Community & Small Business Sunday - Week 3

For Community & Small Business Sunday we want you to get out and get involved.  Whether this means going to your local farmer's market or shopping at a local store (but make sure you know it's a local store, not a corporate chain).  It can even mean volunteering your time for a cause that is important to you or simply educating someone on a sustainable issue that is important to you. 

Today I will share with you some wisdom I gathered from my horoscope from earlier this week.  It is good advice for anyone and everyone, encouraging you to continue on with your goals, no mater how difficult the journey:

Horoscope for Scorpio: If you watch the evening news, it is easy to come away with the impression that the world is an ugly and dangerous place. The media tends to gravitate toward stories that inspire fear and outrage. Broadcasts are filled with stories of theft, violence, and natural disaster. But there is also a lot of beauty in the world, Scorpio. There are good people, inspiring events, and happy endings. If you focus on the negative though, it is easy to carry that negative energy with you in your daily pursuits. Spend more time noticing what's good about the world, Scorpio, and you will not only change your outlook, you will change your life. 

Often in my reserach of all things sustainable, there are are many heartbreaking stories and events happening all over the world that can get you down.  Images of animals being hurt all around the world especially get to me on deep emotional level, which I am sure many of you can relate to.  So my word of advice to you for today is try not to let all these negative things get you, don't be discouraged to keep learning about all things (good & bad), for if we keep pushing on and spreading the word about sustainability and other things we want to see changed in the world, we will succeed!  It just takes perseverance and determination by more of us.  Try to make sure you look up positive news, events, articles, and images so you remind yourself of all the good that is in the world and why we are fighting this battle in the first place.  And finally, keep sharing posts on Facebook, tweets on Twitter, and images on Pinterest - it is making a difference to educate the masses on important issues around the world.

OK, enough of my soap box for the day.

Back to the basics of Small Business & Community Sunday.... I assume most of you will be getting out and trying to spend your dollars locally.  We would love to hear about your favorite local stores and why you choose them over mass-chains.

Additionally, as I said above, when you are choosing to shop locally, make sure you know it's a local store, not a corporate chain.  For example, Chipotle used to be solely a Denver quick service food establishment.  Now they have storefronts all over the country.  While this is a very reputable company and they are doing many exemplary things for sustainability, if you are going to a Chipotle in Ohio or Las Vegas, you are not truly spending your dollars locally.  The dollars are fed back into the Denver community because that is where the corporate chain headquarters.   Make sense?

So tell us what you're doing to fulfill the challenge today.