When you shop local, you do far more than get the items that you want quickly and conveniently. Buying local actually stimulates the economy in our community, helps benefit local schools and charities–and it even helps the environment! Here are some of the many reasons why it’s important to shop and buy locally:
Buying Local Keeps Money in Our Community
When you buy local, the small business you’re purchasing from certainly benefits, but they keep growing from there. A small business that does well is likely to hire more people, who then spend more money in the community. Buying locally also pours money into the local institutions who need it. Taxes are paid locally, boosting libraries, schools, and infrastructure. Local businesses are also more likely to donate to charities in the local community, helping make improvements that all can enjoy.
When independent think tank The New Economics Foundation compared similar purchases made at chain stores versus those made with local businesses, they determined that buying locally puts double the money into the community than occurs when you make a purchase at a chain store.
Buying Local Is Better for the Environment
Whether you buy online or from a major chain store, it typically requires some major effort to get your item to you. Hauling products across the country ends up burning fuel and contributing to pollution. In addition, products that have to be packaged for shipping typically end up requiring extra packaging to survive the journey intact. Compare buying a pre-packaged set of nails at a big box store to picking out just the nails you need at your local hardware store, with the friendly local owner popping them into a simple paper bag. All that extra packaging typically ends up in landfills or the ocean, adding to environmental damage.
Buying Local Results in More Diverse Choices for Customers
When you go to to one big box store after another, you’ll see the same product choices, over and over. The only real difference is in price–and often that difference is a matter of pennies.
Buying locally is a whole different experience. Each small business in our community is unique, offering a true connection with customers and a real understanding of their visitors’ needs. Think about the diversity of stepping into a local boutique to do some clothes shopping versus perusing the offering at chain stores, which all seem to look the same. Local artisans and craftspeople can show off their wares and build a following when you shop locally.
In addition, local businesses are typically far more flexible, adjusting to meet the immediate needs of customers much more quickly than giant national chains can do. They can also do a better job of stocking the products our community members want, since they’re part of the community.
Buy Local to Help Keep Our Community Unique
Related to the previous reason to buy locally is the idea that those unique products lead to a one-of-a-kind shopping experience. No one goes to a big box store to browse or to enjoy recreational shopping. But when you local shopping district is filled with local retailers, you create a sense of self-image that help defines our community. Our unique businesses are something to be proud of, and when we all support them, they create a reason for other shoppers to come visit our community.
By supporting local businesses, we can also help entrepreneurship thrive, which adds to local prosperity and innovation. Every local retailer is one of our neighbors who has taken a risk to try to make our region a better, stronger place, boosting the economy and helping lift friends and neighbors into the middle class.
When we all look for ways to buy local, we tell all our neighbors that we believe our community is worth investing in. We put our money into things we care about, including our local schools, and we enjoy a better purchasing experience overall personally. Shopping and buying locally is a win-win for you, for small businesses, and for our community as a whole.
This post is part of our Buy Local series. If you would like to see more posts in the series, either click the Buy Local category near the top of this page or look for posts that have the same Featured Image!
