Every dollar you spend tells a story, whether you realize it or not. By purchasing an item or service, you’re making a statement of support for that product. And sometimes, there are more benefits to supporting the smaller businesses that are locally owned than you might realize.

As told by SustainableConnections.org, here are some of the top reasons to support local and small businesses with our own spin on why it’s great.

1. Support Yourself, Too
When buying local, chances are that more of your money from that purchase is going back toward local businesses. Pretty sweet deal, right? Depending on your line of work, if you’re a small or local business owner, that money could be coming right back into your doors (or your neighbor’s!).

2. Reduce Environmental Impact
Forget the long hours of transportation to get you a fresh meal on the table. Less transportation means less pollution and waste along the way. That’s just one of the many ways that the environment loves a local, small business.

3. Create Jobs for Your Neighbors
Chances are, local businesses aren’t going to bring in somebody from across the country to manage their operations. They’re going to start looking right around them for people like me and you. When you’re heavily involved in your local community, it makes it that much sweeter seeing your friends and family employed at some pretty cool places.

4. Encourage Local Growth
People want to migrate to communities that are self-sustaining. By keeping things local, the money stays local and the goods and services stay local. Studies show that some of the greatest entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to settle in communities that show great sustainability patterns, making your community even better. As if you thought that were possible!

What reasons do you have to support local and small businesses?