I’m just returning from an amazing vacation trip last week. We decided to make an adventure of the Sonoma Coast since we hadn’t experienced this lovely, cooler than Denver this time of year, area of the country before. Oh, and I LOVE wine. The Point Reyes and Tomales Bay area of the Sonoma Coast are breathtaking. Dozens of small communities are spread among the ranches, and even more open space than we enjoy in Colorado – mountains AND the sea – what could be better? Aside from the realization that this area isn’t really into the tech scene like their neighbors 60 miles south (Silicon Valley) we enjoyed all the luxuries that the cold sea water has to offer.

The people are delightful, the food is incredible and it’s not crowded at all. I wanted to write about this experience because I believe we could learn something from the way folks live in this area. The local population are locatarians (no, it’s not in Wikipedia yet, but you can find information about it in Ecopedia). This is the practice of buying and consuming products made within a 100 mile radius of your home. Although the term was foreign to me I like the concept. Now it’s a little easier when you live in an area surrounded by dairy farms, ranches, the ocean, and vineyards I’ll admit but there are some good ideas here that we can absorb into our own daily lives. Why not create strength in our own economy?

• Support your local farmers’ market instead of Safeway and Costco?
• Buy from local software companies (and there are a bunch of good ones) instead of Silicon Valley?
• Recycle unwanted articles through thrift stores instead of adding them to the landfills?
• Shop for home furnishings made locally?
• Bypass the big box stores and support local merchants?

No, we can’t get myopic about it but there are some valid arguments for ‘thinking globally and buying locally.’ Let’s do our part to create strength in the Colorado economy.

Back to thoughts on hiring and getting hired next week. Make it a great one!

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