In the lead-up to Christmas time, it is likely that more of us than ever are out and about doing some shopping.
When it comes to this shopping, there are a couple of things to keep in mind in order to be as ethical and to have as much of a positive impact on our society and world as possible. One of those things is remembering to shop local.
Shopping local means supporting local businesses, including shops, restaurants, and other businesses, with the purchases you make, rather than buying lots of things online from corporate giants such as Amazon.
Why is this so important?
I will tell why you why.
It cuts down on CO2 emissions and travel pollution
When we buy our products from local stores it greatly reduces the amount of transportation and packaging needed for our products to get into our own hands.
When we order something online, it often comes from very far away, meaning that there is a lot of environmental damage gathered on the way.
Also, when we shop very locally we are more likely to get public transport or walk there, meaning we can add an extra layer of environmental safety into the mix.
It helps open up new jobs in the area
Supporting local businesses allows those businesses to stay open.
This in turn creates, and continues to create, new job opportunities in the area for local people. Your local purchases, on a large scale, will help decrease unemployment levels and increase general satisfaction levels in the community.
This can have further implications such as decreasing homelessness and crime in certain areas.
It helps put value back into the community
Local businesses are far more likely to give back and invest in your local community than large companies that have never even heard of your town or village before.
When local businesses thrive, they are able to use their money to give back to the community and increase the value of certain areas. Thriving local businesses means more parks, cleaner spaces, more amenities, and more overall satisfaction of living in a certain area.
Shopping locally has huge knock-on effects for improving the overall economy of a local area, and there will be positive results for years to come.
The products are better quality
A benefit for you individually is also that the products you buy locally will, generally, be of much better quality than those you buy online. They tend to be handmade, handcrafted, or, at least, carefully curated and selected. Products online tend to be mass-produced and made with cheap product materials, including lots of plastic.
You can positively impact your society, the economy, and the environment all by doing your shopping more locally this year. You will also please the people you are buying products for because they are much more likely to get something of worth and value that they will really appreciate.
Shopping locally is a win for everyone and you should give it a go whenever you can.
What do you think?