I've let things slide on the blog since Christmas. And now it's January 23.
The New Westminster NewsLeader did a story on shopping locally last week where I discussed my blog and how my experiment is going so far.
As I said in the story, I'm still sticking to the local shopping and there hasn't been a case yet where there was something I really, really needed to buy that I couldn't find in New Westminster. (Other than food and a sufficient amount of clothing, there's really not much that anybody really, really needs to buy. Most purchases fulfill wants, not needs.)
Still, I am having moments where I really, really want to go somewhere, anywhere else, and buy something, anything.
The main conclusion I've reached at this point in my experiment, almost four months in, is that limiting my shopping to a small geographic area hasn't magically made me shop only at small, locally owned independent businesses. I thought maybe it would. Despite the impression some have that there's no shopping in New West, it's actually pretty easy to find major chains to shop at and to shop solely at big chains.
One of my main goals for the year is to change my shopping habits and include smaller independents in my routine shopping. So far, it hasn't happened yet, so I'm going to make February no big chain grocery shopping month. I'm curious to see how that will change our eating for the month and especially how it will change our grocery bill.
I have found that smaller green grocers often have some things much much cheaper than bigger grocery stores. You just have to price watch. Also, if you're shopping at the farmers market, some things cost a little more, but they are sooo much better for you. Anyway, great project! I just found you via twitter and checked out the newspaper article. Good luck in the next 8 months - if you did Christmas local, you can do anything!
ReplyDeleteGreat project! Now that I've found your blog I'm interested in reading about what you learn on shopping habits and observations on what we're lacking in New West (HARDWARE STORE! Who knew?!). You can plan a wedding but you can't renovate.
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