I’m off, outta town and off the grid in Anacortes, until the morning of Wednesday June 17. Since I won’t be posting again until then, I wanted to leave you something really worthwhile to think about and investigate in the next few days.

The folks at McKinnon Furniture passed along a manifesto of sorts outlining the 3/50 Project.

The basic premise is this: If we each chose three independent, neighborhood shops to support, and then committed to spending just $50 a month with those locally owned businesses, the results could pick all of us up out of this giant mess.

This idea is not necessarily new to you or me. We’ve been talking about a stylish revolution since February, but Cinda Baxter, the MN retail and business consultant behind the project has assembled some solid numbers and disseminated them far and wide. Please check out the the 3/50 site for more information, and please think about which three—or six or eleven or fifteen—stores, restaurants, and bars you really would not want to live without, and then do something about it.

It sure beats feeling powerless.