With Black Friday on the horizon (just past a plate of roast veggies and turkey), the Etsy blog interviewed Stacy Mitchell, author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses about shopping local and her work at the New Rules Project.

Why should people shop local this holiday season? 
One reason is that shopping at an independent business, instead of a chain, generates far more benefit for your local economy. Several recent studies have found that a dollar spent at a locally owned business generates 2-3 times as much local economic activity as a dollar spent at a chain and supports many more local jobs.

Another compelling reason to go local this year is to make the holidays fun again. Who wants to sit in traffic at the mall? It's so much more rewarding to stroll through the small stores in your neighborhood or downtown. You'll not only find unusual gifts that don't come from a sweatshop, but you're bound to run into friends, get into an interesting conversation, enjoy the beauty of historic buildings decked out in lights, take time to savor a hot chocolate at the local café — in short, you'll have a chance to really experience and celebrate the place in which you live.

Read the rest here.