In talking with friends and colleagues about how the sputtering economy is effecting their holiday planning, it seems that many folks are scaling back and also finding thoughtful ways to support the local mom and pop shops that are struggling. I was speaking to one friend this weekend who was buying books for her cousins at the the locally-owned Pioneer Square bookstore Elliott Bay Book Co. rather than at Barnes and Nobles.
Sustainable Seattle is also supporting this philosophy with it’s “Celebrate Local” campaign. It’s a pretty simple campaign with three core initiatives.
- Support Healthy People and Communities
- Think Local First
- Green your Holidays
They want more folks participating in their local communities and in return, they’ll be providing prizes to folks who pledge their participation.
Obviously, we’re huge fans of this campaign and have partnered with Sustainable Seattle to help get the word out. Here’s how you can participate:
Find a class on TeachStreet that fits one of the above initiatives and pledge to take the class. Here are some examples of easy things to do:
- Stay healthy by taking local dance classes or yoga classes
- Find local classes from learning how to play a guitar or learning how to sew
- Help the environment by learning how to garden or reducing your carbon footprint
Once you find a local class that you love, fill out a pledge form and enter yourself to win a prize. Prizes include: Chinook book, a Celebrate Local book, tickets to local cultural events and more.
If you can’t find a class that works for you, feel free to visit Sustainable Seattle’s Blog for other ways to participate. Since the last update on December 8th, there have already been 50 pledges with 3 winners selected. The goal is to get 300 pledges before February 2, 2009.
Celebrate Local is a community initiative supported by BALLE Seattle, Cascade Harvest Coalition, Celebrate Green, Chinook Book, Community Alliance for Global Justice, Communities Count, Eastside Greendrinks, King County EcoConsumer, King County Waste Free Holidays, Puget Sound Community Change, Seattle Free School, SoCoCulture, Puget Sound Fresh, SCALLOPS, Seattle Greendrinks, TeachStreet, and Treeswing.
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