
Mrs Randle said that Vinnies recently started selling electronics goods, but clothes remained the most in-demand items.
“We accept anything (at Vinnies). We’ve got a very strong drive on electricals. We’ve just had our ‘Green Sparks’ campaign launch. That’s about upskilling and training our volunteers in each store to test and tag donated electricals,” she said.
“Electricals are a very big landfill problem. So we can assist in the alleviation of that.”
According to Charitable Recycling Australia (CRA), charity shops help reduce the impact of surplus goods on the environment.
In the last financial year, across all Victorian charity shops, CRA measured 242,842 tonnes of donations processed; 214,368 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved; 455,505 MWh energy saved; 21,975 ML water saved; and all while contributing upwards of $232M in revenue towards invaluable social causes.
