[Green Buzz] Go Local for holiday shopping

My friend was getting set to travel out of the area and hit some big box stores for holiday shopping. It would have been about 100 miles round trip, and after calculating carbon emissions at terrapass.com I'm guestimating it would have produced about 88 lbs of carbon into the atmosphere. Instead, they decided to SHOP LOCALLY! What a great concept. They probably only produced about 10 lbs of carbon and --- here's the bonus --- supported local business!

Don't get me wrong! I'm an avid online shopper myself, and intend to sell Green products online in the very near future. That in itself saves time and money, and perhaps my own carbon footprint to a degree. However, those items do have to be shipped from far away. The one thing I can say, is they are usually "ride-sharing" with other packages. And, when one buys locally, those products typically had to be shipped to that location. So, all in all, I've just deduced that shopping online and shopping locally are both good for the planet and for the people.

When shopping locally, please pay attention to the small "ma and pa" shops in your area. These businesses are owned by people that are your neighbors, that you shop with, and that do business with other businesses in the area, such as yours! In these economic times, it is important that we support each other and help each other out. Shop local, too.