Buying locally from independent businesses is more enjoyable, helps the environment and contributes to the strength of your local community and economy. In this post we explore five reasons why buying locally is amazing!
1. Products made by local independent businesses are better
Global brands have flooded the highstreet with mass produced products offering little in the way of choice or variety. Many people are starting to get really bored of the ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Products made, and sold, by independent businesses are more unique, and filled to the brim with love, care and passion.
Local products are also often made by skilled craftspeople who can offer you expert advice when it comes to deciding what to buy.
Why settle for a product made for everyone, when you can buy a local product that’s been made just for you?
2. The experience is better when shopping with local businesses
On the whole, shopping in the 21st century is driven by convenience.
Global brands spend most of their time trying to figure out how to get you to buy products from them as quickly as possible. Let’s be honest, there’s something quite depressing about this.
Whilst global brands might have made it easier (maybe?) to buy things, the experience of shopping has lost all of the relationships, empathy and human connection that used to be there before.
Local business owners sit at the heart of our communities. They are deeply passionate about what they do, and the experience of shopping with them is a whole lot more personal.
Buying from a local business, online or offline, allows you to get to know the people behind the products, find out more about why they are passionate about what they do, and be confident that you’re buying a product made for its quality, and not for its price.
3. Locally produced food is fresher
Purchasing locally sourced food means that you get to enjoy food in its freshest state.
Food from supermarkets has often had to travel thousands of miles to make it into your shopping basket, with much of it being artificially ripened before going on sale. If you’re a foodie, you’ll already know that in order to cook the best food you need fresh organic ingredients.
Mass-produced food often lacks flavour, isn’t organic, and is farmed and transported using methods which harm the environment. In contrast to this, food sourced locally has usually only been harvested just a few days before you buy it (and is normally organic too).
This means that you get to enjoy food that tastes unbelievably good, all of the time.
4. Independent businesses use less packaging
Isn’t it really annoying when supermarkets smother natural vegetables, fruit and nuts in plastic?
How many times have you visited a supermarket, seen two shrink wrapped apples and just thought to yourself, why on earth do we do this?
It’s not just food either, we’ve all received deliveries that have been unnecessarily wrapped in ten layers of plastic and cardboard (you know the company we’re talking about).
Buying locally allows you to decide exactly how much packaging you need – and even if you don’t/can’t decide, most indies use as little packaging as possible anyway.
Either way, you’re covered on the packaging front when buying locally.
5. Buying locally supports your local economy
You’ve probably seen reports arguing that when buying locally, “60p out of every £1 spent goes back into your local community”. This truth of this claim is widely debated, but valid in principle.
Here’s why:
If you think about it, buying the things you need from local businesses allows them to employ more local staff, make more local products and donate to more local charities. This leads to more money staying in the local economy, which everyone benefits from.
This isn’t to say that you should shut yourself off from products from around the world. Enjoying products from other countries is great but buying them directly, or from your local indie specialist, does a whole lot more good than buying them from global corporations.
Author: Nigel Fryatt
Nigel is one of the co-founders of I BUY LOCAL. He's passionate about making great ideas fly - particularly ones rooted in social good and the community. He's built I BUY LOCAL's digital presence from the ground up to help local communities, people and businesses thrive. He believes that when local and independent retailers and residents work together and support one another they can strengthen and rebuild communities. He sees I BUY LOCAL as an opportunity to change the world; to not settle for boring, mass produced and unethical products, and to educate communities that buying locally is easy (and better).