Tonight BuyCincy will join several other green businesses and organizations at The Cincinnati Zoo for Tunes and Blooms.  From 6 pm to 8 pm Come and enjoy a free concert by Faux Frenchmen and Pyschodots.  Mix and mingle with several green organizations that will help you be a little more environmentally friendly.

Admission to the Zoo is free after 5pm. Parking is $7.00.

So you might be asking, “How can shopping locally help the environment?”

The first thing to understand is a term called “Food Miles”.  Food miles are the number of miles a product travels from the farm or factory to your table. 

According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, Produce in the United States travels, on average, 1,300 to 2,000 miles from the farm to the consumer.

The vast majority of energy used in the U.S. food system (around 80 percent) goes to processing, packaging, transporting, storing, and preparing food.

Since 1970, truck shipping has dramatically increased, replacing more energy efficient transportation by rail and water.

Local food systems can reduce food miles and transportation costs, offering significant energy savings.  You will also benefit from fresher, better-tasting, and more nutritious food, while more dollars stay in your local area.

The following are examples of businesses in Cincinnati that use local vendors in their products:

Findlay Market
Melt in Northside
Nectar in Mt. Lookout
Green Dog Cafe, Columbia Tusculum
Virgil’s Cafe, Bellevue, KY
Local 127, Downtown
Wildflower Cafe, Mason

And several communities host local farmers markets

There has been a lot of discussion about how driving great distances to find and purchase locally sourced produce and products; you can avoid this by shopping locally.

Supporting the locally owned businesses in your community may be the best way you can help the environment.  Greater Cincinnati is filled with great little communities, many with their own central business district.  If you can, bike or walk to a restaurant or grocery in your neighborhood instead of driving across town, you will greatly reduce your carbon emissions.

Don’t drive to that “big box” hardware store for a package of nails, just walk to the hardware down the street.