I have decided that I’m ready to take the Pledge! This holiday I am only buying local! I’m buying gifts and goodies from Locally owned businesses only! And even though the reasons are obvious, it still helps to bring them to mind in a conscious way and think about them when shopping.
Why it’s a good idea to buy locally designed products:
-South Africa is full of amazingly creative artisans, craftsmen and women, manufacturers, designers. There really is no need to look elsewhere.
- Locally owned businesses tend to take greater care with whom they employ, resulting in better customer care.
-You keep the carbon footprint of your festive season to a minimum, just think about the amount of trash in your bin on boxing day, and how many trashy plastic toys get thrown away in that first week. Now times that by the block and then by the neighborhood and so on….it’s scary stuff!
- Buying local boosts local economy.
- It increases job availability in your area which in turn puts more money back into local economy which in turn boosts job availability!
- Support of one’s creative endeavors is a powerful incentive to keep creating and if people are supported in what they love to do, it makes the world a much happier place.
- It cultivates unique local identity
- It ensures growing quality instead of decreasing quality of product as a marketplace of many small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
Reasons to supporting local food:
-The produce is fresh and bursting with vitamins,
- It creates relationship between buyers and producers, if you want to know something about the product, ask the farmer, he's standing in front of you!
- You get more for less!
- If it's organically grown it safeguards the environment and protects biodiversity.
- It preserves open space as farmers trading directly to the public make more per metre and are less prone to selling out to developers.
- It cultivates home industry and entrepreneurship.
- It's a place where community meets and grows; a place unique to the character of the town and the people in it. It fosters a direct link to the food we eat and to the land and seasons.
And if you are giving presents this festive season, why not:
- Use news paper instead of wrapping paper and get creative with potato printing.
- Make what you can, especially if you are budgeting a small amount per person and there’s a long list! Chances are you’ll get more for your money by making something at home.
For those of us who like to give gifts at Christmas time, it’s good to keep the spirit of giving in mind; it’s about the love, not the amount of zeros and small prices can go hand in hand with small environmental impact, just think local! Now is the time!
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