What is The Local Good?

The Local Good is a volunteer-run community group working to make Edmonton the city we know it could be by helping to connect and shine the spotlight on all of the forward-thinking, local initiatives and businesses already engaged in good work. Their goal is to be the best hub they can be to connect and support sustainable, Edmonton initiatives, ideas, leaders, and locals.

What Do They Do?

The Local Good (formerly E-SAGE) has run dozens of educational workshops on living a more sustainable lifestyle over the years, but now focuses its efforts on creating networking and community building events such as…

• Cash Mobs: four times a year, a worthy local business is selected and a large group of people (the mob) go and spend money (the cash) at it. In the fall of 2014, Earth’s General Store was mobbed by 85 people who spent $2600 there in one hour. People get to meet other like minded locals as well as be introduced to a new business they’d never come across and been to before.

• Green Drinks: want to meet people involved in good things in Edmonton? Green Drinks is a monthly mixer at The Yellowhead for forward thinking Edmontonians. For the past three years, on the first Wednesday of most months (taking the summer and December off) The Local Good has been hosting themed Green Drinks events (e.g. local food, good business, shopping local, activism & advocacy, local literature etc.) with over 100 of Edmonton’s finest in attendance each time.

• Good Locals Potlucks: each month, locals who are involved in good things in their communities come together for a potluck to mingle over food and drink.

• Blog: Want to know what’s happening in Edmonton that’s cool? You can peruse through over 320 blog posts in 23 different categories. The blog team of 12 is lead by a coordinator who fosters new and experienced Edmonton writers, while they highlight local initiatives and projects.

• Events Page, Newsletter & Social Media: Want to be kept in the loop about what’s happening in Edmonton? With over 8500 followers and more than 10,000 tweets, The Local Good is one of the most followed social media outlets for locals interested in sustainability, local food, and alternative thinking. The up to date events page and newsletter bring you a carefully curated selection of the best that Edmonton has to offer. These efforts won The Local Good the Best in Edmonton Yeggie (Edmonton’s social media award).

• The Good 100 Experiment: an annual, application only event that brings together 100 Edmontonians involved in good work in their own communities to meet each explore, get new perspectives on their own work and explore possibilities of collaboration across sectors.

• The Resilience Festival: an annual event focused on helping Edmontonians gain the skills they need to live a more resilient lifestyle while building a more resilient community.

Three Reasons Why to Consider Supporting The Local Good:

• Reason #1: Unique Role – The Local Good is creating a huge spotlight to shine on what’s good in Edmonton and a big hub to connect them with each other. Supporting them is an investment in the strength of our change-making community. They are one of the only groups that plays this role locally.

• Reason #2: Making It Easy (If Not Inevitable) For More Good Folks To Get Involved – Imagine someone just waking up to wanting to get more involved in good things locally, but not knowing where to begin. Or someone who has recently moved to Edmonton and doesn’t know what’s going on or where to plug in. That’s where The Local Good steps in. When they find The Local Good, they find the whole community.

• Reason #3: They’ve Already Done A Lot With A Little – They have done it on a shoe string budget as a labour of love and have already accomplished so much. With more resources, there is more they could do and do what they do more sustainably so it can last and grow.