The Sustainability Book Club Network
Can shopping locally really help?
Deep Economy has a great example of how money cycles in a community: "£10 spent at a local British food business is worth £25 to the local economy, but only £14 if spent at a supermarket." But I wondered how this translates closer to home.
I found this info at OaklandUnwrapped.org, one of my favorite non-profits, whose mission is to address small business development from the demand side:
"Can shopping locally-owned really help Oakland?
How about adding over $1 billion dollars to the Oakland economy each year? According to a December 2005 Oakland City Council report, Oaklanders spend about $1 BILLION dollars outside the city each year to purchase retail goods and entertainment. Start spending locally, and we’ll have a lot more money in the city for parks, police, youth programs and more.
AND it gets better. If you spent these dollars with LOCALLY-OWNED businesses (aka not chains), the money will circulate in the community approximately 3 TIMES LONGER."
Wow. $1 billion is an easy number to remember, next time I’m tempted by the sheer convenience of the 7-11 on my block…
I found this info at OaklandUnwrapped.org, one of my favorite non-profits, whose mission is to address small business development from the demand side:
"Can shopping locally-owned really help Oakland?
How about adding over $1 billion dollars to the Oakland economy each year? According to a December 2005 Oakland City Council report, Oaklanders spend about $1 BILLION dollars outside the city each year to purchase retail goods and entertainment. Start spending locally, and we’ll have a lot more money in the city for parks, police, youth programs and more.
AND it gets better. If you spent these dollars with LOCALLY-OWNED businesses (aka not chains), the money will circulate in the community approximately 3 TIMES LONGER."
Wow. $1 billion is an easy number to remember, next time I’m tempted by the sheer convenience of the 7-11 on my block…
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jacob on -
That's a great point, Ann, especially about shopping at locally-owned stores rather than chains. One of the (many) arguments against a place like Wal-Mart for me is that when you buy something there, most of your money gets sucked into some (undoubtedly tax-sheltered) corporate coffers, minus the pittance they pay their workers. Whereas if you buy something at, say, your corner grocer, it's staying in the community, and they might themselves go buy something at another local store, and so forth.
An interesting way that some people are trying to promote local economies is through the use of local currencies. One cool one is BerkShares. Check it out!
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Permalink Reply by April Economides on -
In addition to the benefits of supporting locally-owned stores vs. chains, the lifestyle change that this often brings about is also significant - i.e., it often involves walking vs. driving.
I lived in many different cities without a car for 10 years, and one of my favorite things every week was walking to the local stores and carrying back my groceries. This is in sharp contrast to how I currently live in an L.A. County suburb where I usually hop in my car and drive to buy my food. I do go to our farmer's market when I'm not out of town the five hours it's open each week. And there's a natural food chain just under a mile from me, but the walk is on busy streets and crossing busy intersections devoid of other pedestrians. I'll take the Parisian/New York/San Francisco life over sprawl any day! Strolling the Latin Quarter in Paris daily and shopping for bread, cheese, wine, produce... heaven.
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Permalink Reply by scott a. nadig on -
I agree with you April. The real value of buying locally is the satisfaction of simply slowing down and re-connecting with the environment, neighborhood, community, friends, farmer, and artisan. It adds such richness to life that I'm surprised we do not demand more of it. Instead we all seem to be racing everywhere alone in cars, stressed out, consuming, and living in a world desperately trying to convince ourselves and others (by the car we drive, the house we live in, and the toys we have) that we are more important than the next guy/gal. It's a pattern that generates disdain for others, promotes self hatred, and leaves us empty. The end result being in my estimation; war. The satisfaction I get from knowing that the money generated from purchasing locally has greater value to the community is something very real that leaves me feeling full. The closer connection to the end result of my money being spent, the better I feel. I would like to think that the added value received from spending locally will be reinvested in enriching my community, educating children, taking care of the elderly, and caring for those in need. All the while keeping us safe, i.e., fewer desperate people committing fewer desperate acts. When comparing the benefits of purchasing locally to not, the local purchases win everytime.
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Permalink Reply by Jude Parker Koski on -
This is such an important conversation and I'm so honored to be a part! I agree, buying locally is where it's at. It's amazing that the choices we make everyday about where to eat out and buy stuff has such a tremendous ripple effect on our immediate communities. The hitch is, it's almost always more expensive to buy things at locally-run stores and restaurants than at national chains. I think that this is, in part, why so many folks, myself included at times, choose to buy the cheapest goods at a big box store over the more expensive same goods at locally-run, smaller store that directly supports my own community. This is a very real issue to many of us, especially to low-income individuals and families trying to just survive and cover our most basic living expenses.
So, the question is, how can supporting local businesses become more affordable and accessible to the masses?
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Permalink Reply by Jamie Lee Evans on -
I remember when there used to be Women's Bookstores in most of the major cities...I loved that! I could go to a new state and start my "local" experience checking out the women's bookstore which was almost always nearby other cool independently owned places to eat, shop, etc. Oh those were the days...or wait, maybe they're coming back???? I just read an article in the Utne Reader about how small independently owned "record" stores and comic stores have outlasted a lot of Big Box stores... that was heartening. Apparently Walmart is not worshipped everywhere they go.
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Permalink Reply by Michael F. Tevlin on -
I live in Portland and volunteer with the Sustainable Business Network of Portland www.sbnportland.org, which in turn is a local network of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies http://www.livingeconomies.org/. Check their web site for organizations near you! In Portland, SBNP sponsors a Local First! campaign that encourages people to shop locally. As I've gotten into this, I've discovered that even among many enlightened people, they don't realize the connection between sustainability and local economies. So that means we have to do a better job of getting this word out and getting people to shop locally. For those people who like hard facts to back up what they say, tell people about the multiplier effect. For every $100 spent locally, $45 is reinvested locally, compared with only $15 reinvested locally with the same amount spent at corporate chains.
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