Vy Biel, the owner of The Country Store, called The Beachcomber recently with an interesting observation. “It’s not enough to buy locally,” she said. “We have to create locally.”

We used to, she said. We used to make skis and jams and other speciality products on the Island. But for reasons we’ve all heard myriad times, those local manufacturing jobs have migrated to other parts of the globe — from South Seattle to central China — and the Island, as a result, is an increasingly quiet and depauperate place.

That weekday quiet — when hundreds of Islanders leave Vashon for the big city — has a ripple effect Vy and the other retailers on Vashon face day in and day out. The critical mass just isn’t here to bop in for a new pair of socks at The Country Store, lunch at The Hardware Store or party favors at The Little House.

But Vy, like many Islanders, is a tenacious and determined soul, and she thinks we can do something about this. She thinks that we can put our collective heads together and come up with ideas for a stronger, local manufacturing base.

Right now, she sells Wax Orchard and Maury Island jams at her store — and pays the shipping cost to offer up these once Island-made products. But what if we Islanders made jams and jellies right here on Vashon, employing a few people to help do so? Or soup mixes? Or dessert toppings?

Those are a few of Vy’s ideas. She thinks other Islanders could offer up more. Solar energy units? Pet supplies? Electric cars?

Interestingly, Vy’s call for a more truly local economy dovetails with another movement afoot on the Island — a movement that manifested itself Saturday, when more than 100 people came together at O to discuss ways to make Vashon a demonstration island on issues ranging from food security to transportation to affordable housing.

Beverly Naidus, who attended the afternoon gathering, said the energy in the room was palpable and the enthusiasm infectious. “We have so many skilled people here,” she said. “It’s like a brain bank and a skill bank.”

So with Vy’s encouragement, The Beachcomber offers up a challenge to the Island. What would you like to see made on the Island? And, to take it one step farther and build on the broader discussions at O last weekend, what ideas do you have for making Vashon a model of sustainability, a place where creativity flourishes, jobs exist, food is grown and housing is affordable?

Send us your ideas. Once we’ve got a flowering of suggestions, we’ll print them in these pages.

Vy has been running The Country Store for 40 years on Vashon. She’s just one voice, but she’s a voice worth listening to. So is yours. By working together, we just might be able to take this wonderful Island of ours to a new level.

Got ideas?

Send them to sustainability@vashonbeachcomber.com.