FAQs

Local living empowers us to source our needs locally and connect to others in our community. This way of living supports our environment, our economy, and our health. Local can be defined as being within a 100-mile radius, which has the most positive impact on people and the planet.

Living locally can be daunting when we are so used to sourcing our needs in one place. However, with search engines designed to identify farmers markets, CSAs, and package free stores local to you, it gets a lot easier! See our resources section to access these directories. Often, your local chamber of commerce also has a directory of all the small businesses in your area, allowing you to easily find what you need.

We recommend starting small by choosing one or two items you need daily and replacing them with local products or services. Then you can work your way up from there. Even if you don’t have an accessible farmers market, many grocery chains have labels that identify local products, making it easy to support a small business.

Outside of food, it’s important to reconnect with our communities. Do you subscribe to a local newsletter or keep up with what’s discussed at the town hall? When you’re looking to relax with your family, what local activities can you explore? Become a tourist in your own community! You’ll likely find new spots to love that you didn’t even know existed.

1. Today’s climate change is indisputably caused by human activity, and CO2 in the atmosphere is higher now than it has been in 2 million years*. This negatively impacts our health and our economy. Living locally significantly drives down CO2 levels because we do not rely on overseas factories or industrial agriculture for our needs, which also decreases unnecessary long-distance transportation and energy expenditure.

2. Climate change is increasing the number and frequency of “natural” disasters, like California wildfires; coastal flooding in Texas, Florida, Virginia, and other parts of the U.S.; hurricanes; and more*. Living locally reduces greenhouse gas emissions driving this changes, and knowledge of the local landscape can help us build resilience against weather events.

3. The rapidly changing climate and the plastic pollution crisis can be directly tied to corporate greed. Large corporations exploit the earth for profit, shaping society by intervening in government and policy to protect their bottom line instead of people and our communities. Switching the focus back to community and living locally minimizes our impact on the environment because we’re not reliant on large companies that pollute the land.

*Data from the U.S. Geological Survey

1. Large corporations actually decrease jobs and take money out of our local communities, money that would go to our community’s basic needs and infrastructure as well as investments in programs, events, and activities that make them nice places to live. By living locally, we’re circulating money in our community and creating a strong, resilient local economy that can withstand global supply chain crises like the ones experienced during pandemics and wars.

2. Monopolies and consolidation limit our choices as consumers, taking money and power away from local communities. Areas with abundant small businesses, local banks and credit unions, etc., have equitable, dynamic, and thriving economies.

3. There is a myth that when small businesses go under, it is because they could not compete. The reality is that misguided public policy now favors corporate concentration and monopoly power, eradicating small businesses and destroying our communities. But small, local businesses accounted for 65% of all new jobs over the last 17 years and, for every square foot a local business owns, the local economy gains $179 vs. the $105 occupied by a big corporation*.

*Data from Independent We Stand

1. The decline in local businesses is causing communities to lose their sense of social connectedness and collective agency*. Our mental and emotional health depends heavily on cultivating meaningful relationships. Big box stores, restaurant chains, and online retailers owned by large corporations take away community and places to connect with others. Living locally by visiting small community venues, going to the park, volunteering, etc., helps us rekindle that sense of connection and lead fulfilling lives.

2. Food deserts caused by corporate greed force people to rely on mass-produced processed foods, resulting in obesity, diabetes, and an increase in diseases. Living locally strengthens our food systems and makes fresh, seasonal produce and sustainably raised animals more available.

3. Pollution caused mainly by large corporations has led to a dramatic increase in asthma, cancer, and other diseases. By living locally, we drastically reduce the levels of pollution from factories, industrial farms, transportation, and other factors, cleaning up our health and the earth.

*Data from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Rooted: Our Journey to Local, Sustainable Living is currently in progress and has not yet been published. We will keep you up-to-date with the latest developments.

First, you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter to see what we’re up to and how others are living locally. We hope to inspire you to make great discoveries in your community and share them with us! Tag us online, send us an email, or use our Contact page to let us know about your journey. We may even feature your story on our social media!

Most importantly, being part of the Rooted journey is just dipping your toes into your community and going on mini adventures to see what your city, town, county, or state has to offer.

Where do I find…?

Local businesses: Check out your local Chamber of Commerce, community business association, and other community pages.
Local CSAs
Local Farmers Markets
Zero Waste Stores Near Me

Websites

Independent Retailer Month Independent We Stand
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Local Futures
Small Business Rising
The Story of Stuff
Think Local First

Books

All We Can Save by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson
Local is Our Future by Helena Norberg-Hodge
Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry
The Localist by Carrie Rollwagen
Tribe by Sebastian Junger

Documentaries

A Plastic Ocean by Craig Leeson
Down to Earth by Zac Efron
Kiss the Ground by Rebecca Harrell Tickell and Josh Tickell
Rotten by Zero Point Zero
2040 by Damon Gameau

YouTube

Exploring Alternatives
Going Zero Waste
Local Futures
Shelbizlee
Sustainably Vegan
The Fairly Local Family

Newsletters We Subscribe To

Crowdsourcing Sustainability
FoodPrint
Grist
Inside Climate News
Institute for Local Self Reliance
Project Drawdown
WRI Digest