If I need a part to fix my van, there are two ways I can get it. I can order it online, wait for it to arrive, and hope that I’ve ordered the right thing when it turns up. Or I can nip down to the motor factors down on the industrial estate, know what I’m buying before I pay for it, and be back at my van in thirty minutes. The latter costs me marginally more, but saves me time as well as supporting local business and spare a delivery van roaring around on diesel to deliver something I can pick up myself.
This is what people don’t tell you about shopping local. Obviously it helps you be virtuous, yeah that’s great. But the reason you should do it is because it often actually works better. Particularly if you’re considering what you actually want when you want it.
Shopping local isn’t always cheaper and not every local business is perfect. But local businesses:
* Provide you with what you want or need when you need it without delivery times.
* Keep money in your local economy rather than extracting it for offshore shareholders
* Don’t require transportation emissions for each purchase.
In 2024, UK lost approximately 13,479 retail shops, equating to 37 shops per day (The Guardian reporting Centre for Retail Research data).
Retail shop closures in 2024 were 28% higher than in 2023 (The Guardian reporting Centre for Retail Research data).
Over half (56%) of the 2024 closures 7,537 followed insolvency (The Guardian reporting Centre for Retail Research data).
That’s not data. That’s the support infrastructure for local purchasing being wiped out so we have no choice but online retailers because there are no physical shops anymore.
## The maths of how you buy things
Local vs delivery:
Buying locally:
* Means one journey that does multiple shops, often walking distance to a store that’s heated and staffed whether you shop there or not.
* Delivery vans make multiple individual journeys to stock warehouses that exist solely to service those individual stores.
Buying by delivery:
* Means a van driving past your house multiple times a week to drop off your purchases.
* Each item is individually packaged to survive sorting machines and being chucked on your doorstep.
* Your purchases are transported from warehouse to warehouse before being delivered.
Delivery companies brag about delivery density – how many deliveries a single van can do per mile driven. In London that might be as high as twelve individual stops per mile. Outside of major cities that same van might do three stops a mile. The corner shop down the road sells fifty customers’ weekly food shops from the same space without any individual deliveries.
Transport emits approx. 180g CO2 per km for a diesel van (RIDESTER). So if that delivery van drove 5km to deliver your shopping that’s 900g CO2 before you start calculating the emissions from the distribution centre it was delivered from, and the lorry that delivered it to the distribution centre. Walking to your local shop creates zero transport emissions. Driving there creates maybe 200-300g CO2 if it’s a typical local journey where you’re also doing multiple things.
Online shopping creates mountains of waste cardboard, plastic packaging that can’t be recycled, because it’s too contaminated with tape, or ripped trying to protect your purchase from being damaged in transit. Household recycling rate in the UK reached 44.6% in 2023 provisional (Circular Online), but online purchases still create too much non-recyclable packaging to be truly sustainable. Shopping at your local doesn’t use any additional packaging than maybe a paper bag.
Large online retail warehouses are designed to hold huge volumes of stock in chilled or frozen rooms, and have the minimal amount of heating necessary to prevent workers from freezing while they bag orders. Local shops heat their stores to levels that are comfortable for customers. Each sells to dozens, sometimes hundreds of customers a day from the same indoor space. If we look purely at supply chain emissions, serving those customers from a local store will often have a lower carbon cost than heating your own home while waiting for deliveries, plus separate heated spaces for order picking, packing and shipping at the online retailer’s warehouse.
If you’re shopping online, there’s a good chance your purchase will get returned. Between 20-30% of online purchases are. Depending on who you read. Each return creates another van journey to collect it, another warehouse journey to process the return, and then either more warehouse emissions handling the restock or emissions to dispose of it. Local purchases almost never get returned. You can see what you’re buying before you buy it. And your decision to return something is far less likely to involve extra journeys.
### Local isn’t better by default
Photo by Neil Williamson on Unsplash
This is where it gets really obvious with food. The national supermarket supply chain is designed to buy the cheapest food that can reach the shelves with minimum spoilage. Some of that food has travelled further than your local greengrocers ever will.
Buying locally doesn’t just save food miles, it alters how you shop.
* Local farmers markets and produce shops only stock what’s in season because it’s fresh and they can sell it. So if they’re selling British vegetables in January chances are those vegetables were grown in Britain.
* Local food businesses don’t process their food as much as national businesses. Freshly baked bread from your local using flour delivered locally uses less energy creating that loaf than supermarket bread baked in a factory and transported.
Large supermarkets might get weekly deliveries from distribution centres. Each item in that delivery has travelled from farm to warehouse before ending up in your local supermarket. Your local greengrocers gets deliveries from farmers who grew those vegetables.
Don’t make mistake #1: local is always lower carbon Buying local doesn’t mean it’s better. A “local” shop that sources the majority of it’s products from China has the same emissions delivering those items to them as the online retailer does delivering to you. Only worse, because those items then have another journey from the port they arrive at, to stock the “local” shops warehouse. Ask where things are sourced from, not just where they’re sold.
Don’t make mistake #2: just buy the coffee locally You know the people who only buy their paper and coffee locally, but order anything expensive online. That doesn’t help. Buying milk and eggs from your local every week will save more emissions than one less amazon delivery van on the road.
Don’t make mistake #3: drive miles to make one purchase from a local shop If your local food store is the corner shop and you wouldn’t normally go there, but you drive across town to buy one item. You’ve probably created more emissions that were saved by ordering it online. Part of shopping locally means using shops that you’re passing anyway as part of your normal local journeys.
Don’t make mistake #4: local businesses are inherently wonderful Just because it’s a local business doesn’t mean it’s run well, doesn’t have high waste levels or imports most of it’s stock from overseas. Supporting bad local businesses doesn’t help your community, it just keeps bad businesses open.
Buying local produce will drastically cut the food miles your shopping has been responsible for. But it also:
## Every pound stays in the local economy longer
Pound spent at a local business:
* Gets spent at other local businesses. Heating, decorating, wages for local workers.
* Pays local wages. Who will spend the same money at your shop and another local shop.
* Pays rates to a local council.
If you spend your pound at Amazon:
* Their fulfilment centre is in Dartford, or Tilbury. Their transport and warehouses are based around those locations. So even if they source some stock locally, at least part of your pound has gone to pay workers and keep heated warehouses that wouldn’t exist if we all shopped locally.
* Those warehouse staff aren’t necessarily local. They’ll spend their wages…but where? At home, in Dartford or Tilbury. But then Amazon has taken that spending power out of your community.
* They don’t pay rates. So they’re not contributing to the maintenance of the local roads and infrastructure your business relies on to keep customers coming to your store.
When you work out your carbon footprint, shopping doesn’t have to be local to help the planet. But local spending always supports your community.
Local shops employ local people. People who live close enough to walk or bike to work, rather than drive or take public transport. Online warehouses employ people too, but those people live across the country, they’re not taking their wages spending in your area.
When your local shop buys stocked from other local businesses. Those business buy supplies from other local businesses. So your pint of milk supports your local corner shop, who buys their fruits and vegetables from that greengrocers down the road, who get their packaging from that local family run business down the street. Your pound gets spent again and again within your community. But Amazon doesn’t supply local businesses so your money gets taken out of your area and spent elsewhere.
Empty shops are awful for communities. They encourage crime and graffiti. They make areas look forgotten. Local businesses keep your high street busy and worthwhile visiting, which supports other local businesses.
## Humans rely on local community services
When we all know the person behind the counter. They’ll often go out of their way to help you or advice you on what to buy. Instead of replacing the washing machine, the local tech will give you tips on fixing it instead.
Go shopping online when your boiler breaks and you need parts. You can’t. Local businesses that provide essential services, at hours that are convenient for you, keep your life running when it needs to.
Every time you use a local business, you’re talking to the person who works there. Supporting local businesses isn’t helping some faceless small businessman. It’s connecting you to your neighbours.
| How you shop | Transport | Packaging | Local Economy | Community |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visit local shop | Low. You make one shared journey to do all your shopping | None or minimal | High. Pays local wages and rates | Supports local area |
| Order online delivery | High. Individual journey for your delivery | High. Box, plastic packaging, envelope | Low. Online warehouses are rarely in town centres | No |
| Click and collect | Medium-high. You share a journey to pick up your items | Moderate. Packaging to protect your items but doesn’t need to survive parcel network | Medium-low. Warehouse may well not be in your area | Supports collection point business |
## The science backing this up
There’s plenty of evidence that supports shopping locally. Businesses with owners living in the same community as their customers have been shown to recirculate local currency at far higher rates than chain stores or online businesses.
I won’t link to all the studies here but these are the topics I looked into:
Published by LSEO NCCPRS
## Where does it apply?
Urban. Short distances make local best. You’re mostly walking or cycling to do your local shops so transport emissions are already low. But by shopping locally you’re also supporting street-level businesses that keep areas safe.
Suburban. Suburban shopping centres and town centres work well. You’ll probably drive but if you’re making the effort to go out locally do multiple shops wherever you can.
Country. When you live out in the sticks your local shop might well be the only thing stopping you having to drive miles to the nearest town. Support them and your neighbours will do the same when they need something.
Renters. Doesn’t matter if you own your home or not. Where you choose to spend your money is something we all control.
Tight budget. OK, this one is sometimes true. Buying local isn’t always cheaper. But it can be, especially when it comes to fresh food. And basic services. And stuff where quality matters more than brand names.
## Conclusion
* Less transportation emissions
* Shorter supply chains
* One store heating multiple people’s shops rather than homes
* Money spent in your community stays in your community longer.
* Higher employment
* More business-to-business trade
* Helps keep areas where you live safe and viable.
* Active high streets attract more business
* Empty shops are bad for neighbourhoods
* Means you’re not locked into online deliveries when they don’t work.
* Like when the boiler breaks and you need something RIGHT NOW.
* Keeps local knowledge alive.
* That guy at the hardware shop knows about window insulation in your area. You won’t know who to ask when he closes down.
* Means you talk to people.
* Real ones. Your neighbours.
## Getting started
Here’s how you start shopping with a focus on your community instead of corporations.
**Week 1. Know where you’re spending your money**
Over the course of one week, keep track of where you’re currently spending money.
What do you buy that you could buy locally instead of online?
Where are the local shops you drive or walk past that you don’t currently use?
Make a note of approximately how much you spend on delivery fees for purchases you order online (or how much more those deliveries cost you in petrol).
**Weeks 2-4. Shift your regular purchases. **
Start buying your food locally if the quality is better than your supermarket.
Buy your newspaper, magazines, small household items from a local shop.
Use your local bank/building society if you don’t already.
Get any minor repairs done instead of replacing things.
**Month 2. Plan major purchases. **
When you know you’ve got a big-ticket item coming up. Research who can supply it locally.
Look at total cost. Include cost of delivery, time waiting for delivery, return policies etc.
Start getting to know local suppliers ahead of time.
Plan larger purchases with local shops you pass into your normal journey whenever possible.
**Month 3 onwards. Use local services. **
Switch to using local trades people for home maintenance.
Use local professional services where you can.
When you go out, support local leisure businesses instead of chains.
Join/connect with any local business initiatives in your area.
