I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it a hundred times more. (Hey that rhymed!) You need to shop small and local. But why is it such a big deal right? Just because a company is big doesn’t make it immediately unsustainable, right? Not necessarily… Some companies, Amazon for example (which I know we hate on a bit here), have been working on their sustainability measures for sure. They co-founded the Climate Pledge and are committed to being carbon neutral by 2040. That’s cool. But with Jeff Bezos giving such a small fraction of his money to preventing climate change, a crisis he “cares so much about,” Amazon has the potential to be Climate Neutral even sooner than that. They simply aren’t putting the planet as their priority. I am not going to rant about Amazon today though because I could just go on and on. I am going to let my friend Susie talk to you all about that. This blog is a collaboration as Susie gave me the idea to write about it. I, instead, am going to talk about two other big companies, Walmart and Target. They too have a very negative impact on the environment and I will be comparing them to small businesses both online and local to me.
First of all, I am going to talk about the benefits of both types of stores. Just like Amazon, Walmart is planning to be net-zero (net zero means they produce an equal amount of carbon emissions to the amount that they help to take out of the atmosphere). However, according to Targets sustainability goals, they have no set goals to become net-zero. Their website simply said they are planning to reduce their carbon footprint by 30% in comparison to their levels in 2017 by 2030. They also plan to use 100% renewable energy but did not specify when. Walmart plans to achieve this goal by 2035.
In comparison, small and local businesses help the planet in a different way. Many consider sustainability an important priority, or better yet, their only priority. Small local businesses are also trustworthy and don’t hide anything from their customers. What the big corporations don’t tell us is the reality. Having goals set for 2040 is good, but right now, they are still emitting carbon and not impacting the environment in an immediate positive way. Climate change is hurting us now… it will not wait for 2040. Walmart is lagging on their clean energy efforts. And after nine years, they had only reached 19% of their clean energy goals. Both of these retailers create lots of textile waste. They sell fast fashion and highly packaged products. Lastly, the products that stores like Target and Walmart ship from many foreign, third world countries. They get products from China, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and more. They aren’t your typical local business and are usually located in locations that are not in walking or biking distance and they are not accessible to public transportation.
This article talks about these large companies failing to keep their sustainability promises.
There are also a number of benefits from buying from small and local businesses. Especially when it comes to sustainability. Not only do they make income for the community, but they also create plenty of jobs. Locally owned businesses make more local purchases — requiring less transportation — and set up shop in town or city centers which generally means less sprawl, congestion, habitat loss, and pollution. With such limited finance, small businesses tend to be more resourceful. In conclusion, small-scale, locally owned businesses create communities that are more prosperous, connected, and generally better-off across a wide range of metrics. (Resource) It is always better to support small, local businesses over large corporations.
I hope this blog post has helped you understand the importance of shopping small and local before going out to big corporate stores or unsustainable online retailers. See you next week. For now, peace.
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