Take the Ten Percent Challenge
By Shawn Dell Joyce
If everyone in America spent just ten percent of their disposable incomes on locally-produced goods and services, it would generate millions of dollars in local economic impact in spite of the recession. Lowcountry Local First, a South Carolina business association, tried the ten percent shift as a local stimulus plan. The organization asked all citizens, local businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits to spend ten percent of their annual budget at local, independent businesses.
Lowcountry Local First estimates that if everyone in the region does the ten percent shift, it could generate $140 million dollars in new economic activity, which includes 50 million in new wages, and generates more than 1000 new jobs. Imagine what that kind of money could do in your community.
Making the shift requires planning your spending so that one out of ten stores you visit is a “small-mart,” a term coined by author Michael Shuman in his book; “Small-Mart Revolution.” Shuman suggests:
– Walk or bicycle instead of drive, grow your own food, avoid impulse purchasing, and you reduce the strain on the environment. Can you fix that t.v. at the local repair shop instead of buying a new one? Always ask if you are paying the true cost of this item, or is it heavily subsidized by tax dollars? Skip things like tobacco for example because the real cost is hidden, in terms of health care, quality of life, and subsidies paid to big corporations with tax dollars.
– Buy from a locally-owned stores, preferably selling locally-made goods, using locally-found inputs. For example, buy pies from a farm stand where they grow the apples that go in the pies, rather than a chain store pie that you’re not sure where the apples came from. For buying local to really impact the community, the dollars need to flow through other local businesses in the form of suppliers, banks, advertising, employees, etc.
– Buy closer to home if you have to shop non-local, then it’s better to buy regional, or state. If you can’t buy fruit from a local farm, buy fruit grown in your state instead. It is far better for you than fruit grown overseas and shipped here.
– If you really want Alpaca wool and can’t find it locally, ask your knitting friends to form a buyer’s club and purchase in bulk from a small producer in Canada or Peru. That Alpaca farmer gets four times more money they normally would, yet you pay usually half the retail price you normally would.
– The global equivalent to buying local is buying fairly traded. A Fair Trade seal means the workers who produced this item were paid a living wage in humane conditions. Some items to look for are coffee, cocoa, and clothing.
Shawn can be reached at Shawn@zestoforange.com.
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