Buying stuff 2: Where do you buy your clothes?

If you've never bought anything from a charity shop, you could be in for a pleasant surprise. Many have loads of new-looking fashionable clothes for far less money than you'd pay if they were new. Good for the charity; good for you. (You don't have to tell your friends you go there if they're unkind enough to tease you about it.)

Following fashion trends may be cool to do, but it's also silly. Why do you have to copy everyone else? The whole point of advertising, fashion and designer labels is to get as much money out of you as possible. Think about it.

Asking where clothes come from and how they're made takes courage but is a good idea.

• clothes made locally (or in your country) won't have travelled far. Getting them to your shops means less transport pollution. They are probably made in factories with decent working conditions.
• many clothes and shoes are made cheaply in 'sweat shops', usually in poor countries. This is a tricky problem: Is it better to buy them because at least the person making it gets something? Or is it better not to buy because by doing so, you're supporting a business which deliberately uses poor people as semi slaves so as to make more profit? You decide.
• some companies guarantee decent working conditions for their workforce. Some are part of the Fairtrade Federation. Support these companies if you care about other people less lucky than you are!

Do you pester your parents for more and more money to keep up with your friends? Is this fair on them, putting on the pressure like this? It means they may have to borrow or work even more to supply you with everything you want. If that's okay with you, go ahead. And yes, I do understand how difficult it is for you when your friends (friends??) tease you for not having the latest cool thing. It's so much easier being a penguin!
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