My challenging year of shopping locally

Marie Therese Wall has given herself a task: to spend 12 months sourcing all her purchases within a 16-mile radius

I READ an article that said for every €100 spent in a locally-owned shop, €45 stays in the local economy as opposed to €14, if you spent your €100 in a multinational.

Shopping locally is a hobby-horse of mine. For years I waxed lyrical about the fabulous meat from Tinnock Farm or the fresh fish from ‘Suzy’ or the bargains in shops in New Ross, so it seemed natural to put it out via cyber space.

When the idea came to put my money where my mouth was for a year, and to blog about it too, I was excited about getting my message ‘out there’.

That I’m a techno-phobe did little to curb my enthusiasm. My nephew, David, set up a Wordpress blog site for me and off I went. It has been a learning process.

I keep promising an edgier, sexier site and maybe it will happen as I become more computer-confident, but the set-up is working — already I’ve had more than 7,000 views.

I was on a learning curve since the first blog last August.

My aim was to be a more competent blogger by January 1 for my ‘challenge’ — to shop local for one year. I want to increase the awareness of the importance of buying Irish, ideally locally-produced goods.

We can all make a difference if we support local, indigenous companies, shops and producers. Our little country is in a mess and individually we can’t make a difference on a macro level, but we can make a huge difference on a micro one.

I want to make people think before they spend their hard-earned cash. Also, I am aware there are families who are down to the wire with their weekly spend, but other people can be more discerning once they are aware of the power of their euro. These are the people I want to reach with the importance of how they spend their money.

I live on the Hook peninsula near Fethard-on-Sea in Co Wexford and my nearest town is New Ross, 16 miles away. Wellingtonbridge is also a small village, about 11 miles away, and I aim to stay within those two locations. Included in my catchment area are the villages of Fethard-on-Sea, Ramsgrange and Campile, which I would use regularly. I’m lucky that we have a wealth of quality local producers and I’m sure your local area is just as fruitful — have a look around.

I admire the shop owners in New Ross town. They are brave every time they stock their shops, particularly given this tough economic climate. If they are willing to supply, we should be prepared to support them — or at least go inside the door to see what they have to offer, before dismissing them.

I spoke to one girl who works in New Ross five days a week and she has never been in any of the ladies’ shops in town. And it wasn’t that she didn’t like the styles or the price didn’t suit her — she just never thought of shopping there.

Now that is the kind of person I want to appeal to. There are eight women’s shops that I could buy from in New Ross. The men are well-catered for too, with at least five shops for clothes.

We also have a wealth of choice in the area when it comes to household and electrical goods and we probably have one of the best furniture stores in Ireland, where all the mattresses and divans are Irish-made.

I worked in Waterford city for 17 years and only passed through New Ross on my way to Waterford. I really didn’t ‘rate’ the town at that time. Part of my grand plan is to cut down on needless spending this year.

I, like most people, have lots of stuff in the wardrobe that doesn’t see the light of day, so I’m hoping to get more organised and re-introduce clothes I’d forgotten about.

I just need to organise the wardrobe first — my blog followers will know that this has been going on for a while.

But, anyway, I’d rather buy clothes and outfits on demand than picking up bits and pieces for the sake of it. That loose money just isn’t there anymore.

When I told my friends about my ‘challenge’, a few of them said ‘but what if you have a wedding to go to?’

Well, I dressed myself for two weddings and the Galway Races out of New Ross last year, and I didn’t have to break the bank. I’m not sure about a wedding this year, but I’ll still have the Galway Races (my annual treat) and a christening and I’m confident that I’ll get suited and booted in Co Wexford. Watch this space…

You can follow my trials and tribulations online, as I document my comings and goings on the blog on a daily basis. I’m also on Twitter, but this technophobe is still coming to terms with words like ‘tweet’ and ‘trending’ so bear with me.

So far I’m enjoying this adventure. I’m a BER assessor in real life, which is a spin-off from the property industry where I worked for 17 years. And I have to say that although money is scarcer, my 2012 challenge is one that I am beginning to really warm to. If it works, it will be a year well-spent. Literally.

To follow Marie Therese Wall’s challenge: bloglocal.ie or on Twitter @BlogLocalNRoss