Tag: shopping

Season of Gifts #1: Kiva.org

On By idoliovIn Company Profile3 Comments

Company: Kiva
Products: Gifts, jewelry, home decor, fashion, hand-made gifts, furniture
Cause: Micro-entrepreneurs and artisans

Kiva_Store_Categories

Now that we’re in December and in the home stretch of the gift-giving season, I’ll be profiling merchants that feature unique gifts. First up: Kiva.org.

I mentioned Kiva in my Giving Tuesday blog post, but this post is about their online store. They have gifts for men and women in a variety of categories and feature stories of the artisans that make the items. Purchases benefit artisans who have borrowed money via Kiva and started or expanded their businesses. You can shop by category, region of the world where the items come from, price range, occasions, or interests.

They have gift sets:
 

Furniture and decor:
 

Jewelry
 

Men’s and Women’s Fashion

Until I started doing research for this blog post, I had no idea of the extent of their collection. I’ll be coming back for birthday, wedding, and housewarming gifts all year long.


Continue reading “Season of Gifts #1: Kiva.org” →

Company Profile: Patagonia

On By idoliovIn Climate Change, Company Profile, Environment, Outdoor clothingLeave a comment

Cause: Environment, Climate Change
Company: Patagonia
Products: Outdoor Clothing

By now you may have seen the news reports that Patagonia, the outdoor apparel firm will give away it’s $10MM in profits as a results of this year’s corporate tax cut to causes working to reverse climate change.

But this wasn’t a one-time stunt. Patagonia has been supporting grass-roots efforts on environmental and social initiatives since it was founded. It donates 1% of sales (not profits!) to support environmental organizations. And in 2016, it donated ALL its Black Friday sales to charity.

The ongoing donations, through membership in 1% For the Planet®, fund small environmental grants to hundreds of charities that fight for the environment in their local communities. The results are impressive – the screen shot below is from their websites and highlights their achievements as of the last fiscal year (2016-2017).

PatagoniaResults.PNG

So as you’re doing your holiday shopping, for outdoor clothing, consider shopping at Patagonia to support the environment.

 

 

Black Friday Deals that give back!

On By idoliovIn uncategorizedLeave a comment

Black Friday deals that give back from the Galavanting Bean blog. Pssstttt . . . not just for Black Friday – these give back every day of the year.

Do Good on Black Friday: Smile!

On By idoliovIn uncategorizedLeave a comment

Belated Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your holiday, however you choose to observe, was relaxing (and tasty!) I took Thursday off to cook up a storm with my family and then enjoy the fruits of our labor without too many online distractions.

Now to business: it’s Black Friday, which for many of us means the start of our Christmas gift shopping season. Gifts for others and gifts for ourselves.

Did you know you can do a little good just by shopping at Amazon.com through their “AmazonSmile” program. Simply type “smile.amazon.com” into your browser rather than http://www.amazon.com and for anything you buy, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price to the non-profit of your choice. For example, my purchases on Amazon over the years have supported my local community orchestra.

Amazon Smile donations

It’s an easy way to support the causes that you care about all year long – not just on Black Friday. You can support a different cause with every purchase. The only downside: it’s only 1/2 of a percent. So for every $100 you spend, Amazon will donate 50 cents. It’s not much as an individual, but if you get all of your members or supporters to use that link, it can add up over time.