Earth Day!

Good Morning and Happy April 22nd, 2014!  Today is Earth Day!  While I promise not to harp on it being Earth day, today seemed like a great opportunity to consider both the Environmental and Economic benefits of shopping at local stores.  Below is an image and a series of questions.  Please look at the image and then respond as best as you can (3-4 sentences each) to each question posed.

Question 1: What does it mean to you to shop locally?

Question 2:  Looking at the image above, what are some of the primary reasons it benefits your local communities economy to shop at locally owned and run businesses?  Give specific examples from the chart that highlight how much of your money stays nearby, where your money goes, etc.

Question 3:  Although it is not specified in the image (and, of course, because today is earth day) what do you see as the environmental benefits of shopping at locally owned and operated businesses? You can take a second to do a quick online Google search for an answer ... you'll find plenty of sites with ideas! 

Remember, your response to each question should be 3-4 sentences ... yes, a little bit longer of a blog post but a good opportunity to do some critical thinking about economics and the environment on earth day!

Thank you!