Sustainability and Socks
I’ve been announcing ad nauseum recently that I would be attending the annual Fred Meyer sock sale. It’s held on Black Friday, for six hours, and all socks and tights are half price. Many people stock up for the year during this sale. I’m not a fan of Black Friday, but this is the one sale I’ll usually go for.
This year, I found out some friends from Girl Scouts would be coming down the the Fred Meyer in my neighborhood for the sock sale, and I agreed to meet them outside the store at 4:00 a.m. (doors open at 5:00). We were close to the front of the line, and the crowd was orderly and respectful, so except for the getting up at 3:30 a.m., it was a positive experience.
I’ve wondered, though, whether this is a sustainable practice? It’s certainly good for our budget. But should I be buying from a local business (Fred Meyer was once local, but is now owned by Kroger)? Should I be looking for used instead of new? Army surplus socks? Organic socks? Make my own?
Let’s see what the other options might look like:
Shopping local: As far as I know, I’d have to travel more than a mile or two to find a truly local business selling socks. For instance, I’ve heard good things about Sock Dreams, but they’re in Sellwood, 11.6 miles away by car. They do, however, offer free shipping for online orders. The socks look gorgeous, but the prices are at least twice what I paid at Fred Meyer. I might try Sock Dreams sometime for a gift; they do have all kinds of pretty and unusual items. They also have wool socks for babies, which aren’t widely available.
Used socks: I know, it probably sounds weird to some of you. And you won’t find socks at all resale shops; I don’t recall seeing used socks at Goodwill, for instance. But I have gotten socks and tights for the kids from a local children’s resale shop before. This particular store is only a mile and half away, and often has good-quality Hanna Andersson socks and tights available. These don’t wear out as fast as most socks, and are still in good condition. Some of the socks and tights I’ve bought there have been worn by all three of our girls. Unfortunately, they mostly stock clothing up to size 8, and our eldest is wearing size 10 (girls) clothes and size 7 (womens) shoes, and is nearly five feet tall. And being the eldest, she’s the one who actually needed socks and tights the most.
Military surplus: I haven’t tried this, but have been considering it. I like wool socks, and have been wondering whether they’d be cheaper from a military surplus store. I didn’t get a chance to visit one; the closest that I know of is more than a couple of miles away.
Organic socks: Socks made from organic materials are generally considered more sustainable; they’re made from organic cotton, wool from organically raised animals, etc. They cost two to three times as much as socks from conventional materials. Fred Meyer does have a section of organic socks for women, and I did consider them, but did not purchase any.
Make your own socks: Ha. If we waited for me to knit socks for everyone, we’d be waiting a long time. It is a skill I’d like to learn, but I’d rather not be dependent on my ability as a sock-knitter.
Sustainability has several different components. For instance, AIGA’s Living Principles for Design divides sustainable design into four streams: environmental protection, social equity, economic health, and cultural vitality. It’s not just about protecting the environment; it’s about making life livable for people, too. So even in buying socks, I don’t just reach for the organic version, preferable though it might be. I don’t automatically assume that buying locally is my best option. I also need to consider what’s sustainable for my family’s budget, and how much time I have for shopping, and how much gas I should use to get there.
I’m comfortable with my decision to shop the Fred Meyer sock sale. If we need more socks, I’ll probably check the resale store, and for gifts (or fun) I might try Sock Dreams. And maybe, one of these days, I’ll learn to knit socks.
This post has 11 comments
November 29th, 2009
Great post. FYI, I bought organic socks at F Meyer a while back, and both pairs got holes in the heels very quickly.
November 29th, 2009
Thanks, Pam — that certainly validates my decision!
November 29th, 2009
This is the kind of thing I love to figure out. You are like the environmentally/socially-conscious Tightwad Gazette. My initial guess was that it wasn’t going to be practical/efficient/affordable to do it any other way, and it sounds like that’s how it turned out. I mean, you can probably spend the money you would have spent on local or organic socks on something else local or organic that has a greater impact either on you or the environment or the local economy… I didn’t know that about Fred Meyer being bought by Kroger… Plus by doing this you got to be with friends and participate in a tradition that’s been going on around fifteen years! (for Shari, I mean, I don’t know how long Fred Meyer has been doing it, but I remember her talking about this in high school, I think.)
Meh, if you can knit you can knit socks, but no one knits socks because it’s practical or economical. (Knitters being what they are, sometimes they try to claim it’s both, but that only works if you would be knitting something during that time and with that money anyway.)
Wendy´s last blog ..A Season of Gifts and Racism: one more round
November 29th, 2009
It was fun — Shari, Kirsten and Kate were all there, plus a bunch of other people.
If one had a fairly inexpensive source of yarn (and it wasn’t Red Heart from Wal-Mart) and could knit efficiently (Didn’t Susan Baker do a sock a day?), knitting your own might be helpful. And wasn’t it in All of a Kind Family that Mama knitted new heels into their stockings when they wore out? That would be useful, although I suspect it might not work with commercially made socks.
November 29th, 2009
An inexpensive source of sock yarn doesn’t exist. I mean, my friend Rebekkah spins her own, but even then she pays for fleece and spends hours and hours spinning it. I’d say a very cheap pair of socks (and generally you get what you pay for) would cost $10 in yarn alone, plus the hours of work. Susan was knitting at a time when commercial socks were not available and/or not good quality; if she was wanting to support the Boys Over There NOW, she’d never spend that time knitting socks.
I’ve darned socks, even plain old athletic socks, and most of the other sock-knitters I know darn (though usually don’t re-knit, I think) their handmade socks–but that’s because of the original cost and amount of effort that’s gone into the socks, not, again, because it’s an efficient activity in and of itself.
Wendy´s last blog ..A Sucker for E-Books
November 29th, 2009
These are the kind of decisions @wifenkids and I have. Often it comes down to affordability. But for awhile there we didn’t buy any bananas – since they aren’t locally grown – but can you imagine raising kids without bananas?
Sometimes it is good to save money where we can, so we can afford to make more responsible decisions in other areas – for the greater good.
Gary Walter´s last blog ..Food Stamps and the Oregon Health Plan
November 29th, 2009
I’m actually planning a post on the locally grown issue.
November 29th, 2009
For me socks fall into that category that isn’t necessarily found locally – like coffee, many spices, bananas too. The wool could possibly be local, but cotton? Then who makes them?
I like the idea of ‘recycling’ them, if they last long enough to recycle! My boys go through them (literally) in a matter of months. Maybe that’s why I don’t see them at Goodwill – too worn out to be resold.
Kudos to you for braving Black Friday at Fred Meyers. You could probably take orders and come out ahead for next year!
Rebecca ´s last blog ..Making Berry Delicious Pies
November 29th, 2009
Army surplus socks: Not wool, actually. A&B has wool socks, but they are either factory seconds (affordable at 7 or 8$ a pair) or fairly expensive at 12 to 25 a pair. The military has moved away from wool to more high-tek fabrics and solutions. Other countries are phasing out their wool clothing so we are still some influx of it, but its becoming more an more rare.
I recommend wool if you can possibly get it. While cotton does work and lasts for a bit, they really can’t be repaired like a good wool sock, and when they get wet in the cold, they stay wet in the cold for a looooooong time.
November 29th, 2009
That’s about what I figured — looked a couple of army surplus websites (which are scary, BTW). I agree on the wool – and got wool socks for $4-5/pair, so I’m happy!
November 29th, 2009
One of the nice things about wool is that it can be worn for 3-4 days without terrible difficulty. Eventually, they have to be washed, but they don’t ahve to be washed after every wearing.