By Raven Ramsey
Theme Editor
Costa graduate from the class of 2019 Brigitte Ahrens helps the environment one tote at a time by selling designs on her Instagram account. Ahrens began creating totes at the start of January as a way to help the environment by using reusable and sustainable bags. However, as more family and friends made requests for bags, Ahrens decided to create a business and sell totes for $14 per bag on her Instagram account, @thrifted.by.bri.
“I created Totes by Bri as a way to make my lifestyle more sustainable and to also add my own creative spin,” Ahrens said. “After making a few bags for family and friends, I decided to expand the opportunity to customers who already followed my thrifted account.”
Creating totes can be difficult for Ahrens, as she spends nearly three hours creating each one, Ahrens says. The beginning step of digitizing the tote design is time consuming. However, Ahrens uses a sewing machine that automatically embroiders the totes, which prevents any complications in the following steps.
“I have to begin with digitizing a design and transferring it to my sewing machine, which is the most time-consuming part,” Ahrens said. “This requires many steps of trial and error, and then trying again just to get the design perfect, clear and ready for transfer.” Due to how time-consuming tote making is, Ahrens made the decision to temporarily put that hobby on hold and plans to continue making them this summer. “I only sold totes for a short period of time because of how time-consuming it was,” Ahrens said. “I decided to focus more on selling my thrifted clothes for now.”
Aside from making totes, Ahrens can be found posting thrifted clothes on her Instagram account created on Nov. 13, 2019. Ahrens posts a variety of items, including hats, shoes, tops, jeans and other accessories.
“I get my thrifted clothes from all over,” Ahrens said. “Sometimes I go as far as two hours away just to get the best deals on the cutest clothes.”
Ahrens started selling a few clothes from her closet in October 2019 as a way to pay for her college expenses. However, when her business started to grow, Ahrens began selling more of her items and newly thrifted items last March.
“I grew my account by combining my love for shopping and sustainability with a way to make money and to keep me busy during quarantine,” Ahrens said. “Though many think thrift stores sell most of their donated clothes, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US, EPA), about 84 percent of donated clothing ends up in landfills. My account makes a small dent in preventing this and also provides a more sustainable clothing option than other fashion brands.”
According to Ahrens, she enjoys being able to sell thrifted clothes, as many people have expressed their love for this particular style but don’t know where to find the best clothes. Ahrens says that being able to provide people with cheap but high-quality clothes makes her feel like she is giving back to her community.
“Growing up in my community, thrift stores were often stigmatized as old and dirty places, and it wasn’t common to go and find unique pieces,” Ahrens said. “My favorite part of my account is that I can find unique pieces at low prices and share them with others.”
Since last year, Ahrens has made over 700 sales with her thrifting account. With this extra income, Ahrens was able to not only save for college but donate to several different organizations she cares about.
“Since my account has grown, I have been able to donate a large amount of profits to several organizations, including suicide prevention programs and relief programs,” Ahrens said.
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