Nowadays, you see some variation of the “Buy Local” campaign in storefronts all across the United States; small businesses are trying to challenge the ever-rising tide of outsourced production from giant chains. But what, exactly would be the results if Americans were to embrace that slogan?

Although most of us have some sense that buying locally is a good practice, few people understand the complex relationship between our buying habits and the effects they can have on both our own localities and the world as a whole.

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For example, most people know that buying from national chains is hard on the environment, due to the waste generated by transportation, packaging, and preservation, among other things. But there are also far-reaching impacts on the local community. When chains open a new location, they often cause a loss of total jobs in that area. Furthermore, they usually choose districts on the outskirts, which contribute more to negatives like pollution and urban sprawl.

We have tried to show the cumulative effects of these issues by visualizing a journey from the farther reaches of production and transportation back to the interactions within a single community. Our goal was to show that it’s the small choices like going to the farmer’s market or a local bookstore that can make a big impact and vastly improve the economic health of your community and the environmental health of the world as a whole.