Every Day is Earth Day at A Vintage Addiction

At A Vintage Addiction, our home-based business, we attempt to be environmentally conscious. Our core value, "Saving Earth One Used Item at a Time" does not refer to just our vintage products, but to how we work and what we use.

One area where we have made conservation friendly decisions is in our use is of shipping products. Our vintage items themselves rarely come with packaging. That means we need sufficient materials to ship our orders securely.

We ensure our paper, plastics, and cardboard are recycled and recyclable.

The heart and home of A Vintage Addiction

Our office is energy efficient. Our equipment is new(ish), purchased

with energy efficiency in mind. We avoid excess electric use during peak

hours and use the gorgeous Arizona

sunlight as our office lighting.

Combining travel and curating vintage for my own collections and my business is one of my great joys. My home business is located in the southwest corner of Arizona, just where the Colorado river separates Arizona and California, where the States meet Mexico's northern border.

This is the Sonoran desert. It is a 3-hour drive in any direction to get a major city - Phoenix, Palm Springs, San Diego, or Tuscon.

Once a month, or so, I travel to one of these cities to procure products for A Vintage Addiction, and just as often, to buy something to add to my personal vintage collections.

Driving that far regularly does not seem economically friendly - it is a lot of time on the road using plenty of gas. Our vehicles get decent gas mileage and we follow energy-efficient driving methods. Also known as "Mike drives slowly."

However, by planning ahead, I maximize time on the road and my shopping hours. With a pencil, paper and map (yes, vintage items and methods) before we go, I plan the driving route to hit the estate sales, auctions, antique and 2nd-hand stores I know have great items. I usually try to sneak in a new shop or two so my list of favorite places grows with each road trip.

I said I maximize my time too. Mike drives so that gives me time to read, write and nap. I update my journal and my day planner. I write menus and shopping lists for upcoming holidays. And talk to a captive audience.

I am also the distributor of the snacks. What's in the travel snack bag?

Pepsi

Peanuts

Pretzels

Red Vines

Hey, don't judge. It's road trippin' food, not our health conscious weeknight dinner.

I don't sip on much of anything during these road trips because I am NOT going to stop here!

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In one shopping day we can visit up to ten locations, but 6 - 8 is normal. In some shops I can spend several hours making selections, checking for value and authenticity, evaluating shipping weight and transport practicality, and checking for quality and condition.

I look at each item one-by-one. I touch everything. I ring each bell, wind each music box. I smell its age. I sense its story. When an item clicks with each of my senses it goes in the shopping cart. It took Mike about 10 years to stop giving me "the look"; the look that asks "Why the heck are you buying that?" He learned to trust my decisions. When I got the item home, photographed and written about he saw that 'that thing' was among the first to be sold.

Mike says, "That's it" when the trunk and back seat are full to the point his view out the rear window its nearing impediment. I have been known to beg for one more stop (or two). I am also known for holding items on my lap and storing them in my foot space during the 3-hour drive home, sacrificing comfort and sleep for products.

Satisfied with our selection of treasures and excited to get them written and photographed for the websites, we head home...after a stop for dinner at one of our favorite road trip restaurants. (Also a growing list.)

So, while we can surely take being green another step or two in our business, we have a good start on Saving Earth One Used Item at a Time.

That is why I have A VINTAGE ADDICTION,

Blessings,

Terri

P.S. - Our newsletters and home page feature our road trips "Vintage Road Trippin' with the Springs." Don't miss any part of the adventures. Click right here to subscribe to our mailing list!