Tag Archives: sustainable shopping

Student Guide to Buying Local in Halifax

Group of university students researching local businesses online.2023-02-22 vLife Blog Student Guide to Buying Local in Halifax

It’s hard to get through this struggling economic climate, but it’s even harder to get through it if you’re a student. I know this from personal experience. As a student who can only work so many hours while juggling a full course load, I also find it hard to support small businesses while saving money. […]

The Many Benefits of Buying Local

Friends happily looking online together in a local cafe. vLife Blog The Many Benefits of Buying Local

We’ve been hearing more and more about the benefits of buying local lately. And we’re one of the steadfast contributors to this important conversation here at vLife. Why? Because research has shown that by buying locally sourced products, you’re supporting your fellow community members, growing your local economy, and reducing your carbon footprint. So, it […]

Why Does Supporting SMALL Local Businesses Matter?

2023-01-17 vLife Blog images Benefits of Buying Small and Local

Big Corporate Local or Small Indie Local? “Supporting local” doesn’t necessarily mean supporting small local businesses in your community. “Local” is term that gets tossed around a lot lately. In fact, it’s used so much that it’s become a little kitsch. But what does it really mean? Well, technically, local can be used to refer […]

Real Challenges of Being a Small Business Owner

Toronto Skyline Fall Colours. 2022-12-28 Blog featured image Real Challenges of Small Business Owners in Toronto

They say money makes the world go round. For the most part, the phrase is true. But to say just big money turns the wheel is wrong. Small businesses and their owners make up 40% of the Canadian GDP and employ 60% of all Canadians. From small bakeries to the rise of online shops, small […]

Christmas, Boxing Day, and Sustainable Shopping 

2022-12-06 vLife blog Christmas Gifts and Sustainable Shopping featured image

Sustainable boxing day shopping can mean one big thing – more stuff. Look, I know Christmas at its core is about the spirit of it all, but come on. Gift getting, gift giving, who doesn’t love it? But as Christmas ever encroaches and boxing day sales loom, I’ve been giving more and more thought to […]

Nova Scotian Local Deals this Canadian Black Friday & Small Business Saturday

2022 vLife blog image. Nova Scotia Local Black Friday Deals two shoppers looking into shopping bags Nov 2022

Here we go again, Canadian Black Friday shopping. We’ve all seen those clips on YouTube – the ones of endless shoppers and pandemonium in a Walmart. Don’t get me wrong. Black Friday is tempting. I have had the same laptop for longer than Cyber Monday has even existed. And, unfortunately, even a sustainability nerd like […]

Sustainable Shopping that’s Affordable Too

Happy sustainable shop owner

Sustainable shopping that is also affordable is hard. But even harder is global warming – a real, looming, and ever-growing problem. Recent hurricanes Fiona and Ian are very real proof of that.  Global warming truly is a persistent and universal problem. And, for me, this knowledge gives this sense of powerlessness. I’m sure many of […]

Sustainable Grocery Shopping: What You Can Do to Help

Sustainable Grocery Shopping vLife Blog reusable produce bag

Sustainability is one of the most important issues that the world faces today. As our use of plastics increase to astronomical amounts, we are observing how our harmful use of plastics can contaminate not just our environments, but every single microbial being that inhabits it. Frankly, grocery stores are no exception to this trend. Your […]

Zero Waste Lifestyle Transition in Halifax

zero waste life transition

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. […]

Buy-Local Shopper Survey: Motivations & Barriers

vlife Buy-Local Shopper Survery Results Love

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 […]