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Local

When we buy from a local merchant, the money stays in the local economy a little longer. Some of it will pay the rent, some employees' wages, some will go towards city services as taxes or fees. It may be spent on lunch in a local restaurant, or buy supplies from another local store. Maybe a youth sport is sponsored or a donation made to a local organization. As the dollars are cycled here, the local economy multiplies and grows, and our community and local government are sustained. ( Here are links to a number of economic studies , showing the financial results of buying from local businesses.)

Green

We call products and foods green and/or sustainable when they stress the environment less. Green means using less pesticide, less petroleum-based fertilizer, minimizing waste, toxic or otherwise, during manufacturing, reducing the use of materials from unsustainable sources and the production of materials that persist in the environment. As the materials are (re)cycled, the environment is sustained instead of depleted.

Favoring locally produced green products and foods lowers our impacts even more. Less distance traveled means less energy consumed. Less energy need be imported, fewer resources used elsewhere, and more money stays here, to be spent with local merchants. The cycle continues.

Do you see the repeating patterns? Webs of activity in which goods and materials and resources are cycled versus straight lines from resources being consumed to waste being produced. Which pattern do you think is sustainable?

To the right are links SPG provides to help you live more locally.

[1]
SPG is surveying businesses in Pacific Grove to identify those which sell green products. A list of such products and of where you can buy them in PG is FOUND HERE

[2] Click here for sites that offer locally grown food (Community Supported Agriculture) and online access to local goods and services.

[3]
The Monterey Bay Green Business Program is helping businesses in the area to apply green principles. Here is a list of businesses in PG now certified green. Also listed are businesses that apply green principles, but are not part of the Monterey Bay Green Business Program.

BETTER WORLD SHOPPER is a site dedicated to providing people with a comprehensive, up-to-date, reliable account of the social and environmental responsibility of every company on the planet. It comes from more than 5 years of intensive research, this work is based on a comprehensive database of over 1000 companies and utilizes 25+ reliable sources of data to cover everything from the environment to human rights, community development to animal protection. The actual company rankings are found here.

( The American Independent Business Alliance has an interesting website exploring, in many ways, the importance of supporting locally owned businesses. )

Updated May 5, 2011