You generate 82 pounds of textile waste every year. Maybe not you specifically, but the average American does. All together, that’s over 11 million tons of wasted clothing from the U.S. But you don’t have to get caught up in a cycle of guilt. In fact, studying abroad in Florence could help you fix this. Many institutions in Italy are working to create a circular economy — an economy based on the reuse and recycling of our usually disposed products in order to foster environmental sustainability. These all sound like big concepts, so what exactly can YOU do?

That’s where Humana People comes in.

Humana People to People is a collection of organizations focused on humanitarian and environmental sustainability efforts, and one of their stores, Humana People, is based right here, in the heart of Florence!

Their store located at Via Faenza 63 R sells a variety of second-hand clothing items, most for under 10 euros. They frequently have sales, too; for example, when I went into the store, everything was three euros or less in order to clear out the store before the introduction of their next collection. You might have noticed that your options for cheap clothing in Florence are limited. Most quality clothing stores are highly priced, forcing many young students to shop at fast-fashion establishments (like H&M), which provide trendy but low-quality products. At Humana People, you can find a variety of brands such as Bershka, Zara and more — for a fraction of a fraction of their retail price! It’s even cheaper than Goodwill in America.

Humana People’s most unique quality is their Caring Lab — a section of the store decked out with sewing machines and other tailoring products for sale and for use. They even have their own tailor with whom you can book sessions to alter and mend your own clothing! You can book a session with her for about 20 euros (that’s less than what you’d pay for a brand new shirt at Zara).

Humana People gets their clothes from donations from people all over the region, so you’re still getting authentic Florentine fashion. They sort the clothes based on era — the modern pieces going to Humana People, and the older pieces going to Humana Vintage (keep an eye out for another blog post with more info on that). Their collection of clothes in the store is renewed every six weeks, but new items from these collections are displayed in-store every day, so there’s always something fresh.

So don’t fall into the American mindset of rapid consumption just because you’re abroad. Italy is making efforts to fix its habits, and you can, too! Maybe you can bring these habits home with you to America, helping to sustain our culture one person — and one piece of clothing — at a time.

Environmental statistics provided by https://truecostmovie.com/learn-more/environmental-impact/

This blog is reposted from a blog site created by one of our students. You can find the original blog post here

Written by: Jackie, Fall 2024 FUA student from Belmont University