Think of local like a bulls eye.  You and your home is the center.  You only go outside of each ring if necessary.  There are varying sizes of the ring, but once you reach 100 miles away from home you are outside of local.  Why 100 miles? Well the people of the 100 mile diet used that number and their argument sounds reasonable.

When buying locally the things I need, the first consideration is what is best for the environment (non-toxic, low footprint, little packaging) and and second how close can I get to home?  I’m not talking about close to home as in a store in your town.  I am referring to one that is locally owned and independent.  Businesses such as large retail stores, restaurants and hotel chains are typically not local.

Local ownership results in 68% of the money spent returning to the community compared with 43% spent at a non-locally owned store.  For the Andersonville study- where I got those numbers- click here.  But enough about that: there will be more information on why buying local is important in another post or you can check some information out now at Pioneer Valley Local First.

Just remember that while in many ways the definition of the term is based on personal decision there are some things that according to the dictionary, local is not.

Local is not widespread or general.

Local is unique and gives you a taste of an area’s culture that you can’t get everywhere.

This friend had spent at least the past two years running a company whose focus sales demographic was the triple bottom line business, and so I assumed that he of all people would know what peak oil was. Turns out I was wrong.

Over the next week I asked another ten colleagues and friends if they knew what Peak oil was. I expected that they would know when I asked and was not prepared to find that all but one of them didn’t.

I shouldn’t have assumed that my friend or anyone else, for that matter, has the same knowledge that I have. This is not to say that I am amazing, but more to show that my foci are unique to my interests. We all have our own interests which lead to what we read, look up and study in depth. The topics that I have spent more time with include (but are certainly not limited to):
Urban gardens, Peak Oil, sustainable communities, organization development; leadership development, GMO’s (genetically modified organisms), socially responsible business, alternative economies, and local living economies.

While I have spent that last two years immersed in the world of green and sustainable while working on my Masters degree from Goddard College in Socially Responsible Business and Sustainable Communities, not everyone else has gone as in depth in the same topics, even industry professionals.

Let’s face it, many people still think of sustainability as a topic that stands on its own, when it is really a lens through which you see the world.

So, don’t assume that if you bring up something like the Andersonville Study in a conversation about why buying local is important that the person you are talking to has a clue to what you just referred. Ask if they have heard about terms, studies, and topics that you otherwise might take for granted that they know. It will help you to educate yourself as well as others and that is what we need to have happen in order to build the breadth and depth of our information.