Our small, simple Actions.
Do them everyday and you might just change the world

What Actions have you done? What Actions do you want to do? Explore them here to see what they're about, then add them to your Action Tracker to keep track of what you're doing. When you've done one, it'll be added to the grand total in the top right. Just like that.

Action #039

Shop locally

 
This action has been done 15,175 times which means we are supporting roughly  3,793,750 jobs in small businesses.
 
How we did the maths
 

Go on, tell me more

Phrases you won't hear in a super-mega-hyper-market:

"Come on in and have a look around."

"We've got some of those biscuits you said you liked. They're turning out to be quite a popular choice down the street."

"Oh, don't worry if you don't have enough change on you, just give it to me next time you're in."

And unfortunately:

"We're closing. We blame the huge shop that's opened up down the road. We just can't afford to stay open anymore."

 

  • Recently Posted

  •  Kirsten Kirsten and friends did this action and got 3 people to do it too

    always!!

    i live really close to about 7 shops, so its so easy! :D 03 November 2009, 19:17
  •  keenan atkins keenan atkins did this action

    i'm always do this

    i'm always doing this as i live really close to my local shops and my mum sends me to get milk or something 03 November 2009, 18:22
  •  Heather Heather did this action

    Suggestion


    One of your messages in your book is to shop locally. Would you consider linking Indiebound.org as an alternative to Amazon for customers interested in purchasing your book online? Indie Bound will link folks with independent businesses in their communities, keeping dollars in their own communities! Thank you.
    27 April 2009, 17:42
  •  Michael  Daley Michael Daley did this action

    US no-mans land


    Having been raised in the US and now living in London, I can see how not shopping locally can hollow out a town and add to a fragmented society. Much of this can be traced to the automobile (every American's birthright). If you compare Los Angeles to a carfree place like Venice, there is no comparison in the quality of life and vibrancy of the community.
    29 August 2008, 09:28
  •   Nic Nic did this action

    local shop


    its cheaper to by milk from the shop up the road. in asda and tesco its 1.44, in lidl its 1.40 and in the local shop its 1.20. so we always get our milk from there.

    its also easier to get 2 :)
    11 July 2008, 18:09
  •   orlando  orlando did this action

    what you want, what you need... tricks for an easy


    Late one night recently, a friend was musing about the confusing nature of supermarkets. Something I could well sympathise from my supermarket days (now, to my delight, beginning to be a distant memory). He said that he couldn't always get what he wanted there.

    Oh!, I wondered to myself. I thought about that, and realised that I am shopping upside down now. I pretty much always go the the local shop, buy one meal at a time. They know my face. I know theirs. They gave me a bottle of wine at Christmas. Which made my entire Christmas. We smile at each other. Ask each other how we are. Have amusing tussles about the fact that I don't want a bag, don't have a bag and, yes, am happy to walk up the road with an armful of potatoes and bread clutched to my nice clean shirt.

    The point, though, is that I don't think about what I want. I find out what is in the local shop, and then I make something out of it. Not concerned about what I want, I'm finding life easier and happier when I just work with what is on offer. Another unexpectedly liberating consequence.

    Sure, the food there might not be the best quality. Or the most responsibly sourced. But I'm dealing with one or two things at a time, I suppose.

    It's not a million miles away from the idea that you buy less if your re-usable bag is smaller, or that the less you buy then the less you want, and the more relaxed you become.
    19 February 2008, 08:21

Thank you, we've recorded your complaint. If you would like to contact us, please email us.

Your post has been sent to the comment-master. The master will scrutinize it thoroughly before putting it in the pot. Hopefully if everything is ok, it will show up soon.