Yesterday I took some international colleagues on a walking tour of Philadelphia and it reminded me of a great lesson in living sustainable. BUY LOCAL. While many of the products might come from a great distance away, many local retailers work with local producers and even if the product has made a long journey the consumer has not. Buying local save fuel and energy on the buyers end and supports the local economy and these are all parts of creating a sustainable life.
Smak Parlour is one of the best examples of local in Philadelphia. Abby and Katy are grads of the Drexel d&m program and they opened Smak Parlour after gaining some valuable experience in NYC. When they began, they produced their own garments in store - definitely local and supplemented their designs with a highly edited selection of accessories. They have moved their production off-site (it is still local) and have worked to include other local designers.
My purchase yesterday was a necklace produced by a local designer using baubles and gew gaws scavenged from antique jewelry. Sustainable all round and very lovely as well.
15 comments:
I completely agree with buying local when you can. I love stopping at farmer's markets and there is one every week on lancaster, around 38th st. It is small but I find that the products they make are homemade aka SO delicious, and eco-friendly since they are made from local farms. I always get their homemade honey mustard pretzels. I find it clever for these amish people to make flavored chips and pretzels since they realize that is what's selling in grocery stores. They also advertize it as being better for your health since they bake them in ovens and don't use any oil. With a girl like me keeping track of what I eat, it keeps me coming back every week.
Living in Northern New Jersey I usually always have to drive to get to my destination, one of the things I love about going to school and living in a city, especially Philadelphia, is being able to buy locally. Whether it is grocery shopping or clothing shopping I can get there by walking only a few blocks, and even if these blocks turn into more than a few, I still feel that having the choice to walk to places, such as Center City, is a great advantage on being eco friendly in an uprising eco friendly city.
We tend to always think of buy local from the food point of view, not accessories, or apparel. However I think it is just as important for us to seek new ways to buy local in these other categories as well. If we buy jewelry made in Philadelphia not only are we supporting local business owners, but we are supporting the green effort by not buying a product that was shipped here from over seas, or even across the country. Even though it is more expensive usually to buy these products, I think it is worse the investment and as a society we should consider buying less, but buying local in order to not increase the amount we are spending, but help protect the environment.
Wow. That's so interesting about Smak Parlor. It has been one of my favorite stores in the city since i moved here freshman year. I had no idea it was owned by girls from our own major and that everything was sustainable. Makes me even more impressed with it. It is so important to buy local as it helps our local economy.
I live about an hour north of the city. In the area in which I live, it's hard to get anywhere, other than the farm across the street, without driving. My family does frequent that farm often. The family has been on that farm for years dating back about as far as George Washington's presidency. It has award winning meat and you can't get much more local than that. My house was built on land that previously was owed by the family as part of the farmland. Buying local can sometimes be a hassle when living at home. Local businesses are some of my favorite though, and I find it awesome that now living in the city all of these local businesses surround me.
Philadelphia is a city that is full of opportunities to live sustainably. Between its wide selection of farmer's markets and independent boutiques like Smak Parlor, there is no excuse not to purchase local food and clothing. Combine this with the city's public transportation system and green housing initiatives and it is possible to live in an extremely sustainable manner.
It is often much more rewarding to shop locally. Aside from the obvious environmental benefits, it leads to more one of a kind purchases that also benefit the makers (artists, farmers, etc.) more directly. Not to mention that you tend to get higher quality items when capital isn't being spent on transportation. Obviously in the case of food, the proximity leads to much better, fresher items, but in other spheres as well attention to detail as opposed to mass production is rewarding.
I love living in a city like Philadelphia. I agree with what Megan said, we usually think of buying local in food terms; we don't usually think of clothing and accessories. Smak Parlour is a great store! I remember the first time I went to Smak Parlour. I think it was for an assignment for University 101 freshman year. I knew that the owners where Drexel graduates and that everything was produced in house. I think this is a great way to promote Philadelphia talent while buying locally produced goods.
Buying local not only benefits the environment but also gets to promote local culture and craftsmanship. All the products that are produced locally link local suppliers and buyers together to support the economy and they take local culture and customers into consideration from the first place. It might take some efforts to resist the big corporate companies products influenced by commercials but we should really enjoy philly with its unique identity attached to the every local product.
I definitely want to start buying locally more often. I really enjoy visiting the farmer's markets that sell their fresh products weekly in the city. I also found it interesting that Smak Parlour is owned by two Drexel D&M graduates. I would love to stop by the boutique to check out their products and support the local economy.
In Philadelphia I don't buy much at farmer's markets however at home I buy locally made ice cream. I come from a town about 15 mins. North of Boston and I live right behind a corn field that is owned by an ice cream shop in my town. The corn is grown to feed the cows that are living just outside the shop, and in turn the milk from the cows is used to help produce the ice cream. I've always found this interesting since it is right outside my door, not to mention its the best ice cream in town! Locally this shop has great support from the community and continues to expand into other locally produced goodies.
Buying locally grown is extremely important and we can all start with produce at the drexel farmer's market. Locally grown food even tastes better. The city used to be filled with warehouses making garments for local businesses and somewhere along the line, this all went out the window. Child labor isn't a myth either, in the poverty stricken towns they have child workers in their factories. These children are truly paid nothing and treated unfairly. The whole locally manufactured apparel absence in today's society also feels like a step backwards. With so many steps forward in technology and society, you would think that having local manufacturers would be a staple in the garment district not a huge hole.
I think buying local is one of the greatest things a consumer can do. I try to buy locally every chance I get. When i was younger I used to work at an organic food restaurant, which only brought locally. Working at this restaurant really encouraged my habit of buying locally. I often go there when I go home to help support local farmers and also because the food is soooo DELICIOUS. I feel like I can definitely can tell what is fresh and what is not.
I wish I purchased more of my clothes and food local, but honestly I don't always have the time and money to do this. Buying local is expensive. The cute dress at Arcadia might gorgeous but it is two hundred dollars cheaper for me the buy the Urban Outfitters made in China version. I try buy best to buy local, but sometimes buying foreign is just a lot more appealing.
I love Smak Parlour! It is a wonderful boutique with extremely unique items. I always have supported the idea of shopping local especially recently with shopping for my family's Christmas gifts. With shopping at this boutique I also feel I am doing good because I am helping support two Drexel Alum that have only made my program reputation stronger! I feel what they are doing by supporting local Philadelphia designers has helped the city's fashion sector and that when I buy a product from their store I am only doing the same! Way to go Katy and Abby!
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