I found this amazing graphic designed by Nathaniel Kerksick on my favorite design website NotCot. We are going through an extremely strange time right now economically, socially and politically. The recession has caused so many businesses to fail. People’s homes are being foreclosed. Bankruptcies are common. Malls everywhere have empty storefronts.
This design helps us to remember that small businesses are falling by the wayside, completely forgotten by people both socially and politically. Huge corporations like the auotmobile manufacturers and banks are being handed millions and millions of dollars to sustain business simply because they are “Too big to fail”. The local businesses too need our support.
Local companies are those that are run by our friends and neighbors instead of by huge multinational corporations who are raking in giant bonuses while being flown around on their lear jets. Buying locally can make a huge difference for the good of our planet as well. Local companies involve less traveling for goods to reach our door. The carbon footprint of stores such as WalMart are huge since many of their products are made overseas. There are also safety concerns of products being made far away under less strigent environmental controls. How many toys have been recalled lately for lead or other chemicals being found in them? And what about the workers overseas who are making pennies to produce the goods that we think that we “need”. What are their futures like? Is this kind of a business model really sustainable??
Making huge amounts of cheap products being sent thousands of miles only to break within a few weeks of use is how many of the big companies currently operate. Remember that every time you make a purchase, you are voting with your wallet for the practices that you want to see continue. Remember that those local companies are too small to fail. What will happen to our world in the small companies become extinct??
