Ethical Gifts
Ranked #2,738 in Healthy Living, #51,469 overall
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
We can all make such a significant and positive difference and support environmental sustainability, fair working conditions, reduction in environmental exploitation and social justice just by making thoughtful shopping choices and choosing ethically made goods. Being an ethical shopper is easy, its about buying products that have been made in a sustainable manner and do not cause any harm to the environment or others.
Recycled Tin Flowers
Fairtrade and Ecofriendly
African recycled crafts are made out of 'nothing'; discarded household junk, cans, plumbing, wire and plastics -the things people throw away and abandon. People with hardly any resources pick up the junk around them and fashion the waste into amazing items .
Funky Junk Recycled
FunkyJunk is an innovative social enterprise - making beautiful, functional, long-lasting items from used plastic bags reclaimed from streets and fields in Cambodia. Funky Junk products contribute to a cleaner environment and provides fair-trade income, training and community benefits for local producers. All of Funky Junk products are 100% recycled made from discarded plastic bags, collected by rubbish pickers. They are washed, disinfected and dried in the sun before being sorted by colour. The bags are cut and made into yarn, which is then crocheted into Funky Junks fabulous eco-friendly range. Chilotes-Eco-conscious Footwear from Patagonia
The Chilote House Shoe's highly innovative low-tech manufacturing and aesthetics appeal to the conscious consumers, those that expect highly responsible ethical production and useful and beautiful products. It uses free-range Patagonian sheep wool and repurposed and up-cycled salmon leather combined with guided craftsmanship to make a simple comfortable and beautiful product. The simplicity of the design is inspired by the amazing qualities of the materials used.This extremely comfortable and completely natural indoor shoe, made by hand in Patagonia, redefines the concept of conscious consumption. It is the result of the synergy created by three valuable assets; guided craftsmanship, renewable materials, and an ethical and inclusive design thinking process.
Each pair of Chilotes is geo-tagged with a QR code. When scanned, the code leads to a mini-site that shows personal and geographical information of the actual artisans that crafted that piece.
Winner of The Core77 Design Award: Notable Design for Social Impact
Winner of The 3rd Annual Eco-Choice Awards - Most Sensitive Use of Materials
Fairtrade Tea Cosy
Kenana Knitters
A wonderfully cute hand knitted pure wool tea cosy that will not only keep your tea hot but will do so in a fun way. A definite talking point when friends drop around for a cuppa. Made by Kenana Knitters an organisation that works with 250 knitters who hand-knit each item with special care. Kenana Knitters provides dignified work that allows women to take charge of their lives without hard physical labour. By purchasing a Kenana Knitters product, you are contributing to the pride and advancement of the individual woman and her family, as well as impacting her overall community.Kenana Knitters is changing lives stitch by stitch.
Raku Pottery From Sth Africa
Raku, a Japanese method of firing is the inspiration behind the production of this unique, African pottery. Starting as a small craft operation, in a small town in the Cape Province of South Africa today the production of this Raku Pottery employs over 45 people. Beautiful objects providing work with dignity and hope for a better tomorrow. Eco Friendly Wooden Toys
Children will love this brightly coloured little bee with wings that turn as the bee moves alongThis traditional toy is crafted from eco-friendly recycled rubberwood and uses only non-toxic, child safe paints.
Designed and manufactured by a socially responsible Australian company that runs programmes to help people with disabilities in Vietnam gain employment and develop skills in woodwork
Creating art and improving lives.
These beautiful embroidered products are made by a needlework project which is giving life to women in the outposts of Zululand. About 30 Zulu women are provided with the thread and cloth from which they produce exquisitely bright, hand embroidered pillows, bags, and cards. The designs are contemporary, the skill involved in producing each item outstanding and each carefully made item is unique.The travel purses/ makeup bags are a lovely example of their work. African animals are the inspiration for the design.
Recycled Paper Bowl
Fair-trade and handmade
This brilliant handmade and fair-trade recycled bowl is made with posters that have been recycled. Artisans form the paper into flat strips, dip them in a glue mixture and hang the strips of paper to dry. They then re-wet the strips to soften them and skilfully coil the strips of recycled posters resulting in sturdy attractive and eco-friendly bowls and other items for the home.Not only is it earth friendly it is made by a non-profit organization that provides income generation to Vietnamese artisans
Monkeybiz
These unique beadworks are made in Sth Africa by an organisation known as Monkeybiz.All of the profits from the sales of artworks are reinvested back into community services, including an HIV wellness clinic, weekly soup kitchens, yoga, drama and choir groups, as well as a burial fund for artists and their families.
Monkeybiz artworks are pricey by comparison with mass-produced pieces. But buyers know that they are also providing fair compensation to the artist, and that any additional profit is not for middlemen, but for desperately needed community services.
Monkey Biz is a beautiful company that uses their art to make a difference.
Beauty From The Ugliness Of War
Bracelet Made From Recycled Bomb Casings
This bomb shell jewellery turns the painful legacy of war into a beautiful item and offers a more positive future for the artisans who make the jewellery as well as those who have been maimed by the direct victims of landmines.The Cambodian landscape is littered with unexploded ordinances and bomb casings, many of which are still being uncovered. Today, artisans use bombshells to create fashion statements for peace.This symbolic jewellery takes the scars of a country's horrific history and transforms them into something beautiful .
This impressive jewellery shows a positive and inspiringly creative reaction to violent conflict, it is a way of reminding us of the impressive strength that lies within so many.
Recycled Art That Just Cant Be Ignored
Ingenious
This truly unique animal has been made from rubber flip-flops ( rubber thongs) that have washed up on Kenyan beaches
Made by a company that was started as a response to an ecological nightmare - discarded flip flops washing up on Kenyan beaches in vast numbers. The invading tide of debris prevents turtles from laying eggs and the few baby turtles that hatch from returning to the ocean. This program is a very clever way of dealing with the pollution on the beaches in Kenya .The rubber flip-flop, which float to Kenya from Asia, are collected and recycled into the most amazing products. These stunning animal sculptures and others like it are drawing attention to environmental problems, promoting recycling in a creative and delightful way and generating employment for over 150 people.
Elephant Poo Paper
Yup!
Paper made from elephant poo ? Yes! People often laugh when they first encounter the idea but everything from notebooks to cards is printed on the paper. ( yes, the poo is treated as part of the paper-making process.)The original motivation behind Elephant Dung Paper was that in Sri Lanka they're considered a problem particularly to the farmers. Creating a market for their excrement made them valuable to the local people and this now offers some protection to the animals. Because elephants are vegetarian animals, their dung is pretty much just dried-out plants that are partially digested,.
High quality, handmade eco-friendly elephant dung paper and paper products manufactured by Maximus under the peace paper plan can be bought through Ethical Gifts. By purchasing these products, you are not only helping the environment by saving a tree but you are also contributing to the care of the endangered Sri Lankan elephant.
Just love the Eco Max Craft-a-Card (pictured above), a card making kit for children made from elephant dung paper.
Recycled glass beads
Eco-bracelet
These vibrantly coloured and richly textured bracelets are handmade from recycled glass by the women artisans of Global Mamas in Ghana. The bracelet design reflects the interconnected ecosystems of the earth, with specific beads representing oceans, atmosphere, rainforests, and wildlife. Each bead tells a story which is explained on the attached description card.It is a small beautiful handcrafted bracelet but it tells an epic story. Global Mamas is the name brand for goods produced through the efforts of Women in Progress, an international not-for-profit organization assisting women in Africa to attain economic independence. All proceeds made by Global Mamas' sales go to benefit the women who produce the merchandise. Each bracelet is a one-of-a-kind that will not only bring delight but support conservation and provide women in Ghana with a dignified income
Handmade and Fairtrade Toys
Crochet Toys
Pebble Toys are a lovely collection of hand knitted and crocheted soft toys ranging from the sweetest little owl and pixie rattles to bright green dinosaurs. Pebble brings smiles not only to the faces of the children who are lucky enough to own a Pebble toy but to the amazing women who make these lovely things. By simply buying a Pebble soft toy you are helping women and children in Bangladesh to earn a decent living Pebble is part of the nonprofit organization Hathay Bunano that is based in Bangladesh. The main goal of the organisation is to create flexible job opportunities for women in rural Bangladesh who have no source of income.
The workers co-operative was set up by Samantha Morshed to provide fairly paid work for women in rural communities. Traditionally women have had to leave their communities and move to Dhaka to earn money, and Dhaka is a very harsh city to live in. The traffic is horrific, the electricity supply unreliable and if you are poor you are likely to be living in extremely overcrowded and dirty conditions .
Pebble toys are hand made, cotton crochet toys that offer hope to the women who make them and joy to the children who own them..They are gorgeous, unique, affordable and fair trade. Can't get better than that!
Cards From Africa
Changing Lives
Rwanda one of the world's poorest countries is known mostly for the genocide and war, in which over 800,000 of Rwanda's 8,000,000 people were killed in 1994. As a result of this tragedy and the the HIV/AIDS epidemic an estimated 8 percent of the total population in Rwanda is orphaned
Cards from Africa is helping to support a few of these orphans. The idea for Cards from Africa came to British founder, Chris Page, in 2004. Chris teamed up with a Rwandan artist and together they learned how to make paper and create simple cards. Their first employee was a young orphaned woman. After one month they asked her to bring another friend to train but she brought two. It didn't take long before twenty more orphaned young people were trained and Cards From Africa was born .
The handcrafted cards are made from recycled office waste, discarded scraps. Without chemicals and using the traditional African method of making paper, they create interesting and varied textures using natural products.
Cards from Africa is helping to support a few of these orphans. The idea for Cards from Africa came to British founder, Chris Page, in 2004. Chris teamed up with a Rwandan artist and together they learned how to make paper and create simple cards. Their first employee was a young orphaned woman. After one month they asked her to bring another friend to train but she brought two. It didn't take long before twenty more orphaned young people were trained and Cards From Africa was born .
The handcrafted cards are made from recycled office waste, discarded scraps. Without chemicals and using the traditional African method of making paper, they create interesting and varied textures using natural products.
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African Recycled Art
Ingenious Recycling Program
A Kenyan organisation has developed one of the most ingenious and creative recycling projects around. Flip flops (thongs if you're from Oz) that litter the East African coastline causing enormous damage to the marine environment are collected and recycled. This waste is now also providing dignified work for local people who are employed to skillfully transform it into beautiful, colourful ecofriendly products
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Dolls That Are Spreading The Love
Sth African Ndebele Dolls Are Providing The Chance Of A Better Future
Dolls in African culture are not usually childrens play things but often have spiritual associations within the community.
These superb beaded dolls are made by women of the Ndebele tribe in South Africa. The Ndebele are noted for their extraordinarily beautifully painted homes of brilliant colors. Their clothing is similarly decorative and colorful. The bead work on these Ndebele dolls is a reflection of the traditional clothing worn by the women themselves.
One of the oldest and most revered practices is that of making these Ndebele beaded dolls. The dolls carry symbolic representations for the person they will be given too. The clothes on the doll and the colours used in the beadwork and fabrics chosen convey a message often associated with courtship and marriage.
The dolls are now being made in more contemporary colours for a growing Western market. Making these dolls enables more than 70 women to enjoy the flexibility of working from home and therby being able to care for their children, and the ability to earn an independent income in an area where poverty is high and there are very few job opportunities.
Fair-Trade Gifts
To a growing number of people, the value of an item that provides a positive change to another human being is great, add to that is the desire to own and give gifts that are earth friendly, are made by hand and where human talent is evident in the skill and creativity of the product. When one takes time to measure the overall value of fair- trade gifts to our basic humanity, to our curiosity, to our desire to own unique and interesting items, mass-produced, factory products bought in big box stores appear unimaginative and impersonal .Fair trade items will never be price-competitive with mass-produced items, they can't be as the time required to make each item is hours often days, not minutes as in machine made products. But despite the cost difference the demand by shoppers for a greater positive impact of their dollars is evident in the increased desire for fair-trade and eco friendly gifts..Even a small gift item with positive human impact shows your recipient that you've given their gift a lot more thought and haven't just grabbed something in a mad dash through a superstore a week before Christmas. Fair-trade gifts show your loved ones they are very important to you, you value the future of humanity and the environment and you put your dollars to work in a positive way. Not every gift can be fair-trade, but when fair-trade gifts are appropriate to your recipient, they are a wonderful choice
Litter-Less Lunches
Gorgeous Way To Avoid Waste
Mexican Oilcloth is a traditional fabric you probably have fond memories of as a brightly coloured cloth on your Grans kitchen table. It has been made in Mexico by the same factory for over 50 years. Oilcloth is highly durable, fade resistant, stain resistant and it simply wipes clean. Mexican Oilcloth is famous throughout the world for its practical qualities and gorgeous colours and patterns and is now available as these fun lunch bags.
Cards From Africa
Making A Difference
Rwanda one of the world's poorest countries is known mostly for the genocide and war, in which over 800,000 of Rwanda's 8,000,000 people were killed in 1994. As a result of this tragedy and the the HIV/AIDS epidemic an estimated 8 percent of the total population in Rwanda is orphanedCards from Africa is helping to support a few of these orphans. The idea for Cards from Africa came to British founder, Chris Page, in 2004. Chris teamed up with a Rwandan artist and together they learned how to make paper and create simple cards. Their first employee was a young orphaned woman. After one month they asked her to bring another friend to train but she brought two. It didn't take long before twenty more orphaned young people were trained and Cards From Africa was born
The handcrafted cards are made from recycled office waste, discarded scraps. Without chemicals and using the traditional African method of making paper, they create interesting and varied textures using natural products.
Typical of the sad stories behind those who make these cards is the story on Cards From Africas web site about a young woman called Germaine. Before the genocide Germaine lived securely with her large family of 9 brothers and sisters, her mother and father, who were a businessman and a teacher. Her parents and her five eldest siblings were slaughtered in the genocide and she was left at age 11 a frightened traumatized child who had to care for her 3 younger sisters and younger brother. Nothing of Germaine's past life was left No house and no belongings. Her siblings were in desperate need food , shelter and clothing., Germaine spent a long time scared and lonely, often crying for days and nights on end. She was deeply hurt and there was no one left to care for her.
Germaine is now 23 years old and still looks after her brothers and sisters. She has a job at Cards from Africa and is able to earn money to pay rent for a house they can live in, feed themselves buy clothes, and school supplies for their education.
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Most of us won't ever have a chance to assist directly in Rwanda's reconciliation process. But we can help by supporting organisations that do
Share The Love
Christmas Gift Ideas
Somewhere in a disadvantaged country is a mother, a father, a family like yours with an Aunt Martha of sorts, they too have a little Johny they love to bits but they are not writing shopping lists or hoping this year for Christmas to be less stressful. They are hoping that life might just get a little easier, that there will be food on the table more often,hoping that their boy might live to be an adult, that he may even go to school,.They are trying very hard to build a life with simple necessities, shelter,food,clean water, medicine, safety, hope.
Think of them when you write that shopping list. There are lovely handmade Fair-Trade gifts that will please the music teacher and Aunt Martha and by buying them you will make a difference to others who have not been fortunate enough to be born in an affluent and safe world.
Share your luck. Share the love.
Ethical Shopping
Be the change you wish to see in the world
There are so many benefits associated with ethical shopping. It is one of the most effective ways to attain sustainable development and deal with social injustice. We can support the rights of the people who produce the goods, take an active part in combating climate change and alleviating world poverty.We need to bring ethical consumerism to the forefront so that more people become aware of their ability to make positive changes by choosing products that are ethically produced. We can make the world a healthier and fairer place by making small adjustments in our lives. If we all act together the impact will be substantial
"Nobody did a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." ~ Edmund Burke
Heartfelt Project- The Story
It has a sad beginning but because of it the lives of others will be changed forever...........
The heartfelt project is her story. It's about who she is. It's about her children. It's about the lives of the women and families in her community. It's about the sadness that happens on a daily basis in a little place called Makapanstad. And the big difference one small heart can make to the happiness of others. Together, Martha and Julie started creating and designing the heartfelt products using traditional handcraft skills, felt and beads. Today they are sold within South Africa and the UK. There are now ten women employed by the heartfelt project. Each day they come to work full of pride and hope. Creating each heartfelt design out of love and strongly believing that they can make a difference - not only to their own lives but to the lives of the community in which they live. Each heart sold by the heartfelt project helps to feed and clothe the ladies and their families. It also gives back to the community by donating a small portion to a local charity to help fight TB, HIV/AIDS and look after children and old aged men and woman within Makapanstad. Its aim is to heal the hearts of people who don't have the opportunities we have on a daily basis. And to fill not only the ladies hearts but many others with hope.
Freedom Clothing
All of the women who work with Moselle have been rescued from slavery.Cmpanies such as Moselle make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of many women.
Global Carers
Global Carers are business, organisations and individuals who excel in their efforts to make lasting and positive differences to the planet and its people and blaze trails for others to follow. Their efforts and work are inspirational and important. We can cast our votes of support with our purchasing dollars and applaud their outstanding performance on blogs, websites, social networks and other communication tools
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Sustainablog
Table of Contents
- Recycled Tin Flowers
- Funky Junk Recycled
- Chilotes-Eco-conscious Footwear from Patagonia
- Fairtrade Tea Cosy
- Raku Pottery From Sth Africa
- Eco Friendly Wooden Toys
- Creating art and improving lives.
- Recycled Paper Bowl
- Monkeybiz
- Beauty From The Ugliness Of War
- Recycled Art That Just Cant Be Ignored
- Elephant Poo Paper
- Recycled glass beads
- Handmade and Fairtrade Toys
- Cards From Africa
- African Recycled Art
- Dolls That Are Spreading The Love
- Fair-Trade Gifts
- Litter-Less Lunches
- Cards From Africa
- Share The Love
- Ethical Shopping
- Heartfelt Project- The Story
- Freedom Clothing
- One World
- Global Carers
- Twitter Follow
- Amazon
- Sustainablog
- Comments
- Links
- Amazon
Links
Links To Interesting Rescources,
- Eco friendly and Fairtrade .
- Delightfully different handmade ecofriendly and Fair-Trade gifts. Earth friendly and people friendly gifts for you or someone you care about
- Ethical Consumer Guide
- The Ethical Consumer Guide gives you the low-down on the environmental and social record of companies behind common brand names. Shop at the supermarket with a clear conscience!
- Fair Trade in Australia|Soul Economy|02 9614 3606
- Fair Trade, Social and Eco-Friendly Companies. The site features inspiring interviews, a directory of Fairtrade and organic products, Fair Trade News and Events.
- Ethical Gifts facebook
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Ethical Gifts only stocks products which have a positive impact on the people who make them and do no harm to the planet.
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