Top 3 Eco-Friendly Advantages of Living a Vintage Lifestyle

By: zoë vickers of vintagephiles

As a lover of all things vintage, I adopted a knack for the jewels of yesteryear during my trips to local thrift shops with my maternal grandmother, Rachel. Finding a Goyard chevron suitcase, a Lilli Ann structured blouse or even a simple floral enamel flour sifter became happy accidents every weekend with her. As my adulthood began to take shape, I not only embraced the one-­of-­a­-kind aesthetic of vintage but also the environmentally-friendly benefits. At my core, I am definitely a hippie; a bougie hippie but a hippie nonetheless. Today, I want to share a few tips on how adopting a vintage lifestyle (all in or simply thirty percent) can keep your carbon footprint to a minimum.

Advantage one: Quality materials and meticulous construction are at the core of what makes nostalgic items stand apart from a large percentage of things currently in the marketplace. These simple attributes provide a sense of security which allows you use vintage clothing, furniture, household goods etc. with an ease of mind. As the eco-­friendly added bonus, those pieces which stand the test of time, can be handed down throughout family generations and avoid the wastelands. America has over 3.5M tons of waste in landfills each year, let’s try not to contribute to this number!

A couple of vintagephiles (Maddox from Madd Fox, Yogi/Educator Jade Kearney and myself on the left)

Advantage two: Buying from a local thrift stores and vintage collectors contributes to supporting your local economy and reduction of the amount of greenhouse gas created when that 1955 Hamilton Beach Milkshake Mixer is shipped from one hundred miles away. I will even share some of my favourite local haunts across the country for you to enjoy in your hometown:

Madd Fox: Brooklyn

Hollywood Mirror: Chicago

Nomad Yard: Washington DC

Lemon Frog Shop: Los Angeles

Inside Nomad Yard

Advantage three: Piggy backing off of supporting local shops, I would urge that your shopping experience be “fueled” by public transportation. Yes I know, bringing that special piece onto the Blue Line train or B26 bus can be a daunting task yet Mother Gaia will eternally be in your debt for this small sacrifice. Before you leave your house, be sure to bring a reusable shopping bag to carry your newfound treasures. If the public transportation is totally undesireable or unavailable, try carpooling with a fellow vintagephile to browse those aisles together!

Madd Fox curator Maddox and a bevy of beaus for a vintage-themed midday picnic

Now that I have shared a few tidbits about the joys of living a vintage life while keeping your carbon footprint low, I hope that we can all join together to save the planet one classic piece at a time! ­

About zoë:

niki zoë vickers is an image curatist who has combined her styling prowess, branding savvy + love of vintage to create vintagephiles. vintagephiles was designed to be a multidisciplinary platform for curators of vintage to be able to share their stories globally. Known simply as zoë, her definition of being a vintagephile is denoting fondness + flawlessly executing all things vintage.

Images courtesy of Madd Fox + Nomad Yard