ABOUT THRIFT STORES
Ragnhild Sunde Stokke
ABOUT THRIFT STORES
Understand me correct – I love recycle and volunteering! However, I am not a fan of how we uncritically use thrift stores in this country. In the second edition of Tuntreet, we could read a very nice interview with the volunteers at the thrift store in Ås. In the interview it came out that the store`s income goes to Misjonssambandet’s projects, that sure enough focuses on UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – this sounds good! However, it should not come as a surprise that MISJONSsambandet first and foremost is engaged in missionary work and not charity. It is easier to reach “unreached groups of people” (a term the Misjonssambandet itself uses on its website), if they can give them a well, a school or a hospital.
I would like to see that the money I spend thrifting went directly to aid and charity, and not to a missionary organization. I lived in Scotland for a year, and they have many “Charity Shops” in the UK! Every small British town have at least three of these stores. Unlike Norway, many of the thrift stores in the UK are operated by organizations like “Cancer Research UK”, “Red Cross” and “British Heart Foundation”. Why don’t more non-religious organizations operate thrift stores in Norway?
Perhaps we, the students, could start our own thrift store?
