"The Copy Cat" (Borrowed from: http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/09/12/copy-cat/)
So, what’s the big fuss about buying local? The local shops can be so expensive, and one-stop stores are much more convenient and can even save on gas, right? With our non-stop, go-go-go schedules, it can seem so much more convenient to buy at the cheaper (in quality & price) big copy-cat megastores with dull, copy-cat items on characterless shelves. (Honestly, I feel I turn into a robot every time I shop at one.) But if we really take care to assess the true costs of that $20 bookshelf, we will find that it isn’t actually cheaper and it isn’t in the long-run convenient for us, after all. Let’s look at some of the reasons. (If you don’t have time to read through this post, please go straight to the short animation clip at the bottom… it sums up most of what I cover here.)
1. When you buy local, you have a better chance of knowing what you’re buying.
Let me first clarify that when I say “local,” I am specifically referring to local, independently-owned businesses.
"Shopping Trip" (Borrowed from: http://funnytim.tempwebpage.com/playground/gallery.php?tag=buylocal)
When you shop at a local store, chances are, the products are either made in your town or you can easily ask the owner about the manufacturing process. When you buy from a large multi-million-dollar corporation, chances are, you don’t want to know about the manufacturing process or, even if you do, the managers (because you won’t ever find the owner) won’t be as happy to answer your question. Local stores generally tend to sell items of higher quality precisely because that is the only way they can compete with larger corporations (and many times because the owners take pride in work they produced). So, yes, you can buy the $30 dresser at the Copy-Cat Corporation and end up trashing it and having to buy a new one, because it was made of cheap plywood and materials that were not made to last, or you can save a little more to get a lasting dresser at local used furniture shops or local new furniture shops.
2. When you buy local, you become a champion for your community/local economy.
Pat yourself on the back, because when you buy local, you are helping your local community to thrive. Your money stays within your community, which helps keep more jobs and revenue in your town. It is not that we shouldn’t want to help other communities out. We should. We are all inter-connected, after all. However, just like with personal finances, you have to put some money in your savings, before you begin donating it somewhere else. Otherwise, you end up broke, and can’t donate anymore. So, put some money into your hometown’s account, before going to spend any left-over’s elsewhere. This goes for traveling too. Before exploring other cities, we should explore our hometowns. It might surprise us what little treasures we can come across. The best moments aren’t had in fancy faraway places, after all, they happen in the everyday community of the people and things we know and love.
3. When you buy local, you express your uniqueness, and your community gets to stand out a little more.
Part of the appeal of buying at Copy-Cat Corporations is that you can go in there and know exactly what you’re going to come out with. But wait a minute, didn’t we all complain about having to wear uniforms in grade school? Why are we opting for uniform now? Because it’s easier? Doesn’t it also make us a little more like carbon copy clones? Do we really all want to wear the same things and have the same decorations in our homes? I doubt it. I believe that the human spirit yearns to assert its distinctiveness, as much as it yearns to belong. Belonging, however, does not need to come at the expense of our individuality. Local, independently-owned stores tend to offer singular designs, custom-made features, and much more creativity. Smaller stores also make room for the existence of more stores, with different niches to fill, building your community into a diverse patch-work collective, full of character and charm. Who wouldn’t want to live in a place with options, with imagination, with style, talent, and originality? That can only happen when the community atmosphere is ripe, when there is room for different and bold, when there is inspiration for artistry and ingenuity.
4. When you don’t buy local, you must also factor in the invisible costs.
Yes, I am talking about those things we often ignore: the environment and the labor costs. Imported items take up energy/resources, because they have to be transported long distances. There are also environmental costs in the processing and packaging stages of production, where harmful chemicals can be used and/or emitted and resources exploited. This includes human resources. When companies outsource, it is because they wish to cut down production costs and maximize their profits. According to globalissues.org:
“when it comes to a country trying to impose some environmental or societal considerations and legislation on multinational corporations, they just move to a country where the rules and regulations aren’t as strict.”
Somehow, corporations think that if they can’t get away with labor and business practices in one place because their policies are inhumane or unsafe or unfriendly to the environment, it is somehow okay to continue those policies elsewhere. I don’t know how this makes sense, but when profits are all that matter, I suppose priorities are also vastly different (and, in my opinion, skewed). You can’t care about your environment and the plight of workers around the world without counting these costs into your grocery expenses. And when you count these costs, suddenly a cheap stop at your local copy-cat corporation is not so cheap anymore.
Is it in our power to change these larger-scale problems? Yes, I believe so. It’s like that South Park episode about “Wall-mart,” where the town discovers that the key to shutting down “Wall-mart” is, in fact, themselves. When Walmart employees in Quebec in 2005 threatened to unionize, for example, a bustling Walmart decided to shut down before signing an agreement withe UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers) union, claiming that the store was not economically viable and was not meeting the Walmart business plan, according to the Bloomberg Businessweek. Businesses are open, because we allow them to stay in business. It is ultimately up to us what we want our communities to look like. We have to start with a vision. So, what is your vision?
We repeat the main points of what we learned, with this quick Buy Local animation:
A Cup of Change 