In light of the upcoming BUY NOTHING event I wanted to highlight why it is important to shop local and small.
If you are reading this you likely already understand the value of shopping small and local but I know that changing consumer habits is a journey and not something that happens overnight. It sure was for Luke and I. When we decided a few years ago to ditch our Amazon Prime account it took a great deal of effort to find alternatives. I hope this series encourages you to keep on this journey and continue to learn why it is important.
Part 1: TRANSPARENCY
On both my website and in my shop I spend a great deal of energy discussing the practices of each of my vendors and of my own business. This includes things like supply chains, manufacturing practices, labor and wage policies, waste management, pricing, shipping practices, and packaging options. I can confidently say that for almost every product in the shop I have answers to all of your burning questions regarding how, where, why a product came into existence. Why is this important you might ask? Well for some folks it honestly isn’t important. But it is very important to me because I want to know that I can feel good about every dollar I spend personally and through my business (which let’s be honest means your dollars). For instance, I personally want to know that the goods in my shop are made by someone who is valued enough by their employer to make a fair living wage.
As consumers we have a right to know these things and we should expect them from manufacturers and retail merchants.
If you shop on my website you can find at the bottom of each product a section called “Meet the Maker” which explains all the fun details of each vendor and their business practices. I am not the only business that does this. So anytime you are looking for something to purchase online be sure to look for this detail on websites. If it’s not there send an email and ask. If you get no answer you may as well just assume that the answer will not satisfy your ethical consumer needs and move on.
What tips do you have to help others find transparent information about businesses they want to spend money with?