Simple Ways to Save Your Health, Money, and Planet: Tip 6
Go Local
Part 6 of a 10 Part Series
See Tip 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
As a consumer, there are many reasons to buy from locally-owned businesses and purchase locally grown food and products. Here in Sonoma County there are plenty of options of places to eat out and stores to shop at so why not take advantage of it! Both your local economy and your community benefit when you choose to go local instead of buying from chain restaurants and big-box stores. Going local not only enhances the social aspects of our lives, but it also lessens our impact on the environment. Shopping and eating locally reduces the amount of carbon emissions generated by transporting goods and lessens the demand for converting and developing enormous amounts of land into large brand-name retail stores and restaurants. The more we think about how our everyday choices affect the greater scheme of issues like fair-wages for workers, carbon emissions, and the sustainability of local economies, the sooner we can start using our dollars to change status quo.
-Go Local is a network of locally-owned businesses, residents, non-profit organizations, and governmental agencies here in Sonoma County who support our local economy and promote sustainable practices.
-National retail and restaurant chains generate fewer ripple effects in local economies by procuring less, banking less, contributing less, and participating less in the local community.
-Choose Local Options:
- Go to local restaurants instead of chain restaurants, and shop at local businesses instead of big-box stores.
-Economic Impact of Local Businesses vs. Chains:
- One example is if San Francisco residents were to redirect just 10% of their spending from chains to local businesses, it would generate $192 million in additional economic activity and almost 1,300 new jobs.
-Fast-Food Restaurant Wages are Unacceptable:
- On average the annual wage of a fast-food working is $18,880, which in Sonoma County is not a liveable income.
-Environmental Impacts:
- Typical chain stores occupy up to 250,000 square feet of space. When big-box retail stores locate in farmland, wetlands, or green space, they eliminate natural resources and open land.
Chains and big-box stores may have a much greater impact than you might have thought. The lack of participation in the local economy, the connections to poverty, and the environmental impact caused by outsourcing/transporting goods and products are all evidence of why it is so important to eat and shop locally. When you make the effort to choose local, you take the next step towards living a more sustainable lifestyle. To get a list of all the restaurants and businesses in the county that are directly contributing to the local economy, go to the Sonoma County Go Local Website!