My Favorite Thrift Finds

Thrifting is one of my hobbies, and is a great way to save money and exercise patience. Goodwill is not like Amazon or Target, where you can be fairly certain you'll find what you're looking for. It's much more of a treasure hunt, and often times I walk out empty handed. It makes it all the more exciting when you do find something you've been hunting for!

Below are some of my favorite things I've found for my kitchen.

I bought my original Lomi composter for $10 from my local Goodwill. I sadly ended up burning out the fan, and the company replaced it with the latest model free of charge to me! Electric composters are not perfect, but they have been extremely helpful to this yardless renter without access to community compost infrastructure. However you approach it, reducing food waste is a great way to reduce your individual planetary impact!

I paid $20 for my KitchenAid mixer. It was originally listed for $80 on Facebook Marketplace, but when I showed up it was not working and the person said I could "just take it," but I was fairly confident I could fix it and felt bad taking it for free. The issue ended up being a brush bar installed backwards, which was extremely easy to fix.

I was ecstatic to add this machine to my kitchen, because these things are tanks. I use it a ton for baking, and it's awesome for making whipped cream (because who wants to stare at a bowl for 10 minutes? Certainly not me).

My Lodge cast iron pans were both Goodwill finds, here's a side-by-side of the two pans. The one on the top had been seasoned and used for a few weeks, and the one on the bottom was freshly scrubbed down to the raw iron and ready for seasoning. Cast iron pans can supposedly last through an apocalypse, so I see these as a long-term investment in a kitchen tool. It's also great they're both Lodge brand, because they stack together very nicely when not in use.

Cast iron pans require slightly more maintenance than some types of pans, what with the seasoning process and all, but they have some cool health benefits! They add iron to the food you cook in them, which is particularly important for women and the elderly, both of whom are at higher risk of having anemia in the U.S. (source: link). Some types of non-stick pans can pose health risks when used to cook at high heat or dishwashered frequently, but well-seasoned cast iron offers the same non-stick effect without the restrictions on heat.

My dutch oven has been well-loved from bread-baking to chili-making. It was my first kitchen thrift before I moved out of my parent's house, and it has served me well for many years! They normally retail for $50-100, and I got mine for $12 from Goodwill. It's enamel-coated cast iron, so I'm hoping it will last me a lifetime.

All in all, thrifting is a great way to outfit any home with good quality items, and the price points at thrift stores make quality products accessible to more people of different income levels. Sustainability efforts aren't sustainable long-term unless we make efforts to include everyone we possibly can!