The best way to help yourself is to buy close to home and eat close to home. But even then, small businesses can have a global presence with the help of eCommerce stores. That’s the beauty of staying small and thinking big. You and I can do our part to support these businesses. Micro-economy affects individuals.

How can small businesses become sustainable?

• They can reduce waste. Use Reuse recycle repurpose wisely and extensively.
• Prevent polluting
• Planting trees as a part of CSR
• Maintaining community kitchens
• Using clean energy as far as possible
• Making their products, packing, and business as green as possible.
• Having more online meeting than offline.
• Less travel or travel using eco-friendly transport .
• Sourcing local
• Investing in eco-friendly supply chain.
• Supporting local green initiatives.
• Providing employment to local youth.

When it comes to Sustainable small businesses I love, I am listing a few of my favorites.

Local Kirana store:
Number one is the neighborhood Kirana store or the multipurpose store where we get all our household needs. The shop owner lives just next door to the shop. During the Pandemic, when shops were closed, he helped by providing us with rations and staples from behind closed doors. That kind of helped maintain community trust and support.

If I can get it in my neighborhood uncle’s shop, I am being eco-friendly by not buying online. But for cold-pressed Sesame oil or best quality ghee, I buy from the best online. The shop I buy from is also a small business, just in a different state.
The e-commerce stores helped me buy exactly what I needed and couldn’t buy here like Puer’s range of home care products.. I have the best of both worlds.

Personal Care product :
I strictly buy online from a trusted small business, like Mother Sparsh through eCommerce stores. I can’t find the brands I love in my local shops, and there’s no way I am using anything else. If not for online shopping, I would be in dire straits. I would probably buy stuff, not use them, throw them away, and create many waste products!

Book stores:
I love books. In the pandemic, I read many ebooks, but I also bought many paperbacks which I wanted my daughter to read when she grows up. Guess where I got the paperbacks from? At my local bookstore. When I couldn’t find it here, that was when I went online.

Garden supplies and Nursery:I tried buying garden supplies for plants and plant food online, but I prefer a hundred percent local small business. I have used several online nurseries, but they don’t fit the bill.

Organic farms:
Locally produced, farm-fresh fruits and vegetables are always in my kitchen. When organic, it’s even better for your health and the planet.

Local restaurants and coffee shops are my favorite places to haunt. I avoid franchises and multinational chain restaurants. The more money which stays local, the more buying power you have locally. They also provide employment opportunities to many. These restaurants also help support local farm produce and cut down on unhealthy processed fast food.It’s a win-win for all.

Local Gift shops, sweet shops and bakeries when it comes to seasonal gift-giving.Indians love their sweets. You will find a wide range of deliciousness which are protein-rich like moong dal halwa,to the rosogolla, (made with chana/chena/cottage cheese), and sandesh).Packaged Chocolates and sweets just can’t compete with these.Just be careful to share the sweets around and not binge.

Classes for music,dance, art: I try to find locally teachers who will teach my child. The art schools being registered as small business and local are much more affordable, flexible, and teachers after all need to be supported. Sometimes I do attend online workshops but that again is cheaper than traveling to another city to attend workshops in person. But all these are economically sustainable unlike the flashy app-based education platforms, which are creating an unsustainable vicious circle of expectations .

Healthwealthbridge is an Indian content hub for health, wellness, education, and entrepreneurship. It’s written focused at the modern Indian mother, who wants to stay healthy, look after the family while earning online. Is that even possible?Yes, it’s possible and I have written about the many ways small business can grow digitally.

So which one of these, do you like most? Are you a small business? Let me know in the comments below.

Read about Starting a new business online

Written as part of Blogchatter’s campaign #Ecommerceinnovation . Read more posts in the campaign here.