While we “Stay the Blazes Home” in Nova Scotia, free delivery and curbside pick-up are playing a vital role in sustaining our communities. It’s impressive how quickly and efficiently small indie businesses are pivoting to keep safely servicing their customers. I’m also heartened by the growing number of community members using these services to support […]
15
Mar
Mar
There has been much in the news lately on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on big business. This recent New York Times Live Update attributes the recent stock market plunge to the “oil market and coronavirus.” With some notable exceptions in retail making unheard of gains. “Clorox, the maker of disinfecting cleaners and wipes…shares climbed […]
12
Mar
Mar
A zero waste lifestyle transition can be daunting. There has been a huge shift in the number of reusable bags available at grocery stores over the past few years. This is wonderful, but when we looked at our weekly waste, the majority was still made up of single-use plastic packaging for produce and dry goods. […]
02
Mar
Mar
We spoke to many buy-local shoppers when first designing our vlife solution for connecting folks with more small local businesses. When vlife was just a dream and some wireframe sketches, we conducted a buy-local shopper survey* where respondents openly shared their motivations and frustrations with us. And we found many commonalities. The main points being […]
26
Feb
Feb
Buy Local shoppers in Nova Scotia got some exciting news recently. Now we can more easily support local food providers with the “Taste of Nova Scotia” stickers or “Get Your Hands on Local” signage in many of the larger grocery stores! We’re all about supporting small and local here at vlife. So it’s awesome to […]
17
Feb
Feb
Food waste is a major issue in Canada and a problem that I’ve spent much time researching solutions for. What I’ve discovered is that this waste is often avoidable and it occurs on a few different levels, both individual and corporate. Individuals and families throw out large amounts of food and the rules around the appearance […]
21
Dec
Dec
We couldn’t agree more! The run up to the winter festive season is a wonderful time of year here in Nova Scotia. And a great opportunity to explore more small indie gift options. Whether you’re a watching Holiday Movies on repeat from Nov 1st or rushing to get your last-minute shopping done on Dec 24th. […]
Art and Artisans, Buy Local, Fashion & Style, Food & Drink, Local Gifts, Local Produce
9 Ways to Shop Small & Local this Holiday Season
08
Dec
Dec
How can you shop local? Let me count the ways… But first, a moment of recognition of the stresses that can accumulate with all the demands on our time during the Festive Season… Holiday Stressors The Pressures of the Holiday season can mount pretty quickly – and it seems to start mounting earlier and earlier […]
04
Dec
Dec
Over two years ago, I went on a Fast Fashion Fast. Since then, 90% of my clothing purchases have been second-hand, vintage, hand-me-down, ethically produced, or Canadian-made. What’s fast fashion? Cheap clothes produced in a hurry by mass-market retailers, usually imitating the latest catwalk trends. Most of us have enjoyed the benefits of fast fashion: […]
03
Dec
Dec
Current Solutions to Finding Small Local Providers Are you a buy-local shopper who has trouble finding small local businesses online? We’ve chatted with many passionate buy local shoppers about how they typically access new small local business options. The overwhelming majority of them stated online searches, stumbling across, and word-of-mouth as their main methods. I […]