Shop Local First campaign is launched

Shop Local First

Friends of the Earth has today launched the Shop Local First campaign. The short term aims are:

to raise awareness of the benefits of using independent shops.
to get consumers to shift at least some of their shopping back to them.

In the long term we aim to make these shops viable - and more likely to stock more local, organic and ethical products.

Some towns leave people with little choice of where to shop. It's a huge loss to communities if their local shops close down - but big supermarkets are getting so dominant that smaller shops find it hard to compete.

Friends of the Earth has successfully pursuaded the Office of Fair Trading to propose an investigation into the negative effects of big supermarket expansion.

But policy change takes time and meanwhile local shops continue to close down or be taken over. So we've launched the Shop Local First campaign to help protect them.

Support your local shops

Local shops boost the local economy, provide genuine choice and are a good environmental option.

The most important thing you can do is to buy more from your local shops - choosing local products wherever possible.

You could also run a Shop Local First campaign in your area. This could be anything from asking shops to display our new leaflet and poster to starting up a loyalty scheme.

For more information about how to run a campaign visit our community website.