Amidst a multi-national and international global economy, there is something to be said for buying from a business within a modest proximity of your operation. Transportation costs are a hidden cost that is offset by reduced wages in another area, but what is the real impact of buying from low wage countries? We are presently in a recession, and that recession has been made worse by rampant unemployment that has not been seen since the Great Depression. A little common sense appreciation of our economic woes should bring us back to an old concept that deserves to be resurrected. That concept is “Buy American.”
This is not easy, because every store and many of the most available products come from China, India, Mexico, and Taiwan. We have, quite frankly, exported a lot of our manufacturing to countries who are more than happy to do the work and send it back to us. Therefore, we have become more of a service and business nation that has less and less exportable goods, except for farm products and minerals. It remains to be seen if what we still have to export will sustain us as we continue to become more of a debtor nation year after ignorant year.
With the rise of a new and Greener theme of Green Supply Chain, the government and business should realize that transporting goods across the globe and over thousands of miles is contrary to the environmental good. Every mile of transportation requires energy, and the great majority of that energy comes from fossil fuels. Simply stated, all that transportation adds millions of tons of carbon dioxide to the air. Therefore, saving money by importing and transporting goods could be causing more carbon dioxide than if we made these items locally.
The other tragedy is that imported goods have left us without the diversity of employment that we used to enjoy. When the financial sector failed, we lacked the stability to sustain our economy because the financial sector was such a huge portion of all our national economy. Banking, the stock market, and real estate should not be our dominant businesses. Diversity is a stabilizing factor for any economy. Money is no good to any nation that lacks the basic commodities necessary for life. Without the staples needed for daily life, inflation is the only expectation that people can expect because money is meaningless without some commodity that it can purchase. Therefore, simple economics tells us that we must encourage the industries that produce products and employ people.
The many-fold benefits that we get back are the lowering of transportation costs, less CO2 emissions, and we will see more jobs that will drive the economy and pay taxes to reduce our national debt (hopefully). Buying locally, has an unfortunate bypass value. If you can’t find it locally, there is the expected allowance to buy it from “wherever.” In the drive to reduce the global climate change issue of carbon dioxide emissions, we need to encourage and incentivize new businesses to produce things in America.
Now, let me add that there will be those suffering from the “Not in my back yard” (NiMBY) syndrome. They do not want to despoil there community with manufacturing companies. But wait a minute. If this is a global issue, why is it okay to send these nasty programs to Mexico, India, China, or South America? Instead of solving the problem and making it work right, is it okay to make these things outside of the U.S. and buy them back once they have been sanitized?
I support “Buy America,” and as hard as it is, I make the effort to find something that I can purchase that is made in the U.S. The current status is a trend that is hard to reverse and will cost us more to accomplish than we might like. But, there are some things that are just the right thing to do. We cannot be purists about this matter, but we should be better than we have been. Buy American and start the turning of the tide because the market is determined by the buyers, not the sellers. If we create a demand, business will respond. It may be with an American car. And yes, I have bought a foreign car in my life, but that is something that I regret as I see American auto workers struggling with unemployment. We have all bought the cheaper and more innovative products from other countries, but this is a habit that can be changes simply by looking a little hard at the tag and for the American option.
I believe that a Green world also means a Green America. That Green America puts a preference and emphasis on buying locally, and buying American. This concept is echoed by the EPA in their “Environmentally Preferred Purchasing” that asks that we buy from companies that promote Green principles. Unfortunately, we can no longer tell which company is Green and which one is a Green pretender. There is no standard, no auditing, and no certification of 98% of all businesses in our country. Without a standard, Greenwashing and Green hype has flourished, and as the American consumer figures this out, their disappointment will be profound. The sheer fact that more than 96% of all Green products on the shelves are Greenwashed, according to TerraPass, is shocking and stupid. Isn’t it time that we got honest about environmental commitments?
The Green Business League is the largest certification program for Green businesses offering a an audited and certified Green business certification. With more than 250 Certified Green Consultants nationwide, the Green Business League is a leader in what has been a poorly led effort. Going Green as a business has often fallen prey to niche promotion, “Easy Green” websites offering their logo for a fee, and businesses who prefer the price of Greenwashing over Green certification. Find a Certified Green Consultant in your community who will assist any business in a well-constructed process of Green business certification through the adoption of Green Practices. The business need not own the building, as required by LEED, because Green Practices deal with the operation and how to run a Green program.