Rediscovering Traditions: How Sustainable Living is a Trend, Again

Sustainability, self-sufficiency, and environmental friendliness has recently hit the younger generations in a big way. All over the internet, thousands of young people are sharing their dreams of one day living a life filled with vegetable gardens, solar power, clotheslines, butter churns, bread baking, and farm animals.

This new craze is called “cottagecore”, or sometimes “farmcore”, or “countrycore”. It is an aesthetic and lifestyle that is inspired by a simple, agricultural life, and it’s very popular on social media platforms with young people. At its heart, this trend stems from a desire in young people to care for others and themselves in meaningful, sustainable ways, and to stray from the mainstream goals of material wealth and possessions. It is a resurgence of traditional ways of living, that include working to provide for yourself and loved ones by creating and doing things yourself.

Many people engaged in this aesthetic find it calming and peaceful, as well as nostalgic to engage in “cottagecore” activities such as pottery, crafts, foraging, gardening, caring for animals, sewing, and cooking. Lehman’s, without even knowing it, has always appealed to people that engage in this trend. Though this trend has only emerged in recent years, Lehman’s has produced products and a physical environment that cater to this lifestyle, since the very beginning.

A central aspect of a “cottagecore” lifestyle is being sustainable and environmentally friendly in one’s actions. One of the main ways people tend to do this is by growing their own food. Lehman’s has a plethora of products that make gardening easy, even with limited space. The Vigoroot Balcony Garden allows for several garden beds stacked vertically, to save space.

Lehman’s has many different garden beds for any amount of room. They also have all the hands tools needed to make a garden thrive. Animal care is also an aspect of this lifestyle. With their milking machines, jar chicken feeders, stainless steel milk cans, and so much more, Lehman’s is a great place to go for farm animal needs.

For sewing, Lehman’s carries several styles of traditional sewing machines, and for non-electric needs, Lehman’s has clothesline kits, oil lamps, hand-crank coffee grinders, portable clothes washers, ice cream makers, and more. Lehman’s didn’t alter their products, or their mission, to fit this trend. Lehman’s has always catered to people with these values and desires, and the world is wanting to live a simpler life, for new reasons now.

Editor’s Note: This article was first posted in July 2020.

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Allison Ervin, granddaughter of company founder Jay Lehman, is passionate about the powerless – children, animals and anyone in need. A freshman at Kent State majoring in international business with a minor in non-profit management, she has served in Indonesia and Central America, teaching English in daycare centers and orphanages. A committed vegetarian, when not studying or cat-cuddling, Allison enjoys painting, listening to the latest music, and thrifting (shopping at thrift and vintage stores).