Resolutions, Toilet Paper and Baking Supplies

It's that time of year again.  Time to make resolutions and forget about them in the blink of an eye.  I've made out my usual mental list

• Lose ten pounds of baby weight  Nope
• Run more often  In these hills, on dirt roads, while pushing a stroller? I think not.
• Become more organized.  This one I actually make great strides at each year.  I'll probably never take it off my list of resolutions.
• Purchase more products locally.  This is where the toilet paper and baking supplies come into play.  

Across the country, small towns are slowly dying off.  People like the idea of raising their families in a small town yet still make a trip to the city to purchase items from a bigger box store.  I get it.  I am guilty as anyone when it comes to purchasing groceries.  I feel rather euphoric when I combine the saving power of my grocer's loyalty shopping card and coupons and see that I've saved $80 each shopping trip.  

A friend recently shared an older article with me that was originally published in The High Plains Journal.  You can read the article in it's entirety here, but I'll give you the edited version.  A small town in Iowa created a 'Buy Local' campaign with a twist.  They asked citizens to 'Buy One Product Local'.  Specifically, toilet paper.  Everyone uses it, to the tune of 105 rolls per person, per year, on average.  Think of the tax dollars that could be generated in all of our rural communities if we were to purchase all our toilet paper locally.  In our small town, the grocery store is one of just a few businesses left.  I need to support it more, and therefore I'm taking the toilet paper pledge.  This year I vow to purchase my toilet paper locally.  

To take this a step further, I decided to pledge to purchase a few more items only from our small town store.  Resolutions are more likely to be carried out the more specific they are, so I decided to add baking items to my list: flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar.  To some this may not sound like much, but I do a fair bit of baking.  Last year I used 50 pounds of flour in my baking and I don't see myself slowing down in that department any time soon.  

I feel confident and hopeful in these few, manageable resolutions for the year.  I will purchase all my toilet paper, flour and sugars locally and feel better about helping out our local economy.  

Will you take the toilet paper pledge with me?