In today's Raleigh News & Observer, there's a great article about the importance and impact of shopping local. This is an issue so near and dear to my heart. Go to http://www.shoplocalraleigh.org/ to see lots of information. Here's a snippet from the article;
TOP 10 Reasons to Shop Local
1. Buy local to support yourself
2. Keep our community unique
3. Be eco-friendly
4. Create more jobs
5. Get better service
6. Put your taxes to good use
7. Invest in the community
8. Support community groups
9. Promote competition and diversity
10. Encourage future investment
Their website expands on each point, plus has lots more to say. Good grief people, hasn't this recession and just everything going on in the world taught us all a few things about the importance of simplyfying our needs, supporting our communities and being much more mindful about how we live on this planet? As an interior designer, I generally have nothing good to say about imported merchandise, other than it's cute and cheap. Is that what we really want? By making cute and cheap qualities that we look for when making purchases, we're supporting all kinds of awful behavior, from abusive labor practices to unsustainable manufacturing processes. You know I could rant on and on, but you've all read the same stuff that I have. Please let's get our heads out of the sand and stop denying what we know is true. We've got to pay attention and make better choices. Let's just try shopping with an eye toward quality and longevity and being less about immediate gratification and jumping on the constantly moving trend machine.
Give it a try. We have so many great independently owned businesses here in the Triangle. I'll talk about some of my favorites in an upcoming post.
Ciao,
Anne
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