The fifth national Secondhand Day serves as a vibrant wake-up call for sustainable consumption

The fifth national Secondhand Day will take place on Saturday (28 September 2024). This annual day of action is organised by the Swiss online marketplaces Ricardo, tutti.ch and anibis.ch and aims to raise awareness of sustainable second-hand consumption, as part of the circular economy, within Switzerland. More than 600 “circular heroes” – second-hand shops, vintage boutiques, thrift shops, flea markets and repair cafés – are taking part in the fifth iteration of Secondhand Day. They will highlight the diversity and uniqueness of second-hand products across Switzerland and show how easy it is to practice sustainable consumption and do something good for the environment. 

The fifth Secondhand Day will be held on 28 September 2024 and feature the slogan “We have enough!”. The event aims to encourage people across Switzerland to reduce their purchases of new goods as much as possible on this day and to raise awareness of sustainable consumption throughout the year. In collaboration with over 600 partners – circular heroes in the form of second-hand shops, thrift shops, flea markets, upcycling stations and online marketplaces – this day of action invites the entire Swiss population to rethink their own daily consumption habits and make sustainable changes to them. The idea behind Secondhand Day is simple: if a product is passed on, reused or repaired instead of being thrown away, it is not necessary to manufacture a new product instead. In turn, this saves valuable resources like CO₂. 

2,885 tonnes of CO₂ saved on Secondhand Day 2023
Last year’s Secondhand Day demonstrated how effective this approach is: an impressive 2,885 tonnes of CO₂ were saved on Secondhand Day 2023 through people buying used items instead of new ones – roughly equivalent to the emissions of around 1,800 flights from Zurich to New York or the amount of CO₂ generated by around 76,000 people daily. Every purchase of second-hand goods helps to conserve resources and reduce emissions. The Secondhand Day initiative aims to show people in Switzerland how easy it is for them to make a valuable contribution to the environment by purchasing second-hand products. 

Second-hand consumption is on the rise, but so are products from China
The behaviour of consumers within Switzerland is currently developing in two different directions. On the one hand, Gianluca Scheidegger, a researcher at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, confirms that there is a growing trend towards buying second-hand: “More and more platforms are offering second-hand items, and even large retailers have started selling second-hand products alongside new ones. This trend shows that second-hand goods are no longer just a niche, but have become a mainstream offering.” On the other hand, though, Scheidegger warns that the boom in second-hand products is also a symptom of overconsumption: “Lots of products in perfect working order are only sold or replaced because new ones are constantly being bought.”

Although Switzerland is making headway towards becoming a circular economy, certain trends also run counter to this. For example, Zurich Airport handles up to 500,000 parcels from China every day, many of them containing products from platforms such as Temu or Shein. These huge quantities of cheap goods not only have a negative impact on the environment, but also emphasise how consumer behaviour is heading in a different direction. “This is exactly why Secondhand Day is taking place – a day of action where the aim is to reduce the purchase of new goods to the bare minimum and to raise awareness of sustainable consumption throughout the year. We’re not going to save the world, but we can do something about overconsumption,” says Christine Moch, project manager of Secondhand Day.

Ricardo donates CHF 1 per fashion item to “Save the Children”
Ricardo, the online marketplace and co-founder of Secondhand Day, will donate CHF 1 to “Save the Children” for every second-hand fashion item sold through its platform on 28 September 2024. This organisation campaigns for children’s rights and against child labour and exploitation.