The Outpost — Shopping

It is the last week to get holiday gifts in the mail for delivery before Christmas. This week is expected to be the United States Postal Service’s busiest week of the holiday mailing and shipping season. Yesterday was USPS’ holiday shipping deadline for ground service to arrive before Christmas and lines at post offices were long as people queued to get their packages mailed by the deadline.

There may be delays in delivering your packages this Holiday season. The major carriers, USPS, UPS, and FedEx are all experiencing unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19. Record high volumes of e-commerce orders, COVID-19 closures, and weather events may cause delivery delays.

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How to shop for clothes ethically

With the holiday shopping season upon us, there has never been a better time to think about shopping ethically and sustainably. Many big-name stores offer cheap clothing, but their "fast fashion" model exploits workers, uses vast amounts of natural resources and pollutes the environment with toxic dyes and microplastic waste. Additionally, millions of tons of clothing are thrown away every year, landing in landfills having been worn just seven times.

How can you shop for clothes ethically? It is as simple as asking yourself three simple questions before buying new clothes:

1. How much do I already own?
2. How much will I wear it?
3. How long will it last?

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