For my Reducing my Impact project for the month of October, my focus has been to choose local. I did really well while grocery shopping, selecting produce, dairy and eggs all from the northwest (which I have tried to do for a long time), and I also did almost all of my grocery shopping this month at the local organic market, New Seasons. However, my sticking to local pretty much ended with food. I partly think that October was a hard month to buy local because we have been making Halloween costumes and preparing for Finn's birthday party. I needed things like plan onesies and tees, and fabric and craft supplies. I never realized how much I rely on corporate stores until I tried to think of a local business where I could buy these things and was stumped.
Of course I could buy used, but when you are looking for particular things in particular sizes and colors, I just don't have the time to search at every thrift store in Portland until I find the things that work. So, I ended up going to Target and Joann to get what I needed. I picked up my asthma medicine and Fred Meyer and once again realized my reliance on these corporate entities for my daily breathing. Is there such a thing as a local pharmacy?
I guess if I completely did not want to support these chain stores I would have to plan my Halloween costumes around what we could buy locally (or what we already had).... and not everyone in my family would have been happy about that. As far as my asthma medicine goes, I haven't a clue. Everything about a prescription scream corporate support.
If nothing else, this month has been a wake-up call to me on how much I do utilize non-local shops to get basic things that I need. I do plan to continue to support local shops when I can (and hopefully I will do better next month), but I am still left to wonder where one can buy basic goods locally. Maybe it is better to source out an internet-based company that is located across the country but where the goods are made in the US? I guess this is some food for thought for me.
And now I am happily off to the local toy store to pick up a few things for Finn's party next weekend!
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I can so relate! It's encouraging to hear of others taking similar actions. I have been trying to by more and more locally...sometimes I'm stumped. And even when I buy something from a local toy shop, which I definitely know is better than a big toy shop, it still doesn't mean the item is from a local place. I find a lot of items from China and other countries. So I am now focusing on local handmade items.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I've also become a part of a swap group on facebook. It just might be the best thing that has happened to me. Haha! It's really helped me save money on things that I need, as well as recycle and repurpose items!