Rekindle support for our local businesses

This Saturday is international Buy Nothing Day, designed to highlight that 20% of the world’s population are consuming over 80% of the earth's natural resources. It’s an interesting counter balance to today, Black Friday – a day of consumer frenzy when people are urged to buy, buy, buy in a bid to take advantage of apparently once in a lifetime deals.

Buy Nothing Day is a good opportunity for us all to think about our behaviour as consumers, and also a way of recognising stuff is not the only thing that has a value.

One of the goals is to rekindle support for our local businesses – by encouraging the consumer to get beyond the brands and make a commitment to shop locally, support independent shops, cafe's and businesses. In the run up to Small Business Saturday on December 6th, that’s especially welcome.

Local shops are a vital community hub and are good for our economy. For every £1 spent in an independent shop - fifty pence goes back into the local economy. For every £1 spent at a supermarket only five pence goes back into the local community. Buy Nothing Day is as much about getting us to think about how and where we shop, as it is about the impact of our choices.

Here in Brighton and Hove, we are seeing the re-emergence of the age-old practices of sharing, lending, bartering, swapping and gifting – all of which have an element of collaboration at their core. Going one step further we are also seeing Community Supported Agriculture, social centres, furniture recycling and bicycle repair shops, starting to thrive in our city.

In their booklet New Materialism, Bread Print and Roses talk about how different ways of thinking about this “will boost the numbers of plumbers, electricians, builders, carpenters, farmers and engineers, as much as upholsterers, seamstresses, painters, potters, sports coaches and storytellers. Maintenance, craft, quality and entertainment could be the guiding principles by which we nurture the economy through a great transition to an economy that is able to deliver good lives for all, with less.”

In Brighton and Hove, and further afield, there is a revolution already taking place. Whether it’s sharing or upcycling, communities of people are already coming together to make and re-fashion the things that we need. Are already building a credible alternative to resource depleting endless economic growth.

I think that’s exciting.

Buy Nothing Day fits with the commitment to building an even better economy, not simply because it’s a chance to take a day long holiday from the tyranny of endless shopping but also because it’s a chance to imagine – and do - something better, more fulfilling, more lasting.

(Image: at the FairyTale Fair in Patcham Methodist Hall with its organiser, Claire Montogomery, a local award-winning businesswoman).