Staying Home: The Art of Living Locally
Posted on August 21, 2017
Last week, Green Calgary was up for a Be Local Award from the REAP Business Association. This association, whose name means Respect for the Environment and All People, promotes local business in Calgary. In light of this, we decided it would be a good time to remind everyone why they should promote local business in their everyday life. If you like what you read, you can always go to REAP's directory to find more local businesses!
Why Go Local?
Economy
We talked about the economic benefits of local business in a blog from the beginning of the year. Here’s a quote from that blog:
You might have heard about “local” as a rising trend in business, but what does it mean to support local businesses. According to the REAP Business Association in Calgary, “Locally owned businesses spend, on average, 25% more of their revenue locally. This means your money recirculates in Calgary 2-4x and creates more good each time it changes hands.” Local businesses spend money locally, instead of sending it to headquarters outside of Calgary, Alberta, or even Canada. This means that supporting local business supports all the economy of the city, making Calgary grow and become more self-sufficient in the process.
Environment
The big push for local to environmentalism is based on the idea that transportation has a big environmental impact. When products are shipped, there are increasing fuel usage depending on how far the product travels, and they also require more packaging than if they come from a local source, so you’re helping cut down on that as well. This is true for most imported goods, but especially for foodstuffs where refrigerants are involved. Leaking refrigerants are dangerous for the environment, and each refrigeration unit we as consumers get off the road is one less that can break down.
Diversity
Local businesses bring unique, quirky, and specialized goods to consumers. They also build and represent community. Supporting local businesses is a good way to ensure that Calgary has varied choices for many different goods and services.
Hopefully, you see the benefits of living as local as possible. It can be a lot of fun to research and find new local shops for your favourite products, discuss them with the owners, and share them with your friends! You can get a start by looking at the great members of REAP. Do you have any stories about living locally? We’d love to hear them! Hop over to Facebook & Twitter, and share with the Green Calgary community!