Whether buying second-hand, exchanging favors or mending and fixing, Portland residents are coming up with unique ways to stretch the lifetime of their belongings — and save some money, too.

Those in the second-hand business said they’ve noticed that people are more interested in sustainable consumption in recent years.

According to a 2024 report from online consignment and thrift store ThredUp, the U.S. second-hand apparel market is expected to reach $73 billion by 2028, growing by 11% annually. In all, 52% of U.S. residents shopped second-hand in 2023, with Gen Z and millennial shoppers leading the charge.

“People are certainly aware of sustainability and trying to keep things out of landfills, and resale certainly does that, but there’s also a large segment that wants to save money,” said Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Association of Resale Professionals. “People have so many things to spend their money on, whether it’s saving for college, for their children or saving for their retirement.

“Also, it’s the uniqueness — they find unique things,” Meyer said. “It’s not like going to the department store and seeing racks of the same thing.”

In addition to the growing consignment market, some local organizations offer ways to reduce, reuse and repair items before they end up in the thrift store or the donation bin.

SHOPPING VINTAGE

There’s no shortage of vintage markets, consignment shops and thrift stores in the Portland area.

Rachael Crawford, owner of vintage clothing store Little Ghost in downtown Portland, said the city has a unique and exciting second-hand scene.

“The amount of times we’ve cried over somebody’s 1950s prom dress that their grandmother wore … and then it’s nice seeing someone try that thing on and being like, ‘Oh my gosh, that was made for you,’” Crawford said.

Keeping clothes from getting thrown away is an “added bonus” to the business, Crawford said.

The popularity of second-hand shopping is evident at the Lost and Found Market, a popup vintage market that travels around Maine. Shoppers packed Thompson’s Point on Feb. 2, picking through a wide selection of vintage clothes, jewelry and homewares.

Thrifters say that buying sustainably is a win-win, for themselves and the environment.

“I don’t like to buy new, so I find ways to find the items that I want in my closet without buying those items that are just going to be thrown away,” Myra Moore, of Rockland, said while shopping at Lost and Found Market.

Moore said she fell in love with thrifting as a teenager. Now, she enjoys buying and selling at Curator Consignment in Rockland.

“I enjoy the process of it,” Moore said.

The top reason people shopped secondhand in 2023 was to get better deals, followed by finding unique items, being able to afford high-end brands, and helping the planet, according to the ThredUp report.

On the other end, reselling offers consumers a way to make extra money while cleaning out their closet. Twenty-five percent of consumers — and 33% of Gen Z and millennials — resold apparel in 2023.

While tens of millions of tons of textiles end up in landfills annually, some local business owners are doing what they can to keep pieces on the market.

LarkinandLarkin owner Larkin Conroy doesn’t just salvage old clothes, she also makes patches out of recycled fabric, creating wearable, zero-waste art.

“I’m always looking for someone’s sewing stash,” Conroy said.

Conroy, who is based in New Hampshire, was selling her patchwork pieces at the market, along with patches for customers to use in their own projects.

“A girl came today and she bought six patches for her jean jacket. She was like, ‘Now I don’t need a new jean jacket,’” Conroy said.

Erin Arnold of Minor Works, a vintage business that sells textiles and clothes in Bath, said older items stand the test of time.

“I think second-hand shopping, and shopping as sustainably as we can, is really important,” Arnold said. “I tend to stock things that are very utilitarian, natural fibers, stuff that is going to be in your wardrobe for a really really long time.”

Aaron Lewis, owner of New Hampshire-based Triple Stitch Vintage — also in attendance at the Lost and Found Market — agreed.

“I clean out estate sales, so all of these clothes would end up in the landfill eventually … so it makes me feel good taking the clothes and knowing that I can cherish them and give them another life,” Lewis said.

‘BUY NOTHING’

In online “Buy Nothing” groups, you can find everything from furniture to food, for free.

The Buy Nothing Project, founded in 2013, is a global network of 245,000 online communities focused on gifting items between neighbors. Organizers of the Portland Peninsula Buy Nothing Facebook group say the community the forum creates is priceless.

“People can either post in the group, ‘Hey, I just moved into a new apartment, I need help furnishing it,’” said organizer Stanzi Lee. “Or on the opposite end of that, you can say, ‘I did a big spring clean, and I have this dresser, I have this set of books. Instead of me tossing them or taking them to donate, is there anybody who would need them?’”

Lee and fellow organizer Theresa Nguyen said they’ve observed membership grow over the last five years. They’ve seen items as valuable as TVs and as inexpensive as toiletries exchanged on Buy Nothing.

“People might not get paid until Friday, and it’s Tuesday, and they ran out of toilet paper, and they really need toilet paper,” Lee said. “And in the comments someone will say, ‘Oh, I’m two blocks away from you, I’ll run you over two rolls.’”

The effort leads to less waste.

“It’s not uncommon to see people being like, ‘tried out crochet, didn’t really like it. Does anyone else want it?’ and I think that’s such a more sustainable way to be able to try out new things,” Nguyen said.

MAKING TRADES

Portland Hour Exchange saves people money by forgoing traditional currency altogether, instead trading their time in exchange for services.

After applying online, members offer up their skills and earn a credit for each hour of service. Then, they can spend their credit on services offered by others, including sewing, computer services, home repair, tutoring, dog walking, gardening and more.

Neighbors also help each other for free at repair fairs in the Portland area that invite people to bring their broken household items to be repaired by local handypeople.

Portland-based group Ripe for Repair holds regular meetups in the area, where people can come to repair their own items or get help from local experts. The organization is planning two upcoming meetups on the last Sundays in February and March at Odd Fellows Hall in Woodfords Corner.

The city of South Portland held its first-ever repair fair on Jan. 25 at the public library. Volunteers rewired lamps, fixed small appliances and mended clothes and jewelry.

“Part of preventing waste from going to landfills is fixing it so people hold on to it for longer and just expanding the lifespan,” Susan Parmelee, South Portland sustainability program manager, said at the event.