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Goals | Sources | Products | Affordability | Being Green
More About Imelda's Closet and Imelda
Overview
Imelda's Closet has been created for the purpose of discovering and acquiring as many useful discarded products as possible and placing them into the hands of individuals who will use and appreciate them. We have found a way to do this and support community assistance programs at the same time. The reason for this undertaking began with our discovery of how many completely useful and even highly desirable items find themselves lost and forlorn in community thrift stores. From these stores, if not sold, the items will eventually find their way to landfill sites. In addition, because the thrift store process hasn't matched the items to the person who needs or wants them, additional resources are consumed to create new products for people who wouldn't think to look at a thrift store.
We hear a great deal right now about the high cost of energy, but even more important than the cost is the fact that some forms of energy are not renewable. To top this, such things as Global Warming and Solar Dimming are realities, even if some distinguished persons prefer to deny them for the sake of self-preservation... or what?. It's most likely that in our lifetime, we won't see the effects of our negligent behavior. However, if we have any concern for our children, grand-children and great grand-children, we need to start to take action...or inaction. Action in the form of discovering what in our own lives we can change to have a positive affect and inaction in the form of reducing our consumption of natural and non-renewable resources.
I can't tell you how many magazines we see that routinely have articles discussing how to have a better 'quality of life'. We've come so far technologically and scientifically and have lost so much of what makes us stewards of the planet. As the most highly evolved life-form on the planet, it falls to we humans to be the caretakers of the earth. Even farmers, those who have historically held some of the most important stewardship jobs on the planet, have become more dependent on high-production, high-impact practices. Instinctively, every one of us is reaching for the alternatives such as 'organic', 'sustainable', 'natural'. We cannot begin to tell you how astonishing it is that every time we have a book in inventory about reducing stress or simplifying life, it sells within days. There is a hunger in our culture for something that we are barely able to feed, regardless of our technology and science. Imelda's Closet is fundamentally committed to providing resources, information and products to help feed this hunger.
Imelda's Closet Goals
By offering products that were previously owned,
Promote reuse of salvagable products and lower consumption.
Reduce energy consumption by creating an online store. This saves driving, thus reducing emissions in order to have a positive impact on global warming.
Avoid contributing to new energy consumption by reusing an existing product rather than buying something created from scratch.
Cultivate a high quality of life by offering products that make living fun, as well as providing the opportunity to be proud of not wasting additional resources.
Support local family business, local community and community assistance organizations.
Our Sources
We acquire merchandise for the Closet in a variety of ways
- Non-profit thrift stores
- We take buying trips and visit many non-profit organizations thrift stores in the
communities we visit. We purchase anything we find that we believe someone else might be able
to use or would have an interest in owning. This keeps the funds in the originating
community and because they're non-profits, it's used to aid disadvantaged humans and animal shelters, thus benefiting
the community as well as relieving the burden on local landfills. (Landfills are where much of the unsold thrift store merchandise ends up.)
- Donations - Some people who don't have a favorite charity organization, prefer to give us their items rather than throw them into the trash. We always accept these donations.
- Thrift Store Consignments - Some thrift stores like to reserve certain of their more prestigious and hard-to-place items and sell them through Imelda's Closet on a consignment basis.
Our Products
We have an extensive inventory of previously owned shoes, handbags and a variety of
other things. When we look for merchandise for the Closet, we focus
on items that are still useful because they were well made and still look good. We also find unused or
lightly used items that we see still have a useful life with someone. All our products are
cleaned and evaluated prior to listing for sale.
At www.imeldascloset.com, all products are described, and assigned a
quality code to indicate the
amount of use or wear,
and any
unusual blemishes or conditions
are specified.
We do this to help you
decide if it's something you would be interested in owning or giving to someone as a
gift.
Types of products:
- Retail stores over-run merchandise or display items
- Items purchased for a special occassion (i.e. single use)
- Highly desirable goods that have very slight use or wear
- Brand new items
- Antique and Collectible Items
Affordable, Enjoyable, Unique
We try to keep our prices as practical as possible. In the cases of designer products
that are in good condition, you'll find the prices to be around 1/4 to 1/2 the original selling price, and more often
closer to 1/4 of the original selling price.
We offer many brand new items. If you prefer not to wear/use something someone else has used, we offer
a large selection of items never used, used only once or used for demonstration/display purposes. Our prices make
these items perfect for gifts or for indulging yourself.
We also have merchandise that we consider collectible. We have antique china such as RS Prussia and Limoges Porcelain. We have rare and collectible books. We also purchase things like candles,
greeting cards, jewelry and other gift-type items that are in new condition.
Synopsis
We advocate the concept of having the things we believe make our lives enjoyable and help us feel we've acheived success. We also know that it is possible to have such a lifestyle without having a large impact
(footprint) on our planet. Our decision to address a small part of this and work to make a difference is what led to Imelda's Closet.
With that in mind, we then begin to consider how to have the things we love and still not "consume" quite so much.
For some people, cleaning out the closets means filling the trash can or a trip to the local landfill. For others
it's a trip to their local or favorite charity. You may not realize how many great and useful items are
donated to non-profit organizations on a nearly continual basis. When a thrift store needs to make room for new donations,
old, unsold inventory will most likely go to a landfill anyway.
There are other benefits to purchasing previously owned items. It prevents new resources being consumed to make the item
completely new from scratch. (Plastic and synthetic
manufacture processes contribute adversely to environmental and health concerns.
Sweatshops - including child labor - do still exist.
Why kill another cow, calf or pig so we can have a new pair of shoes, slacks, handbag or jacket?)
Being Green
There is a grass-roots movement toward living simply in which people make purchases based on a definitive set of criteria something to the effect of,
- Buy previously owned products as much as possible.
- Figure out the ways you can conserve energy, such as keeping lights turned off and even removing bulbs from some fixtures; driving fuel efficient cars and even taking public transportation, or better yet walking; turn off the furnace as early in the year as possible and on again as late as possible.
- Buy local products, organic if possible. This not only supports your local economy and family farmers, but also keeps energy consumption down since products don't need to be trucked in.
- Tell your friends what you're doing and why.
Why do people want to create simpler lives? We want to feel like our environment is balanced and healthy. Many people don't feel healthy. They're trying to find ways to change their physical condition by joining a gym, buying organic foods and reducing stress.
Some people instictively feel that they are victims. Of what? Ourselves mostly. Certainly of things like credit traps, work-place culture, keeping-up mentalities...
Many people don't even really know what a simpler life means for them. Certainly it means different things to different people. Imelda's Closet isn't here to tell you the way you should live. We believe it takes many sorts of personalities to keep the world functioning properly. Diversity is everything.
Meet Imelda Read more about why the Closet started.
Our Personal Efforts - what we're doing at home and at work to make a difference.
We hope you
Have an enjoyably satisfying life...considerately.
Supporting communities
Treating our planet and it's inhabitants kindly
Understanding the limitations of resources Imelda's Closet - committed to fun, fashion and conservation,
and committed to building a resource of products that contribute to lifestyles with a conscience.
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