Move over Black Friday, Small Business Saturday is the new(ish) after Thanksgiving tradition! In 2010, Small Business Saturday was started and promoted by American Express. Last year Small Business Saturday attracted more than 88 million American shoppers. This important shopping day always falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year it will fall on November 25th. Venturing out on small business Saturday is practically guaranteed to be calmer and quieter than braving Black Friday! But are there other benefits of shopping small? Absolutely!!

Christmas was published in 1957. More than 60 years later, it would be difficult to find an American man, woman or child who can’t recall the Grinch’s change of heart as he declares,  “It came without ribbons, it came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags.” Unfortunately, the season of giving remains a season of buying. In 2022, Americans spent nearly $7,000,000,000 on holiday gift wrap. This exorbitant amount of money translates into 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper, most of which ends up in landfills. While many types of paper can be recycled, gift wrap often has dyes, lamination, and non-paper additives (metallic colors or glitter) making it non-recyclable!