Think Local

By The Franklin Lakes Journal

Published: November 28, 2008

As residents gear up for the holiday season,there will be gatherings of friends, neighbors, and co-workers and other public events at churches and temples. The Franklin Lakes Holiday Lighting Ceremony on December 8th, 6:45pm, at borough hall on Dekorte Drive. The middle school chorus will be singing, and the lighting ceremony will be followed by lite refreshments at the library with Santa.

The social pleasures of the season will also be accompanied by the pressures of holiday preparations and the annual shopping expenditures. It is a good time to remember the benefits of shopping locally, and the community of people who own, operate, or manage the many businesses in Franklin Lakes. The economic crisis in America makes conscious consuming that much more imperative in determining the quality of life in a local neighborhood, and where residents shop, where they eat and have fun — all of it makes a community home. Every study and survey confirms that local businesses provide substantial support to local charities and civic organizations-usually giving double the amount of their corporate cousins; they also keep the money local.

To quote Will Rogers, “It’s not what you pay a man, but what he costs you that counts”, and residents should take that into consideration during the holiday shopping season when spending dollars in the local economy. Besides the strong support for civic organizations, local businesses are more likely to re-circulate money in the community by purchasing goods or services from other local businesses. Many of the small businesses in Franklin Lakes are owned by people who are invested in the community’s future, and often hire people who share that same understanding. The local businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of Franklin Lakes, an important part of the social fabric.

There is often a need when shopping in bulk to visit a major retailer to realize substantial savings, but those big stores do not have a monopoly on low prices. It is obvious to any savvy shopper that there may be good savings on one item, but a considerable mark-up on other items that are available locally.

Residents should practice conscious consuming and realizing that making an effort to think local first has enormous benefits to the community. Franklin Lakes offers a great diversity of shopping, services, and dining, but there’s no expectation that in today’s world residents will limit all their purchases to the local general store.There is a need though for residents to practice ethical consumerism, to put thought behind the value of their money, to measure not only in dollars and cents, but measure in the quality of their lives, the benefits to the community, and to think local first.

Readers should also keep in mind December 4th when neighboring Wyckoff will be holding a Home-for-the-Holidays event.