12.13.2011

0 Shopping Locally

There is a personal sense of satisfaction when you find exactly what you are looking for and it is made locally. We usually try to find things that are made in Canada but it is a bonus if they are in the same province/city as us. 

There are 2 components to shopping locally:
1. Buying from local stores rather than the big box stores like Walmart and Home Depot
2. Buying goods that have been made locally

This is how we shop locally:
* Farmers markets can not only have local food but also local crafts, furniture and jewellery
* We try to support local businesses even when it comes to a big box store (Zellers instead of Walmart, Rona instead of Home Depot). 
* We ask if there is a Canadian made option when buying items like furniture 
* Look for your countries flag on products...we always look for the red maple leaf

I like shopping on Etsy when I can because homemade just seems better to me! You can look specifically in your local area for vendors as well. I like that you can determine what local means to you. Does it mean the same country, province or city. I usually try and search for Canada and then narrow it down from there. When looking for dolls for my niece this holiday season I narrowed the choice down to a doll made in New Jersey and one made in Toronto. In the end I went with the Toronto doll (even though it cost more) because it was local. 

I stumbled upon a really cool site today when I was leaving a link to my blog on the Great Canadian Link Exchange100 Mile Finds lets you enter in your location details, what product you are looking for and how far away you want to look.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I find this site AFTER I am done my shopping?? This site just made shopping locally a little bit easier.

Do you try to shop locally? How do you manage this?

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Supporting Sustainable Businesses
The Power of 1
Jen and the Giant Peach

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