If you have been following along, or spent any time hanging out with me (my friends will tell you) then you know I am really a passionate about shopping locally and supporting your community. This can mean supporting a friends budding business, buying from one of Edmonton’s many, MANY, amazing creative entrepreneurs, or choosing to shop #madeincanada as much as possible. We are so fortunate to live in a country where we can get most things we need/want, right here, on home turf.

What you may not know though, is why I feel so strong about this. Why is community so valuable? Because I am a fan of short blog posts, that you can easily skim while you’re  pretending to be working, I have created a quick (non-exhaustive) list of my top 6 reasons to shop local.

Quick disclaimer! I am not perfect and I do not buy everything local. I did make a commitment to stop purchasing fast-fashion over a year ago…but I also got my dog food and diapers delivered to me by amazon.ca this week, so yeah there is a lot of room for improvement. But we can all make more of an effort right? 

1. When you buy from a local business an actual real person does an actual happy dance.

“When you shop at a small business, you are not helping a chain store with a head office pay big bucks to its executive team and shareholders. You are usually supporting a family, helping parents pay for their kid’s education or their house mortgage, or entrepreneurs pay rent and cover start up cost” – Jennifer Nini

2. Because you love your home city as much as I do and want to invest in your local economy and people. Studies reveal that local businesses recirculate a greater share of every dollar in the local economy, as they source supplies from other local businesses and hire employees. This also includes contributing to charities in you community.

3.  The money you spend either goes to the places you want it to, or at the very least, out of the hands of people you don’t want it to go to. Corporations only speak one language and thats the language of profit. When we say “we will no longer accept the exploitation of children,” “we will no longer cut costs or pay bottom dollar for products, at the expense of human rights and safe working conditions,” “no longer consume food that result in the destruction of our planet and the inhumane treatment of animals,” they wont listen, unless we put our money where our mouth is. When we purchase from ethical and sustainably sourced businesses it send a powerful message to corporations that they need to change or lose our business.

4. Buying locally is more sustainable. And, it’s easy to check in on the ethical practices of

a business or farm when you can meet the owners and see how they do what they do. For example,  buying out-of-season produce and eating food flown halfway around the world, wrapped in plastic, lowers your eco-credentials. When you shop at local butchers, bakers, farm shops and green grocers, it is likely that a decent percentage of the produce has had a short field-to-fork journey. Along with supporting local farmers, it means the food is likely to contain more nutrients and have less packaging.

5. You can strengthen your relationship with members of your community. This is one thing I learned from business networking. Supporting each other, uplifting and encouraging, rather than being in competition is a sure way to grow your business and community. When I was looking for donations for the Safe Families fundraiser we hosted, all of our major contributors were local businesses. When we support our local business we empower them to better contribute to our community.

6. Because it forces you to get out of your chain/global-brand loving rut and try something new. Here in Edmonton there is like 1000 incredible places to eat, my husband and I have a list of about 20 places that we are waiting to try and they are all local and unique to Edmonton. One year, for our anniversary, one of my best friends said “please tell me you are not going to the Keg for dinner,” which I totally was, btw. She

encouraged me to try a new place from a list of best places to eat in Edmonton, and it really opened my eyes. The Keg is delicious, and seriously no judgement if you go there, but I think we often do need a reminder that Edmonton has an OUTSTANDING culinary scene, and it deserves to be explored.

So what do you think?

This year for Christmas I will be asking for Brown Butter and Transcend gift cards instead of Starbucks. Adding some local artisanal jewelry to my list, and a new sweater from a local designed and made clothing brand Work Hall. For my friends I am purchasing some local fine art prints and boutique bakery goodies. For the kids, Mommy and Me date cards for places like locally owned and operated Foam Fighters or 4 cats art class.  Just think, how amazing it would feel to score a great gift for someone you love, thats totally unique because you can’t get it anywhere else and at the same time you are supporting a local business owner and your economy! Thats pretty great value.

I would love to hear your thoughts! Any great ideas for Edmonton or Canadian sourced gift ideas? If you need more, watch out on my instagram feed where I will be showcasing local gift ideas!