Articles
About Sustainable Economies (Local)
Consumers Buy Into 'Buy Local', Business Week, February 18, 2010, by Kimberly Weisul. (This article was also featured in Business Week magazine March 1, 2010 under the title "Why More are Buying into 'Buy Local')
"Locavore" Feasting and Giving, Charleston Mercury, December 29, 2009, by Peg Moore.
Lowcountry Local First to keep dollars in the community, The Summerville Journal Scene, December 17, 2009, by Jenny Peterson.
'Buy local' the rallying cry of effort to stimulate economy in Lowcountry, The Post and Courier, June 14, 2009, by Adam Parker.
Lowcountry Local First working to keep the money at home, The Digitel Charleston, June 4, 2009, by Amanda Click.
Vote with your wallet in support of local business, farms, The Post and Courier, November 27, 2008, by David Quick
Buy local this season and give a boost to the Lowcountry economy, Charleston City Paper, November 26, 2008, by Stephanie Barna.
Plan cultivates love for local crops, The Post and Courier, January 9, 2008, by Katy Stech.
South Carolina Workshop Attracts Beginning Farmers.
Local Farms are Key to Future for Local Food and Lowcountry Cuisine, American Farmland Trust.
News Coverage
Buy Local Week, ABC News 4, November 29, 2009.
Buy Local Week Helps Keep Dollars in the Lowcountry, ABC News 4, November 30, 2009, by Neville Miller.
About Sustainable Economies (National)
Circle of livelihood, Chico News and Review, May 28, 2009, by Ginger McGuire.
Social (and Responsible) Networking, Arrive, March/April 2009, by Gwen Shaffer.
Is a Food Revolution Now in Season? The New York Times, March 21, 2009, by Andrew Martin.
Small Banks Could Drive Recovery, Bernanke Says, The Washington Post, March 21, 2009, by Nell Irwin.
The Lure of Local: Q&A with Michael Shuman, Chronogram, February 27, 2009, by Carl Frankel.
To Beat Recession, Indies Launch Buy-Local Push, BusinessWeek, February 27, 2009, by John Tozzi.
10 Percent: The Local Stimulus, BusinessWeek, February 19, 2009, by John Tozzi.
How to Build a Local Economy, BusinessWeek, February 18, 2009, by John Tozzi.
An urgent call to 'buy local,' Christian Science Monitor, February 9, 2009, by Tim Holt.
A local economy Is a healthy economy, Sustainable Industries, January 21, 2009, by Kevin Wilhelm.
Table for Six Billion, Please, The Sun, August 2008, by David Kupfer.
The Green Rush, CBC News, March 10, 2008, by Margo Kelly.
Using the Power of Community to Green Small Business, interview with Mary Rick on GreenBiz.com. March 5, 2008.
My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables), New York Times, March 1, 2008, by Jack Hedin.
How Do We Define the Green Jobs Economy? Grist, February 20, 2008, by Kevin Doyle.
What's Your Consumption Factor? New York Times, January 2, 2008, by Jared Diamond.
Love It? Check the Label, New York Times, September 6, 2007, by Alex Williams.
Community Investment in San Jose, New York Times, July 19, 2007, by James Flanagan.
About BALLE
BALLE - Rising to the Challenge, Triple Pundit, May 22, 2009, by Lisa Bingham.
Reporting Live From the BALLE Conference in Denver, CO! Triple Pundit, May 22, 2009, by Scott Cooney.
Studies
The Vermont Job Gap Study The Leaky Bucket: An Analysis of Vermont's Dependence on Imports, June 2000, by Doug Hoffer and Ellen Kahler. Key findings: The data shows that the Vermont economy is heavily dependent on imported goods and services. As a result, the largest export is cash. This cannot be the path to sustainability, which, by definition, implies a rough balance between inputs and outputs. Therefore, it would seem prudent to further investigate import replacement. Business Diversity
Local Works! Examining the Impact of Local Business on the West Michigan Economy, September 2008, by Civic Economics.
2007 "Buy Local" Impact
Survey Finds Support for "Buying Local" Boosted Holiday Spending at Independent Stores, January 23, 2008, by Independent Business Forum.
Key finding: Independent retailers in cities with active "Buy Local" campaigns reported much larger increases in 2007 holiday sales on average than those in cities without such campaigns.
Local Procurement Impact
Procurement Matters: The Economic Impact of Local Suppliers, November 2007, by Civic Economics.
Key finding: A Civic Economics study commissioned by Local First Arizona reveals that public procurement from a local supplier generates "dramatically greater local economic activity" than procurement from a chain business. This study compared the local economic impact of Wist Office Products, a local supplier and LFA member, with Office Max Contract, a division of Office Max, after the state of Arizona dropped Wist from its stable of office suppliers.
Retail Diversity
The San Francisco Retail Diversity Study, May 2007, by Civic Economics
Read the Executive Summary, and check out the talking points.
Read a news article and editorial from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Key findings:
- A slight shift in San Francisco consumer purchasing behavior - diverting just 10% of purchases from national chain stores to locally owned businesses - would, each year, create 1,300 new jobs and yield nearly $200 million in incremental economic activity.
- The reverse is also true - a 10% shift away from local merchants would have a negative impact of equal but opposite magnitude.
"Think Local" Impact in Bellingham
Study Shows 58% of Local Citizens Are "Thinking Local First" More Often, November 2006, by Applied Research Northwest
Bellingham-area residents are not only aware of local BALLE network Sustainable Connections' Local First program, but also are making significant changes in their purchasing behavior because of it. The lead researcher says, "To have nearly 3 in 5 households attributing a behavior change to this program shows an amazing impact."
Key findings:
- 58% of Bellingham residents reported that as a result of the program they are more deliberate than they were three years ago (before the program began) about choosing local, independently owned businesses first.
- 92% of business participants would recommend the program to other businesses in their industry.
- 67% of participating businesses have, as a result of the program, adopted specific new practices that lessen their environmental impact and strengthen community.
Big-Box Studies
Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty, June 2006, by Stephan Goetz and Hema Swaminathan, Social Science Quarterly.
Key findings: The presence of a Wal-Mart store hinders a community's ability to move families out of poverty, according to this study. After controlling for other factors that influence poverty rates, the study found that U.S. counties that had more Wal-Mart stores in 1987 had a higher poverty rate in 1999 than did counties that started the period with fewer or no Wal-Mart stores.
Sustainable Agriculture
The Rise and Predictable Fall of Global Industrialized Agriculture, 2006, by the International Forum on Globalization.
Links
Green For All is a national organization working to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Green For All is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through a clean energy economy. They work in collaboration with the business, government, labor, and grassroots communities to create and implement programs that increase quality jobs and opportunities in green industry - all while holding the most vulnerable people at the center of our agenda.
The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution to America to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil, cut the carbon emissions that are destabilizing our climate, and expand opportunities for American businesses and workers. Inspired by the vision and technological achievements of the Apollo space program, we promote policies and initiatives to speed investments in clean energy technology and energy efficiency, put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of well-paid, green collar jobs, and make America a global leader in clean energy products and services. Center for Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) is a national policy center and field laboratory for high-road economic development-- a competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and capable democratic government. COWS work is collaborative, experimental, and evidence-driven. Working with business, government, labor, and communities, we try out new ideas, test their effectiveness, and disseminate those with promise. We believe that the best way to predict the future is to start making it, particularly in our states and metro regions.
Center for American Progress is a national research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just, and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people. The Story of Stuff - a fast-paced, fact-filled 20-minute look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. This animated video exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more just and sustainable world. The B Survey is free, confidential, and includes tools to help you improve your impact. Stop your Junk Mail -- 41pounds.org stops your junk mail and catalogs - protecting the environment. Junk mail wastes an incredible amount of natural resources and contributes to global warming. Our nonprofit service covers your entire household for five years, saving... Time - No credit card offers to shred or unwanted catalogs. Trees - Keep 100+ million trees in forests, cooling the planet. Water - Protect 28 billion gallons of clean water. Climate - Junk mail produces more C02 than 9 million cars. Planet - We donate to your favorite charity when you sign up. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy Building Energy Codes Program U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Energy and Environmental Building Association Energy Star Target Finder - tools for designing efficient buildings Books we recommend THE SMALL-MART REVOLUTION: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition, by Michael H. Shuman GOING LOCAL: Building Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age, by Michael H. Shuman DEEP ECONOMY: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, by Bill McKibben THE GREAT TURNING: From Empire to Earth Community, by David C. Korten FIELDS OF PLENTY, by Michael Abelman ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver PLENTY: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally, by Alisa Smith, J.B. Mackinnon THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan SMALL GIANTS: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlingham THE COMPANY WE KEEP: Reinventing Small Business for People, Community, and Place, by John Abrams COMPANIES WE KEEP: Employee Ownership and the Business of Community and Place, by John Abrams GROWING LOCAL VALUE: How to Build Business Partnerships That Strengthen Your Community, by Laury Hammel and Gun Denhart BIG-BOX SWINDLE: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses, by Stacy Mitchell AMERICA BEYOND CAPITALISM: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy, by Gar Alperovitz BUILDING POWERFUL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS: A Personal Guide to Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and Change the World, by Michael Jacoby Brown GREEN ALTERNATIVES TO GLOBALISATION: A Manifesto, by Michael Woodin and Caroline Lucas. For further recommendations, please click here.