Second-Hand Shopping Market Protects Environment

  • 22 Aug 2018 11:02 AM
Second-Hand Shopping Market Protects Environment
Every month, millions of unique users visit Jófogás and thousands of gadgets find new homes each year. In 2017 these users potentially saved 0.2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and 9,756 tonnes of plastic.

This is the equivalent of all traffic standing still in Budapest for two months and the plastic needed to produce 1.4 billion plastic bags . This report shows that the Second Hand Effect actually reduces our carbon footprint and consumption of material.

There are many reasons why people sell and buy items on Jófogás. One obvious reason is to make a good deal. Many also think it is a practical way to get rid of furniture and other items. There is also a growing trend to shop vintage items and clothes.

Not the least, there is the environmental argument. Increasingly more people are aware of climate change and overconsumption, and this is becoming a stronger incentive to use second-hand shopping sites. No matter what the reason, the trade on Jófogás is an important contribution to a burning issue – to save the planet for future generations.

To calculate the environmental benefits of Jófogás, we have collaborated with the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, IVL. The study was initiated in 2013 by Jófogás’s sister company in Sweden, Blocket, and it has now been carried out in ten of Schibsted’s major marketplaces.

IVL has used the site’s sales figures and taken note of customer surveys and information about energy consumption from office operations and data centers. The calculation is based on the assumption that each sold used product replaces the production of a new equivalent product. By analyzing products sold on the sites, IVL has calculated the amount of materials needed for products and extracted data that have been recalculated into the equivalent in kilograms of greenhouse gases.

The car category is by far the one that saved the largest amount of material and greenhouse gases on Jófogás in 2017.  This is due to the fact that cars and other vehicles are complex products and producing them demands a lot of energy and material. There are some specific facts to consider when calculating the effect of re-sold cars, as described in the clarifications.

Globing warming and overconsumption of natural resources is changing nature and affecting human lives. We see more environmental disasters, lack of material, less drinkable water and smaller harvests. To diminish the effect of global warming we need to decrease our greenhouse gas emissions and consume resources in a responsible manner.

Even the smallest thing matters. One way is to shop second-hand.



Source: secondhandeffect.schibsted.com

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