My previous post was about how With Love defines local. This week I will throw out a few practical ways to live, think, and buy locally.

Humor me for a minute and try to remember all the places you shopped in the past week. Okay, you got it, at least most of them? In how many of those places, when you left, did you say goodbye to your server/the employee by name? Did you even say goodbye at all? My guess is that in most of the places you went, the answer is no. What that illustrates is that the human element of acting locally is often forgotten and replaced by efficiency and a kind of corporatization of all of our consumer experiences. Both the name and the face of employees/people are replaced by the logo of the business. We often interact with people as if they are a corporate entity rather than a living, breathing child of God. Consider how you might extend yourself, possibly beyond comfort and definitely beyond efficiency, and interact with those who serve you as if they are your neighbor, friend, sister or brother. That’s one way to live locally.

Now let’s revisit all those places you shopped at this previous week. Did you drive to those places or was it close enough that you could walk or take public transportation? Physical distance is one of the most often used criterion in determining how local something is. If you don’t have to travel far to patronize a business, then likely the people who work there are people who live near you and who you may interact with on a day-to-day basis. If the lady who serves you coffee every morning also happens to go to your church, you may find that you appreciate that relationship more. Consider how you can patronize geographically local businesses to support folks in your community that likely work there.

Lastly, how many of those places you visited were small businesses as compared to large national chains? The truth is that local businesses create a greater economic return for the community that large chains do. This is largely because the money spent at a local business goes to pay people in the community, who in turn have more buying power to continue spending in that community. In contrast, dollars spent at corporate chains are quickly taken out of the local economy where they can no longer be of use to the community. How can you intentionally spend your money at a local small business instead of a national one?

If you take these three things into consideration when you spend your money, focusing on being more local, you WILL make a difference in the community. And guess what, the community will also make a difference in YOU. In no time you are going to know more names of your neighbors, meet a new friend, discover someone just like you, and be humbled by how much God loves those around you. Give it a shot, you won’t regret it. Happy local living friends!