As a college student, it is tempting to want to just shop at certain stores for convenience and good prices. But, what if someone were to tell you that the products or foods you buy at almost any corporation weren’t as great and beneficial as you thought? By shopping at locally owned businesses, rather than massive retailers, we are doing good to not only ourselves but to the local economy and overall environment as well.

About eight months ago, I began working at local kitchen supply store where the majority of their products are produced locally, giving each and every product some character, a story, and a certain significance. Through this experience, the movement regarding shopping local has created a certain significance for me and for a few good reasons.

First off, customer service at any local business tends to be much more personable and authentic than what you would experience and receive at a chain retailer. We can create relationships with the people we buy from, we become more knowledgeable about where our purchases are coming from, and we grow aware of what our money is supporting.

In addition, the products we purchase can really be unique to what we would receive at a corporation or chain business. Something that we buy for our home could be completely original and unlike anything else that we could get at let’s say Walmart. Imagine purchasing fruits or vegetables where we know its exact history. By buying from local farmers, we open ourselves up to a multitude of benefits. We can trust that what we are eating is in its most raw form with no added chemicals, preservatives, or whatever else manufacturers might add.

Visiting and buying from local businesses is also extremely beneficial to our environment. As you can see from the infographic below created by CustomMade, “the U.S. transports and ships $2.2 trillion worth of products from over 150 countries every year”. This then allows for “11 billion gallons of fuel used per year internationally” and creates “1 billion metric tons of CO2.” Not to mention, the CEO and Co-Founder of CustomMade.com, Michael Salguero, claims that by shopping at local businesses you are lessening the amount of waste that would originally increase pollution.

As for local economies, a customer’s money is truly doing a great deal. According to American Business Independent Alliance (AMIBA), a study in Chicago found that “for every $100 spent at a local business, $68 remained in the city while only $43 of each $100 spent at a chain retailer.” This proves that shopping at locally owned businesses can be super beneficial for a town or city’s economy.

Overall, the benefits of shopping local are more than one could imagine and these are just a few of the many statistics that prove it. Next time we are grocery shopping or looking for a new art piece to hang on our wall, we should try to think about who and what we are affecting when we go to make that purchase.