How supporting local can reduce your Carbon Footprint

Not only are you helping your cousin’s wife’s nephew, you’re backing your own community. You’re also often likely to get better quality products compared to the ones you found on a dodgy overseas website (don’t worry we’ve all done it).

But what does buying local actually do for the environment? We’re breaking it down, giving you three reasons why buying local isn’t just nice, it’s necessary.

When you buy local products, they’re not racking up frequent flyer miles via trucks, planes, and boats. They may still be transported in some way or another but the distance and time spent is much smaller. They can only go as far as Cape Reinga to Stewart Island! This decreases the carbon emissions that are created from the transport. 

Even better, often local businesses will source all required materials locally as well, cutting out the carbon emissions used in importing.

At Skinny Fizz, we keep it all in the neighbourhood. Our cans are made in shared spaces with existing infrastructure. Plus, cans are lighter to ship — meaning we’re slashing emissions every time they hit the road.

As local products have less distance to travel, often companies will opt for less excessive packaging options. Especially here in NZ where we’re typically more reasonable with supporting the planet compared to other countries who still wrap everything in plastic. This aids in keeping unnecessary waste from circulating and filling our landfills.

At Skinny Fizz, we keep it clean: 12 cans, one recyclable box, one packing slip. No nonsense. No landfill guilt. Just sparkling water that speaks for itself.

Sure, buying local keeps the economy ticking. Looking deeper, it also causes a ripple effect. The more we back local businesses with sustainable values, the more they grow, evolve, and set the bar higher. It creates momentum for better practices across the board. Sustainable becomes the standard, not the exception.

So next time you’re filling the cart, take a moment to think about whether you could be buying local and sharing the love.