Earth Day Teach In

To buy local or not to buy local???

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Can buying locally really be sustainable?




As consumers we have the power to determine what kind of world we want to live in with something as simple as our wallets.  When we're buying a product, no matter if it's a meal from McDonald's, produce from the grocery store or a light bulb from Home Depot, you're choosing to invest in that business and their practices.  In today's society the American consumer consistently makes choices on where they are shopping based out of laziness or how cheap they can acquire a product, which is not sustainable.  Sadly, corporations have monopolized the market place with the help of policies enacted by our government making it hard for small business to stay open.  The community based economy in which our grandparents had the privilege of growing up in has ceased to exist thanks to cheap manufacturing that produces cheap goods with no regard to environmental regulations, equality in the work place, detrimental and hazardous working conditions and so on....  That is why it is so important to become aware and educated of where you are shopping and where your money is going.

So now you're probably wondering "Well, is buying locally sustainable?"  The answer to that question is YES! Even if a particular business may not be practicing sustainable measures it is still  more sustainable to buy local than from big businesses.  A number of researches are proving that by buying from locally owned businesses it is creating communities that are more prosperous.  When you buy local you are doing a number of things:

  • Job creation
  • Recirculating money: when you shop at locally owned businesses more money is kept in the community because those businesses will often purchase from other local businesses, farms etc.
  • Helps grow the regions tax base
  • Environmental impact is reduced
  • Better customer service 
  • Biz invest in their employees therefore greater employee satisfaction
  • Higher income growth and less poverty
  • Social capital, civic engagement, and well being in the overall community increases
A study in 2008 was done in Grand Rapids that shows if just 10% of the market share is moved to locally owned businesses from national supply chains it would create $137 million in new economic activity, over 1,600 new jobs, and over $50 million in new wages. (localfirstaz.com)



Sustainable consumerism = Intentional consumerism

In order to get serious about buying locally we must change the way we think, the habits we've formed and most importantly ask questions such as: what is produced locally? Where do I get it? What are this business's practices and is it something I want to support?  In recent years there have been several initiatives to help communities shop local.  One initiative is cities have been hosting events such as Small Business Saturday or shop local events that gets people in their town/city to shop from small independent locally owned businesses.  However, the toughest question of all is how do we get the consumer to care enough about where they are shopping and what they are buying?

Here are some extra links to check out about shopping locally:
https://sustainableconnections.org/why-buy-local/
https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-initiatives/small-business-saturday
https://ilsr.org/key-studies-why-local-matters/#5
http://www.pvlocalfirst.org/why-shop-local



Comments

  1. Krista February 15, 2018 at 11:33 AM

    Do you have example of how policies enacted by our government have helped corporations monopolize the market place?
    What is a community based economy?

    ReplyDelete

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