Shopping for Maternity and Baby Tran

“I want to shop ethically, but it’s so expensive.”

I hear this statement all the time. The answer is multi-faceted, if we’re being honest. There are many aspects to this question and subsequent answer, but I’m only going to focus on one today. And honestly, it’s pretty dang cheap.

Secondhand.

It’s not always an option that’s thought about when it comes to shopping ethically, but some would argue that it’s actually the most ethical option out there.

Why?

Because reusing something that’s already out in the ecosystem is typically better than it ending up in a landfill. The good news is that it’s also a less expensive option!

I hear alot of women struggling with wanting to buy ethically in general, but specifically with maternity and kids clothing. Its much easier to spend extra money on something that you know will fit and last and you can wear for years! But when you know it’ll only be used for a few months, it’s definitely harder.

This is where I really love shopping secondhand.

I’m 36 weeks pregnant right now and bought very few new maternity clothes. Most of what I’ve been wearing the last few months were hand-me-downs or purchased secondhand. There isn’t a big market for new ethical maternity clothes, and it definitely would have been tough to spend alot of money on something I’d get to wear for only a few months. Opting to wear secondhand really saved us a ton of money.

As we’ve been prepping for Baby Tran, we got as many things as we could secondhand! We have purchased no new clothing ourselves, and down to the small library we have, our stroller, and even the car seat (don’t worry, it still has several years before it expires) was secondhand. Our baby carriers, like wraps and slings, are mostly secondhand.

Kids grow out of clothing faster than you can blink when they’re so little, so we really wanted to be responsible with that aspect. We were lucky enough to have people give us so much but I’m totally hitting up thrift stores when we find that we need some things!

If you don’t have good local thrift stores, then online places like Thredup and Poshmark are awesome places to shop. 

Shopping ethically doesn’t have to be expensive, especially for those items that will only be used a few months!

XO,

Bethany

Founder + CEO