LAST WORD

How about think globally and buy locally? This variation is being taken seriously by Seacoast Buy Local, a growing, grass roots organization of local, independent business people who are determined to produce a dynamic economic impact.

In other words, chain store big boxes owned by multinational corporations need not apply.

This is an idea that is gaining steam from coast to coast using the template of BALLE, or the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies that has made major inroads in locales such as Bellingham, Wash., and Cambridge, Mass. There are now more than 52 BALLE networks around the world that have more than 15,000 members.

Beyond the obvious merits of doing business with local companies "" call it scratch my economic back and I'll scratch yours "" this movement strives to transform the neighborhood with a serious coat of sustainable practices. As the Seacoast Buy Local president put it, such sustainability can lead to an economic, cultural and environmental chain reaction.

"The benefits of buying locally are well documented," said Tom Holbrook, the owner of RiverRun Bookstore in downtown Portsmouth. "Dollars spent locally tend to stay local; locally owned, independent businesses lend uniqueness to our community; local businesses contribute more to local nonprofits; and local independents are less resource-intensive in terms of demands on energy and on public infrastructure."

When I talked to Karen Marzloff, the Seacoast Buy Local coordinator, she told me the organization is growing fast "" more than 75 businesses and nonprofits of all types "" and is outgrowing its Portsmouth-centric roots.

"There's so much about the Seacoast area that we love. It's not like anywhere else, which is why we love to live and work here," said Marzloff, the managing editor of The Wire. "The whole idea is to raise community appreciation for the uniqueness of the Seacoast region."

It costs $150 annually for businesses and $75 for nonprofits to join.

According to Sustainable Connections, the organization based in Bellingham, Wash., that advocates BALLE principles, there are plenty of reasons to buy locally. For example, of every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 goes back to the community. Only $14 comes back from chain stores. Also, smaller business owners donate 2½ times more to nonprofits than do large businesses. And these small local businesses are the largest employer nationally.

Seacoast Buy Local has come into being because of a number of committed local business owners and leaders "" such as Holbrook and Jay Gibson, president of the Piscataqua Savings Bank "" and favorable public feedback, Marzloff explained.

She said that a holiday season push by the Downtown Business Association in Portsmouth led to meetings which led to a booth at Market Square Day and even more public interest and businesses willing to take the plunge "" or "taking the seed" as Marzloff put it.

"This is more than a feel good project. We are tapping into something that is already percolating," Marzloff said. "This is the initial building block" towards enhancing community life through dynamic local economic vitality while protecting the natural environment.

Seacoast Buy Local announced its launch in August and is wasting no time. It has a Web site that lists participating members and an informative brochure that lists "Ten Great Reasons to Think Local First." Marzloff told me a $2,500 grant from the New England Independent Booksellers Association is being used to create a searchable, online directory that will allow consumers to research local sources.

Seacoast Buy Local is, in a sense, a future step into the past when buying local was as normal as breathing. What remains to be seen is whether dollar-conscious Seacoast consumers will jump on board. It's sad but true that too many will expend too much to save so little for trinkets from China. Enlightened self-interest isn't exactly a habit of the American consumer.