This Earth Day, local sustainable businesses in the Burnaby Heights area are getting some promotional help for supporting their local economy and making green business choices.
The Heights Merchants Association (HMA), a Business Improvement Area (BIA) consisting of over 350 merchants and over 150 property owners, has launched its first-ever Green Business Spotlight initiative. The initiative starts this Earth Day and runs until the end of June, featuring local sustainable businesses through social media.
Isabel Kolic, executive director of the HMA says the Green Business Spotlight can be a way for smaller businesses, which don’t spend as much on promotional materials as they do on local vendors, to hopefully get some more customers through their doors.
“We have to help them get the word out about their efforts. It’s so important for customers to realize that shopping locally and supporting neighbourhood businesses is generally better for the environment, on the whole,” Kolic said. “We wanted to encourage more sustainable shopping habits, and also encourage more environmentally friendly business practices among businesses in general.”
In a recent release the HMA states that by spending more of their revenues on other local suppliers and vendors, local businesses create a flourishing local economy. In turn, this action supports hundreds more local, nearby jobs for employees who can then find employment closer to home.
Another benefit from these locally oriented business practices is more closer-to-home shopping habits and thus lower carbon footprints by customers, employees, and businesses.
On the other hand, Kolic says that supporting big online merchandisers like Amazon can take money out of the pockets of small business owners and the local economy as a whole.
“This compromises our city’s and province’s ability to create jobs long into the future. Jobs that our kids and grandchildren can prosper by,” Kolic said. “Shopping online with giant or far-away companies, or supporting international businesses rather than those in our communities, we are actually tricking ourselves into false economies. We think it’s cheaper – but it’s going to cost us all in the long run.”
If successful, the Green Business Spotlight could become an annual undertaking. that not only are locally-based businesses healthier for local economies – they are better for the environment too.
For more information on the initiative, you can visit the Heights Merchants Association’s website.
