Show Your Local Love This Valentine’s Day

Originally published in the Monadnock Shopper News

February is here and Monadnock Buy Local has love on its mind… Love for our locally-owned and independent businesses, that is!  Join our annual Show Your Local Love Campaign by sending your favorite locally-owned businesses a Valentine’s Day Card.  Last year 25 citizens participated – this year, we hope to inspire 100 of you to Show Your Local Love.

You are invited to mail your own cards (better yet hand-deliver your card during your next visit) or use Valentine’s Day Cards available for you to download and print for free on Monadnock Buy Local’s website. You can choose to mail, hand-deliver, email or share these cards on Facebook.

“What a brilliant idea,” said community member Elise Burdick. “Spreading love and letting our local businesses know how much we really appreciate all the wonderful goods and services they have to offer!”

What else inspires us to Show the Local Love? 

Locally-owned businesses give us much to crow about.  They strengthen our local economy, culture and well-being. Independent businesses re-circulate more money in our community than other businesses, when they purchase from other local businesses, service providers & farms and donate to local non-profits.  Moreover, studies show that most new jobs are created by locally-owned businesses – meaning today’s purchase at independent businesses are tomorrow’s jobs.

This year, Monadnock Buy Local Member and Artist Pamela of Prettydreamer donated photographs of her whimsical creations for us to use in our Valentine’s Day Cards. Pamela creates toys and useful items out of wood, wax, fabric and other materials in her home-based studio.  “Here I am two hands and a mischievous imagination making lively, useful, colorful, simple things for home and play.” Be sure to view her shop on Etsy.

If you typically buy gifts for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, think local first!  There are many great local options for your sweetie.

Looking for something as sweet as your love?

• Consider treats from Ava Marie’s in Peterborough or Life is Sweet Candy Store in Keene and flowers from Woodman’s Florist in Peterborough.
• How about heart-shaped soap from K.I.S.S Keeping it Simple Soap in Peterborough?
• Find beautiful greeting cards at The Hannah Grimes Marketplace in Keene, Toadstool Bookshops and Steele’s Stationers in Peterborough.
• Thinking about showing your love with fair trade?  Stop into Monadnock Imaging and Blueberry Fields, both in Keene, and Joseph’s Coat in Peterborough.
• Give them a massage from Deep Roots Massage or MB Massage Studio in Keene.
• Or perhaps it’s time to pop the question… be sure to visit Regel Jewelry and Good Fortune in Keene.
• There are many more great options – please share your suggestions below or on MBL’s Facebook page.

“Love works in so many glorious ways,” shared John Sepe of MindFull Books & Ephemera in Jaffrey. “So think about how many hearts you can touch when you buy something for your sweetie locally. Let’s make it a BIG Valentine’s Day in the Monadnock Region.”

Show your local love today – and feel free to pass this idea on to your friends, family and neighbors.

January Focus: Sustainable Community

We asked Monadnock Buy Local Facebook fans to vote on which Local Living Economy theme/building block to focus on in January.  The theme that gathered the most votes was a building block written in by a fan: Sustainable Community.

When it was time to highlight that building block, we were stuck… was a Sustainable Community a building block of a Local Living Economy? Or was a Local Living Economy a building block of a Sustainable Community?  Or were they expressing a similar vision?

Not knowing the answer, Monadnock Buy Local shifted gears and focused on how our community defined our Local Living Economy in 2009.  Here’s what it looked like:

The Monadnock Local Living Economy is a place where:

• All citizens can have a great quality of life.
• Our basic needs are met within our community and region.
• Individuals realize that they are beyond the worth of their jobs.
• A diversity of small businesses, cooperatives, municipally-owned businesses and civic-minded corporations support our economy.
• Leadership helps identify common ground and overarching community goals.
• Citizens are creating a new definition of what our needs really are.
• Individuals and banks are investing in social capital.
• We are working cooperatively and collaboratively.
• All citizens are engaged and feel included.
• Celebrating our community.
• We are thinking of our community as a system.

What we hope to do in 2012 is find ways to help us visualize our Monadnock Local Living Economy – and get inspired to strengthen it together.  Do you have an image, video or other medium that captures our vision (beyond words)?

 

 

“Show Your Local Love” Gift Ideas from MBL Members

Showing the Love From Holland Homestead Farm: Handcrafted Goat Milk Soap – perfect for those you Love!

Special Valentine Event: 5 Course Beer Tasting Dinner featuring Grenadian Chocolate Stout – perfect for Valentines Day.  Hosted by Elm City Brewery in collaboration with Burdick Chocolate to support Cocoa Farmers of Grenada.

Building Our Local Living Economy

Join us on Facebook, where each month we’ll focus on a different building block of our Local Living Economy – highlighting the businesses, organizations & individuals who are making these components stronger and more resilient in our region.

Building Blocks:

• January – Sustainable Community

Building a Green Local Economy

Originally published in the Monadnock Shopper News

Does your favorite locally-owned business buy locally-made products?  We asked one Monadnock Buy Local Member, Christina O’Brien, AIA of SISR Architecture, LLC, to share how her business is helping others source locally-made products:

It is a very important mission of ours here at SISR Architecture, LLC to promote locally manufactured green building products to our clients. While buying local products helps stimulate and strengthen the local economy (which is so very critical these days), it also helps reduce carbon emissions from transporting goods across the country and beyond. And doesn’t it just make sense to purchase goods from someone close by (who you may even know) rather than from someone who lives and works thousands of miles away? We think so!

Our office started a list of locally manufactured green building products.  It is a modest list right now, but we hope that people like you will help us on this quest by suggesting businesses that we can include. And just to be clear, our office is not a third party testing agency for any of the products listed. We only hope to promote local and regional businesses (within a 500 miles radius of Keene, NH) and rely on a good faith effort that the products listed are made locally and manufactured with the materials that their producers claim.

One project near and dear to us here at SISR that used many local building materials during its construction is W.S. Badger Company, which opened its new building for business this fall. Located in Gilsum, the new 20,000 square foot facility was designed by Badger CEO and former designer/builder, Bill Whyte.

Not only did Whyte use local building products, but he hired the local firm SISR Architecture, LLC just up the road in Marlow, NH to assist with architectural support and the final construction documents.  American Construction of Keene built the facility.

W.S. Badger now develops, produces, packages and ships their Badger Balm products (which include lip balms, suntan lotions and scented oils to name just a few) from this new facility. The structure of the building is a modified timber frame provided by Vermont Timberworks of North Springfield, Vermont.

The timber frame, installed on a concrete frost wall foundation, was then enclosed with 2X6 wood stud exterior walls and rough sawn board wall sheathing. Whyte wanted to use rough sawn lumber as sheathing instead of using plywood because most plywood contains formaldehyde which off-gases harmful volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) into the building and the environment. The roof sheathing was also made up of rough sawn boards and all of the lumber and wall and roof sheathing was provided by Perkins Lumber of Keene.

Both the bottom and the very top of the building are built with materials from Ontario, Canada. The frost wall foundation insulation used, called Roxul, is a wool insulation board made of natural and recycled materials and the roofing, a deep blue architectural asphalt shingle, was made by the company IKO. The suppliers boasted that this project would be their largest blue shingle roof east of the Mississippi River!

The exposed wood timbers were all sealed with a natural wood finish called PolyWhey. Made by Vermont Natural Coatings of Hardwick, Vermont, this finish is made out of recycled whey proteins from the cheese making process.

Natural wood windows made by Bonneville Windows of Quebec, Canada were installed throughout the building providing plenty of natural light and views to the production, shipping and office spaces.

Marmoleum flooring, natural linoleum flooring made in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, was installed in all of the restrooms and in the elevator.

Vermont Cabinetry of Westminster, VT built and installed all of the beautiful kitchen cabinets and storage cabinets found throughout the building.

Before you plan a new construction or renovation project, consider sourcing locally-made products from locally-owned businesses.  You’ll not only build something for you, your family or your business; but for your local and regional economy too.  Discover more resources at http://www.sisr.us.

SISR Architecture, LLC is run and operated by its two principals, Douglas Stewart and Christina O’Brien, out of Marlow, NH.  SISR was started in February of 2007 and has 40 years of combined experience designing new construction, additions and renovations for commercial and residential clients.

Four Steps to Shift Your Shopping

Shift Your Shopping

From Plaid Friday, November 25 to Saturday, December 31, 2011

It’s time to vote with your dollars this holiday season!   To make our “think local first” message stronger, Monadnock Buy Local is participating in the Shift Your Shopping Campaign.  This national movement encourages citizens to support job creation and economic growth through their holiday purchases at locally-owned and independent businesses.

Four Steps to Shift Your Shopping:
Shift at least 10% of your holiday purchases from non-local businesses to locally-owned businesses.

STEP #1:
Look at your holiday budget and research which gifts you can purchase from independent businesses.

STEP #2:
Take the Shift Your Shopping Pledge on our website.

STEP #3:
If you use Facebook, RSVP to the Shift Your Shopping – Monadnock Region event page.

STEP #4:  
Ask for help if you need it – either on MBL’s Fanpage or send us an email.   Share your successes too…  and perhaps create your own local holiday shopping guide.

Have a STEP to suggest?  Add it below!

Share Your “Shift Your Shopping” Adventures

MB Massage Studio felt so inspired by Plaid Friday & the Shift Your Shopping Campaign that they created their own MB’s Local Holiday Gift Guide.

Create your own Shift Your Shopping Article, Collage or Video highlighting your favorite locally-owned and independent businesses and share it with your friends, family and fans!

MB’s Local Holiday Gift Guide

#1  Trim the tree at Jingles Christmas Shop

 

Trim the tree and shop in their Christmas and Antique Shop. Oh, and don’t forget their fudge!

#2  Gifts for the young and young at heart at Ingenuity Country Store

 

#3  A Prime Roast Coffee subcription for addicts like me

#4  The knitters and crocheters will love a gift from the Knitting Knook

#5  For those home brewers & craft beer fans (aka my husband!) go to Brewtopia

 

 #6  She will love the handcrafted earrings from Jayelay Jewlers

#7  For their feet and for the love of snow go to Ted’s Shoe and Sport

#8  Find your Christmas cards and winter reading at The Toadstool Bookstore

#9  For the foodie, the cook, and your holiday feast- Your Kitchen Store can’t be beat

#10  A gift of art from Kristina Wentzell

Be sure to visit her site for 100 paintings for $100 or less

#11  After the flury of the day, Badger Balm says, “And to all a good night!”

It’s Time to Shift Your Shopping!

From Plaid Friday, November 25th to December 31st, Monadnock Buy Local is joining the Shift Your Shopping Movement.  Ready to Shift Your Shopping?

Take the Shift Your Shopping Pledge:

I, ___________ (your name), of ____________ (your city/town) pledge to shift ___ % of my holiday shopping to locally-owned & independent businesses, such as ________ (add your favorites).

Copy and paste the above pledge into the comments section below.  Fill in the blanks and then click the “Post Comment” button. THANK YOU!

If you are on Facebook, go to the Shift Your Shopping – Monadnock Region event page and click “JOIN” – Show your friends and family that you are shifting at least 10% of your holiday purchases from non-local businesses to locally-owned businesses.

Learn more about the Shift Your Shopping Campaign at ShiftYourShopping.org.

Plaid Friday Collage

Enjoy these photos, taken during our Shift Your Shopping kick-off celebration: Plaid Friday

Monadnock Buy Local’s photostream on Flickr.

Shift Your Shopping Song