I've had a couple of reminders that I haven't exactly been devoted to updating this blog recently.
The first kick in the pants came from a recent column in the New West News Leader about the importance of shopping locally.
"Ideally, we’d all be doing more of what Sheila Keenan’s doing this year," wrote editor Chris Bryan. "She’s a missionary type, going at it with a zeal few could sustain for the long term."
So full of zeal that I hadn't posted on this blog, which he included a link to, for over a month. D'oh!
What really got me though was an e-mail today from a reader in Texas, asking if I was still shopping locally since she had noticed the blog hadn't been updated lately. I didn't know I had a reader in Texas, let alone one I was disappointing with the infrequency of my posts.
The truth is I've been feeling kinda blah about this whole local shopping endeavour. In February, I did a month of grocery shopping only at small grocery stores and no big chains. That got me fired up about local shopping, though not, you'll notice, fired up enough to actually blog about it yet. (The short story: it's not as expensive as one might think. For produce and regular-priced items, a store like Donald's is fairly competitive with the big stores.)
I didn't have any special focus to my local shopping in March and that's when the doldrums really hit. I bought my office chair used for $25 over 10 years ago. It now makes my butt sore every time I sit in it. I don't just write for fun, I do it for a living, so my butt's in the chair quite a bit. I really want a new one and I want a good one. I know I could drive about five minutes away from my house to the Staples in nearby Burnaby and pick one up pretty quickly. I'm not sure where I'm going to find one in New West and the thought of making a big hunt of it is just kind of tiresome. (Wal-mart has them, but they're $90 and I'd really rather not buy one there.)
So much for my missionary zeal. Here I am ready to abandon the whole thing due to one slightly sore butt.
Remember how saintly and devout everyone thought Mother Teresa was? Then after she died and some of her letters were published, it turned out she had struggled mightily with her faith for decades, to the point of doubting the existence of heaven and even of God at times. Not that my boredom with shopping in New West compares in scale with a saint's crisis of faith, but I have been wondering if doing this is worth it. If it really makes any difference at all.
Then, it turns out I have a reader in Texas who cares whether or not I'm still shopping locally.
And a friend tells me she tried a restaurant because I wrote about it.
And I see this neat video about what the development around the New Westminster Skytrain Station is going to look like:
Or I read about all the super-cool stuff coming to the River Market that I can't wait to see.
And then I think, sore butt or not, it is worth it to keep the local shopping faith.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Small Shift No Chicken Scratch for B.C.'s Economy
This post is an excuse to share this clip from the show Portlandia. (A great show with lots of evidence that Vancouver is quite a bit like Portland.) Since I feel the need to have a point when I write, I came up with one that fits in pretty well with the clip.
Watch it first, then I'll make my point:
Create 1,600 jobs.
Create $137 Million in new economic activity for the area.
Create over $53 Million in new wages.
Watch it first, then I'll make my point:
As you can see, this is taking the whole idea of going local to ridiculous (and hilarious) extremes.
There's a new "shop local" campaign that recommends a far different course. Instead of going to extremes, it recommends making a small change, a small change that could make a big difference to B.C.'s economy.
The Ten Percent Shift is a campaign aimed at encouraging B.C. residents to shift just 10 percent of their household spending to locally produced goods and services and locally owned businesses.
Think 10 percent wouldn't accomplish much? Think again.
The B.C. campaign ties in with many other "Shift 10" campaigns in the United States. A study recently completed in Michigan found that if the 600,000 residents in the area studied shifted 10 per cent of their spending the results would be dramatic.
In just one year the shift would:
The point is, you don't have to know your chicken's name to make a big difference to B.C.'s economy.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Spend report-a-palooza: Spend Reports #16 to #21
I've gotten incredibly far behind on my posting, specifically my spend reports. I got derailed after Christmas. Going through two months of receipts is not fun, but I've done it. December and January were the months of both shopping at Wal-mart and at a whole bunch of fast food joints. I must have never said no to my son when he wanted to go to Tim Horton's or McDonald's. I have to work on my resistance to letting him get his way. Him saying, "Wow, you're letting me get away with so much stuff," one day really drove that point home. And let's face it, I don't think I ever said no to myself either when I felt like eating out.
I've decided to do one condensed spend report for Dec./Jan. and then catch up on February later.
In February, I'm not shopping at any big chain grocery stores, so I will put together a post on how that's going. Sneak peek: I have paid $5.99 (!!!) for 4 litres of milk and .99 cents/100 g for Black Forest ham (also !!!, but in a good way).
My last spend report was from way back in December, so this one covers from Dec. 17 to Jan. 27.
From Dec. 17 to Jan. 27, I spent approximately $3,000 in New Westminster. (Wow, that's a big number. Bear in mind two things: this includes Christmas shopping and covers six weeks.) I bought:
I also took a trip up to Dawson Creek for my uncle's funeral and a trip to Kamloops for a fundraiser at my high school. On trips, I'm buying only essentials: food, gas, lodging and not doing any other shopping.
I've decided to do one condensed spend report for Dec./Jan. and then catch up on February later.
In February, I'm not shopping at any big chain grocery stores, so I will put together a post on how that's going. Sneak peek: I have paid $5.99 (!!!) for 4 litres of milk and .99 cents/100 g for Black Forest ham (also !!!, but in a good way).
My last spend report was from way back in December, so this one covers from Dec. 17 to Jan. 27.
From Dec. 17 to Jan. 27, I spent approximately $3,000 in New Westminster. (Wow, that's a big number. Bear in mind two things: this includes Christmas shopping and covers six weeks.) I bought:
- Groceries at Safeway, IGA, Donald's Market, PriceSmart, Save-on, M&M, and Kin's
- Baking supplies, mostly nuts, at Galloway's. Their nuts are so reasonable compared to grocery stores.
- Food/drink at Hi Dozo Sushi, Indian Star, Taco Del Mar, Boston Pizza, Starbucks, Opa Souvlaki, Tim Horton's, Schanks Sports Grill, Great Wall Tea, Graze, Dairy Queen, McDonald's, and Queensboro Pizza
- Christmas presents at: Fraser River Discovery Centre gift shop, Black Bond Books, Home Outfitters, Purdy's, Wal-mart, Pedagogy Toys, Chatters, London Drugs, Moores, and Shoppers Drug Mart
- Clothes at Laura
- Winter boots at SoftMoc
- Toner at BestBuy
I also took a trip up to Dawson Creek for my uncle's funeral and a trip to Kamloops for a fundraiser at my high school. On trips, I'm buying only essentials: food, gas, lodging and not doing any other shopping.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Great idea, but you're doing it wrong! What does "local" mean anyway?
I get a variety of reactions when I tell people about my shopping in New Westminster experiment and those reactions generally fit in to three broad groups.
1. "Oh my gawd, that's going to be impossible!"
This reaction is the one that is most surprising to me. Also surprising is that I've gotten this reaction from some merchants in New Westminster. While I certainly can't deny getting swept up in a consumer frenzy now and again, it's always at the back of the mind that most of the stuff I buy fulfills wants, not needs. I didn't (and still don't) see giving up shopping outside New West as any sort of particular hardship. There's plenty of food here after all and if there does end up being something I can't get here, going without for a year doesn't seem like such a big deal.
2. "Uh-huh. Huh. Interesting."
These are the people, who, like me, don't think limiting myself to New West is a hardship.
3. "Ooh, good idea. But you're doing it wrong."
People who have this reaction generally have difficulty with how I have defined "local." I've always been clear that I was using "local" in its geographic sense, not in the "independently owned business" sense that some would prefer. It's not that I disagree with organizations like LocoBC, who both praised my experiment and chastised it (albeit gently) recently. Far from it. I think it's fabulous that more and more people and groups are promoting shopping at independent businesses and making more informed consumer decisions.
It's just not exactly what I'm doing. It's not that I didn't think about shopping only at New West's independent businesses this year. I decided though that I really want to deal with New West as it is, not as I (or others) may wish it to be. (And let's face it, I knew I would have to buy my toilet paper and light bulbs somewhere. Cutting out all big chains would probably have meant my family and I would end up sitting in the dark sometime this year, wiping our butts with newspaper. I'm into this experiment, but I'm not that into it.)
Sure, I've got a picture in my head of an ideal New Westminster: one full of dozens of unique, diverse, independently owned small businesses that attract not only local residents but people from all around the Lower Mainland. But that's not reality, at least not right now. Not yet.
I want my experiment to reflect the reality of what shopping in New West for a year looks like for the average consumer. And that means my choices are between some locally owned businesses and some big chains. It's fascinating to me that if I stuck to shopping at stores only within walking distance of my home my choices range from as local as one can get (produce and flowers grown at a tiny farm about two blocks away) and, well, Wal-Mart, where much of the merchandise is imported from China.
I want my experiment to deal with the reality of New Westminster's retail landscape as it is today. That's not to deny I'm hopeful it will look different tomorrow.
1. "Oh my gawd, that's going to be impossible!"
This reaction is the one that is most surprising to me. Also surprising is that I've gotten this reaction from some merchants in New Westminster. While I certainly can't deny getting swept up in a consumer frenzy now and again, it's always at the back of the mind that most of the stuff I buy fulfills wants, not needs. I didn't (and still don't) see giving up shopping outside New West as any sort of particular hardship. There's plenty of food here after all and if there does end up being something I can't get here, going without for a year doesn't seem like such a big deal.
2. "Uh-huh. Huh. Interesting."
These are the people, who, like me, don't think limiting myself to New West is a hardship.
3. "Ooh, good idea. But you're doing it wrong."
People who have this reaction generally have difficulty with how I have defined "local." I've always been clear that I was using "local" in its geographic sense, not in the "independently owned business" sense that some would prefer. It's not that I disagree with organizations like LocoBC, who both praised my experiment and chastised it (albeit gently) recently. Far from it. I think it's fabulous that more and more people and groups are promoting shopping at independent businesses and making more informed consumer decisions.
It's just not exactly what I'm doing. It's not that I didn't think about shopping only at New West's independent businesses this year. I decided though that I really want to deal with New West as it is, not as I (or others) may wish it to be. (And let's face it, I knew I would have to buy my toilet paper and light bulbs somewhere. Cutting out all big chains would probably have meant my family and I would end up sitting in the dark sometime this year, wiping our butts with newspaper. I'm into this experiment, but I'm not that into it.)
Sure, I've got a picture in my head of an ideal New Westminster: one full of dozens of unique, diverse, independently owned small businesses that attract not only local residents but people from all around the Lower Mainland. But that's not reality, at least not right now. Not yet.
I want my experiment to reflect the reality of what shopping in New West for a year looks like for the average consumer. And that means my choices are between some locally owned businesses and some big chains. It's fascinating to me that if I stuck to shopping at stores only within walking distance of my home my choices range from as local as one can get (produce and flowers grown at a tiny farm about two blocks away) and, well, Wal-Mart, where much of the merchandise is imported from China.
I want my experiment to deal with the reality of New Westminster's retail landscape as it is today. That's not to deny I'm hopeful it will look different tomorrow.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Catching up after Christmas
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Spend Reports #14 and #15: Christmas blackout
With the Christmas crazy season, I have fallen behind in both writing for and thinking about my blog. Predictably, with Christmas approaching, my spending is up. I'm not expecting the January credit card hangover to be too bad since I have been using debit a lot.
From Dec. 3 to 9, I spent about $550 in New Westminster (excluding Christmas presents) on/at:
From Dec. 10 to Dec. 16, I spent about $370 in New Westminster (excluding Christmas presents) on:
I've been dreading writing about what I'm buying for Christmas and how much I'm spending. Itemizing every single present I've bought and posting about it doesn't seem very Christmas-y. Saying how much I'm spending on presents doesn't seem very Christmas-y either.
Theoretically, someone could do the math and figure out roughly how much I'm spending per person. Theoretically, you might say, but who on earth would actually do such a thing? Bear in mind the kind of family I'm from. My dad once counted every single carrot, pea, green bean and piece of corn in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables because he felt the photo showed more carrots than were actually in the bag. He then wrote a letter to the vegetable company complaining that the photo was false advertising since there were far more carrots on the bag than in the bag.
So, for the month of December, I've decided to do a truncated version of my usual spend report. I've named all the locations where I shopped, but I haven't named any presents and the amount doesn't include the price of any Christmas presents.
Overall, shopping only in New West for Christmas has been a relief. One night early in December an Old Navy commercial came on blasting away about some great deal on jeans or sweaters and I was glad when I realized I didn't have to pay one moment of attention to it. I didn't have to go to the Old Navy Website to figure out if the deal was being offered in Canada. I didn't have to drive to Metrotown to fight my way through crowds to see if I could get a stripey sweater or whatever the heck they're selling this season for $10. I haven't had to pay attention to the stacks and stacks of Christmas flyers in the paper either.
I do feel though my Christmas shopping in New West has been somewhat of a failure. I had every intention of checking out every cute-sy store in New Westminster and I did check out some (as I wrote in this post for 10th to the Fraser). I found lots of things I liked for myself and I bought stuff for myself. But in terms of finding stuff that fit the people on my Christmas list, I did not do so well and ended up sticking mainly to chain stores, including Wal-mart, for many of my gifts.
Still, I did buy Christmas presents at places I have never considered before, like the Van Dop Gallery and the Fraser River Discovery Centre's gift shop. And I haven't been tempted to go shopping outside of New West. (We did buy our Christmas tree in Richmond as that's a family tradition to go to the same place every year. We also went to a Vancouver Giants game as we got discounted tickets through a reading program at my son's school.)
Still, I did buy Christmas presents at places I have never considered before, like the Van Dop Gallery and the Fraser River Discovery Centre's gift shop. And I haven't been tempted to go shopping outside of New West. (We did buy our Christmas tree in Richmond as that's a family tradition to go to the same place every year. We also went to a Vancouver Giants game as we got discounted tickets through a reading program at my son's school.)
From Dec. 3 to 9, I spent about $550 in New Westminster (excluding Christmas presents) on/at:
- Lunch at Victoria Sushi
- Dinner at McDonald's
- Massage at Columbia Integrated Health
- Breakfast at Couzie's on Carnarvon St. – eggs Benedict for $7.95!
- Deck plate for our new faucet at The Ensuite
- Van Dop Gallery
- Bracelet (just $10) at the Arts Council of New Westminster's Christmas Treasure Room
- Starbucks
- Tim Hortons
- Swimming lessons at Canada Games Pool
- Groceries at Safeway and IGA
- Gas at Petro-Canada
- Garland workshop at Queen's Park Florist
- Lunch at Graze
- A&W
- Taco Del Mar
- Facial and brow wax at True Serenity Day Spa, a great small spa right in Queensborough
From Dec. 10 to Dec. 16, I spent about $370 in New Westminster (excluding Christmas presents) on:
- Groceries at Safeway and Kin's
- Christmas cards at London Drugs
- Baking supplies at Galloway's
- Lunch at Graze
- Stamps at Queensborough postal outlet
Also bought items at:
- Wal-mart
- Purdy's
- Carter's/OshKosh
- Home Outfitters
- Lindt store
- Fraser River Discovery Centre gift shop
- Black Bond Books
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Spend Report #13: I can resist the mall, I can't resist a party
I had another busy shopping week (mostly) in New West. I thought I would be all prepared and early with everything for Christmas this year (I think this every year), but whoops, all of a sudden, it's December and I'm suddenly feeling very far behind (this happens every year too).
Now, it's true confession time: I left New Westminster and bought stuff in not one, but TWO other cities. I also broke my pledge to avoid Wal-mart for the entire month of November by buying some craft supplies for Beavers there on Nov. 29. (I know, I was so close!)
As for my other shopping sins: I went with some friends to a wreath making workshop at Garden Works in Burnaby and out for dinner after. Our financial planner does a movie day every year at Silver City Coquitlam. The movies are free, but the snacks aren't and even at 10 a.m., the popcorn was impossible to resist.
It was funny going to Garden Works because in addition to shopping only in New West, I've pretty much been staying only in New West for the past two months. Driving along Lougheed Highway seemed to take so long and the Garden Works seemed incredibly far away. I ended up driving past the entrance and had to circle around to get in. I felt like a tourist.
I felt quite guilty during the wreath making. I bought the bare minimum to do my wreath and shielded my eyes from all the (I'll admit) tempting merchandise. I felt less guilty about the dinner because after two hours of sticking tree branches into peat moss I was cold and hungry.
I knew it would be tough for me to stick to my New West only rule at this time of year. I can resist the mall, but I can't resist a party and these were more social occasions than shopping expeditions. Other than that, I have nothing to say in my defence. Go ahead and pillory me. (But bear in mind it's Christmas, when we should all be keeping the words of that delightful old carol in mind, the one that says, "Jingle bells, jingle bells, be kind to wayward bloggers." It goes something like that. I can't recall the exact words.)
From Nov. 26 to Dec. 2, I spent about $735 in New Westminster:
I spent about $40 in Burnaby:
I spent about $25 in Coquitlam:
 |
| Christmas ornaments from Lofty Living, Cadeaux and Van Dop Gallery |
I did a post for Tenth to the Fraser about some of the places I will be shopping in New West this Christmas. I like giving and receiving Christmas presents that get used up or used often. I make an exception for Christmas ornaments, which don't get used every day, but they do get used regularly every year. I found lots of shiny, pretty ornaments at Lofty Living, Cadeaux and the Van Dop Gallery.
Now, it's true confession time: I left New Westminster and bought stuff in not one, but TWO other cities. I also broke my pledge to avoid Wal-mart for the entire month of November by buying some craft supplies for Beavers there on Nov. 29. (I know, I was so close!)
As for my other shopping sins: I went with some friends to a wreath making workshop at Garden Works in Burnaby and out for dinner after. Our financial planner does a movie day every year at Silver City Coquitlam. The movies are free, but the snacks aren't and even at 10 a.m., the popcorn was impossible to resist.
It was funny going to Garden Works because in addition to shopping only in New West, I've pretty much been staying only in New West for the past two months. Driving along Lougheed Highway seemed to take so long and the Garden Works seemed incredibly far away. I ended up driving past the entrance and had to circle around to get in. I felt like a tourist.
I felt quite guilty during the wreath making. I bought the bare minimum to do my wreath and shielded my eyes from all the (I'll admit) tempting merchandise. I felt less guilty about the dinner because after two hours of sticking tree branches into peat moss I was cold and hungry.
I knew it would be tough for me to stick to my New West only rule at this time of year. I can resist the mall, but I can't resist a party and these were more social occasions than shopping expeditions. Other than that, I have nothing to say in my defence. Go ahead and pillory me. (But bear in mind it's Christmas, when we should all be keeping the words of that delightful old carol in mind, the one that says, "Jingle bells, jingle bells, be kind to wayward bloggers." It goes something like that. I can't recall the exact words.)
From Nov. 26 to Dec. 2, I spent about $735 in New Westminster:
- Coffee and food at Starbucks
- Ornaments at Cadeaux
- Groceries at IGA and Donald's
- Ornaments and soap at the Van Dop Gallery
- Christmas present for my son and ornaments at London Drugs
- Pulled pork sandwich at Graze
- Food at McDonald's
- Craft supplies at Wal-Mart
- Kitchen faucet at The Ensuite (on Braid Street)
- Dinner at Boston Pizza
I spent about $40 in Burnaby:
- Wreath making at Garden Works
- Dinner at Soho Bar and Grill
I spent about $25 in Coquitlam:
- Popcorn and pop at Silvercity Coquitlam
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