With the festive season fast approaching my focus has turned to a Greener Christmas.  How can I make more sustainable choices in my celebrations, decorations and gift buying? I am an advocate for shopping and supporting local businesses all year round and this time of year is no different. 

In research I came across based on the American shopping experience it showed that “for every $100 you spend at locally owned businesses, $68 will stay in the community.

What happens when you spend that same $100 at a national chain? Only $43 stays in the community” (What Happens When You Shop Local - Independent We Stand | Independent We Stand).  

In some cases, it’s not possible to buy everything locally but I encourage those who are choosing more sustainable gifts this year to make a list of whom they are buying for and select:

• Locally or nationally produced items
• Gifts made with less or no plastic material 
• Less packaging or choose reusable packaging, e.g., brown paper and twine, decora...

Striving for environmental sustainability in our shopping habits is no easy feat.

I find myself having to make tricky decisions every day of the week.

One of the first problems I encounter personally, is the issue of TIME, or lack of time to be precise.

I am blessed to live in an area where I have access to fresh locally grown produce. However, in order for me to access this delicious food, takes planning and organisation because I need to visit several different venues, every single week.

I always try to purchase my meat from our local butcher, who keeps their herd in Kilkee, Co. Clare, just down the road from me.

I also want to get my vegetables and fruit at the farmer’s market, but this is only available on Saturday mornings.

My cleaning products and the few bathroom amenities I use, have to be purchased from the health food shop as I know the brands that contain no chemicals and keep my wastewater and skin healthy. 

On the rare occasion that I do eat pork, it has to be fr...

While I am sure you have all seen by now many posts about “Shopping local this Christmas” the message is soooo important that I could not pass this opportunity to give you my opinion.

According to digitalcommerce360, Amazon has reported it’s most profitable quarter this year increasing sales by 32.8% globally.

Now we are talking about a company here that was already making BILLIONS before the pandemic, well now, thanks to us all, they have a record revenue of 96.15 BILLION.

You are welcome Jeff!!!

Meanwhile back in the ranch, our local shops are suffering one of the hardest years of their history.

How many times have you passed by a place that has closed down and though “Oh that was a lovely shop, I wonder why it's closed” When was the last time you actually went in and spent money there?

Don’t get me wrong I am not preaching, I can admit that has happened to me too and then I’ve realised I contributed to their closure by not buying their products.

But one thing I will never do ...