Conscious Shopping

1. February 2010 by admin.

When you go to shop, you’re overwhelmed by the variety of available stores, brands, sizes, colours… it can be very exasperating to say the least. People tend to become “numb” to the idea of where their items come from and how these items are made.

When mass marketing stores like Walmart, Target, Dollar Stores came into power, people as a whole changed their shopping habits. Quantity overtook quality. Mass produced clothes to toys to even the food you put on your table. You have many selections, but have given up on originality, quality and a sense of connection with whom you bought from.

It isn’t easy to divert your attention from those products when advertising uses catchy tunes, flashy commercials, famous actors and sports stars to endorse products. We have become gluttons in our shopping styles.

But, it can change. You can change. The World indeed can change. 
Handmade items are making a comeback because people are looking for new spins on things and realizing the quality that goes into those handmade goods. Think about a mass produced sweater… now compare it to a hand knit sweater. Which would you prefer? I know I’d choose the hand knit sweater. It lasts longer, and it has more character than a mass produced sweater that often does not meet the expectations I would expect where quality is concerned. I have sweaters that I wore as a small child that my grandmother knit me. I then put those sweaters on my children and am saving them for their children. You see, things were made to last, and the stitches were cast with love.

When you buy something handmade or local, there’s a face, not a machine that goes with that item. You earn a sense of pride that you have done something good for yourself and the small hand made business you bought it from. You have something original and of a special quality that you would not receive from a chain store.

Buying local is pretty self explanatory as well. When you buy from a local business you’re putting revenue back into your local market. Money stays where it should, and everyone thrives. Small business owners give back to their communities in many ways and get to know their clientele on a more personal level then most big businesses. You gain a rapport with your customer base, and you become an anchor in the local community.

Eco conscious buying is as important as local and handmade. When you buy from a green certified business you know that that company and YOU are leaving a smaller carbon foot print, thus helping renew natural resources. When you see a Green Certified business, don’t just take for granted that because they have the seal, they follow the guidelines, but do a little homework. For example, does said business practice what they preach? Things like minimal, recycled packaging, items they use in their products, etc.

Making small changes to how you buy things doesn’t have to happen overnight. Just take a personal challenge. Buy yourself one item from a local, handmade, green business and see what you think. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, and you will find that you’ll want to continue to buy this way.

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