Going Local

It seems that I’ve been putting my arms around trees more and more these days. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m a Tree Hugger, but I do like to cuddle with them now and again.

As I’m sure we all know by now, one of the best ways to reduce our carbon footprint is to purchase as close to home as possible. Local Farmers’ Markets are one of the best ways to buy local produce and probably some honey, but it’s much more difficult to find local yarn and fiber in that once-a-week wonderland.

This weekend I was happy to find Local Harvest online. Not only is it a fantastic resource for finding produce grown locally, but this particular online geentopia includes a Wool & Fiber category as well. Now granted, you may have to set the search parameter to 1000 miles in order to find a good selection (as it was in my case), but there is no denying it’s a much better choice than the process of the mass harvesting of our local resources, shipping them overseas for cheap processing and then having them shipped back here to distribute to our local mega-stores. That’s a carbon footprint that even Mr. Paul Bunyan would have a hard time filling!