The Mug Search

The Winners

Like most weeks, I had spent too much money. Like too many times before, I needed a new coffee mug. My old favorite — emblazoned with the logo of a local bar — had been missing for some time and the dinky blue tea cup I was using in its place fell off folding table this week after a collision with my rolling computer chair. So long to that Walmart brand junk. I had to find a new mug. I wanted it to be manly, but I needed it to be cheap.

One of the most difficult considerations when trying to live sustainably is cost. Local grown and organic foods are extra expenses you may just have to swallow but when it comes to material goods there is the mighty, thriving thrift store. Thrift stores are the crucial intersection of low cost and low impact living and the city of Athens is home to four thrift stores that all serve a slightly different purpose. With so much selection — with everything from New-To-You’s pyramid of stacked couches to the professional vintage stock of Athens Underground — you can easily replace most of you life's purchases with only the treasure's other people have left behind.



I set out to Goodwill on East State, which is the only normal thrift store in town that's open on Sundays. This branch of the international non-profit has a very clean feel, a pretty large variety, and outrageously low prices. I found the mugs in the back of the store, each normally priced at a dollar, and chose my favorite after heavy consideration to be a small white, ceramic mug with the imprint of a 1908 Pratt & Lambert car varnish advertisement. When I arrived at the counter, dollar bill wrapped around the mug I was told, "You know you can get three more mugs for free with that." I was floored. The Athens Goodwill is, for a limited time, selling dinnerware items at four for a dollar, which is outrageously cheap. I got four cups and I love them all.

It'll be some time before I accidentally destroy these mugs. With such fantastically low prices though, I'm starting to notice how few plates we have around here.



View The Thrift Stores of Athens in a larger map.