As large organisations drive to centralise their logistics and bureaucratic processes they are pushing against an increasingly evident ecologically focused drive to reduce environmental footprints as the public becomes more aware of the issue.
Not only is the general public becoming greener in it’s conscience but decisions in personal procurement are starting to be influenced by this phenomenon. So what is the value of local?
Community and a sense of it is becoming more valued particularly in the more rural areas and also in townships. Empty shops, the demise of a post office, school, local shop, and youth club all directly affect an individual’s life. How good does a retail street look with lots of “To Let” signs on the windows of empty shops? Communities revolve around areas where the locals collect. Communities come to the fore in times of hardship and do not prosper in times of plenty or large urban communities. A lack of a sense of community instils the sort of values that led to the wanton destruction witnessed during August this summer in the London Riots. Local is about community!
Environmental issues are affected in terms of a farming economy, a local wholesaler to a local retailer, if the complete production and retail process is controlled in a purely capitalist way. Locals go out of business, money is removed from the area and jobs are lost. Local facilities that drive local economies are vital to maintaining smaller communities.
Purely in terms of carbon footprint local involves less fuel, less machinery and therefore less carbon, less carbon means less carbon tax and less pollution. Local production is generally far less industrial and returns income to the local community. It helps our precious environment and maintains communities. Local prevents large retail organisations from killing the farming industry as they control prices in their focus on profit.
Next time you venture to a retail outlet just think of the damage you are doing to yourself and your community as you purchase a product that can be but has not been resourced from your local area.