gift guide — World News, Travel and Social Action

10 Awesome Gifts from Socially Responsible Brands

These days, social impact isn’t reserved for nonprofits or volunteer organizations, and people are becoming more aware of the power and influence they hold as consumers. This season, CATALYST wants to help you find the perfect sustainable and socially responsible gift for the people in your life who care about shopping ethically. As customers have become more aware of the social and environmental issues happening around the world, for-profit companies are embracing their responsibility to make a positive impact. Below are 10 gifts from companies that focus on social and environmental change, sharing their successes with local and global communities.

1. TOMS India Slipper $59.95

TOMS has reached a new level of comfort with its India slippers. On the outside, these shoes have a faux shearling plaid print extended to the faux fur lining on the inside. The rubber soles mean you can take the coziness of these slippers out of the house, perfect for lazy days or last-minute trips to the grocery store for that thing that was totally on your list but somehow you forgot.

TOMS is a company committed to using its success to improve the lives of others, and that includes the planet. A third of their profits go to grassroots efforts creating change at local levels, and in 2020 TOMS committed to expanding sustainable practices in key areas of their business. Last year, the company gave more than four million dollars to grassroots partners in 28 different countries and began creating products rooted in environmentally friendly materials and processes.

2. Bombas Holiday Sock Pack $54.40

The limited-edition Bombas Holiday Sock Pack wraps all your favorite festive patterns into one. The use of extra-long-staple cotton and a cushioned footbed means these socks don’t sacrifice comfort and provide quality that will last wear after wear. The purchase of this set quadruples in giving power by donating not one, but four pairs of socks to someone in need.

Through a mission-based approach, Bombas has donated over 45 million items to homeless shelters in all 50 states. Their one-for-one business model means that anytime you purchase a pair of socks, underwear or t-shirt from their site, they donate another to a person in need. While socks may not be on the top of the kids’ wish list, they’ll have the added gift of knowing that their present also provided a sense of dignity to someone less fortunate.

3. VEJA V-10 Sneakers $150

VEJA’s vegan sneakers use cotton as a replacement for leather in what they term as C.W.L., or Cotton Worked as Leather. The shoe’s canvas is made of 100% organic cotton, coated with P.U., corn starch and ricinus oil from Brazil, and is 54% bio-based. The suede logo is made from 100% vegan synthetic microfibers that are sourced from São Paulo in Jacareí and made using a solvent-free process that’s less toxic than processes for classic synthetic suede.

At VEJA, their commitment to transparency prioritizes looking beyond the style of a shoe to how they are made. VEJA works directly with local producers all over Brazil. In doing so, they cut out the middle man, yet still, pay twice the market price for cotton so the associations can use the funds to improve their working conditions. Additionally, 100% of the logistics for the VEJA online site and Parisian stores are managed by Log’ins, a company that promotes social and professional integration. Through their partnership, 322 people who would’ve typically been excluded from the labor market have found jobs at VEJA.

4 Patagonia Fleece Pull-Over $119

The classic Snap-T Fleece Pullover from Patagonia is a winter wardrobe staple made with warm, durable recycled polyester fleece and sewn with their Fair Trade Certified mark. Perfect for casual wear, hiking and work, you can rest easy knowing that Patagonia’s quality will last a lifetime.

Patagonia uses a high proportion of materials made from recycled fabrics, rejecting the concept of fast fashion through their dedication to creating high-quality, long-lasting products. Patagonia’s Worn Wear program incentivizes customers to extend the lives of their Patagonia pieces by repairing, recycling and trading their used items for something new. Their participation in the Fair Trade program has supported over 64,000 workers with fair living wages and their work with suppliers in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and South Korea helps eliminate fees for migrant workers vulnerable to bonded labor.

5. Davines Healthy Shine Set $85

Davines’ Healthy Shine set is a package of restorative hair products. This set includes their NOUNOU Shampoo and MOMO Conditioner that nourish, hydrate and soften hair. The Ol Oil adds shine and protection from heat and environmental factors. It can be used either as a leave-in treatment or after styling as a finishing touch.

Davines' production site is powered 100% by renewable energy and 27% of their products have neutralized their life cycle emissions. Their partnership with the Rodale Institute promotes the sourcing of sustainable ingredients through regenerative agriculture. Davines is one of 800 B Corp companies committed to reaching net-zero emissions by the year 2030, 20 years earlier than the goals set by the Paris Agreement.

6. Arganic Inside Out Beauty Set $47.48

The Inside Out Beauty Set from Arganic comes with a set of their fully traceable, single-origin argan oil, including a 50ml bottle of cosmetic argan oil and a 100ml bottle of their culinary argan oil. Argan oil is mostly known for its beauty benefits, but its nutty flavor exceptionally balances dishes and is known to improve heart health.

Argan oil has been used for centuries by the indigenous Berber people of Morocco, and its multi-purpose use makes it a product that promotes reduced consumption. However, many argan oils on the market are made of oil sourced from several producers, resulting in a lack of transparency of the supply chain. Arganic works with a single organic farm in Morocco so you know that your money is directly supporting the 600 Berber women they employ. These women are paid above average and are provided with a free classroom for their children on the worksite.

7. BioLite Stove $150

Leave the gas canisters behind and unlock the power of sticks and twigs with BioLite’s award-winning stove. Their patented combustion technology turns fire into electricity, so you can cook your meals and charge your gear at the same time. At just two pounds, the BioLite stove packs down to the size of a 32oz wide mouth water bottle, and boils in less than five minutes.

BioLite’s mission is to bring energy everywhere, using its heat-to-electricity technology to cut fuel consumption in half and reduce toxic emissions by 90%. Their range of more than 20 products is revolutionizing the way people across the globe experience energy. As of November 2021, their impact has reached over three million people in Africa and Asia, granting them access to clean and affordable home energy. Your purchase of a BioLite product helps them invest in their programs, engineering and distributing light and energy to remote customers.

8. Paravel Aviator Carry-On $275

Paravel’s Aviator carry-on is the first-ever carbon neutral suitcase. Not only does Paravel offset all emissions emitted during the sourcing, assembly and shipping process of the item, but they go the extra mile to offset the estimated emissions of your first flight with your new suitcase. In addition, the suitcase incorporates recycled materials wherever possible, from the lining made of 15 recycled plastic bottles to the handle made from recycled aircraft-grade aluminum.

Paravel creates top-quality travel products that aren’t only easy on the eyes, but easy on their impact on the environment. Not only do all of their supply chain partners follow their code of social responsibility, but their commitment to sustainability has offset more than 12,000 tons of CO2 emissions—equal to pulling 2,000 cars off the streets for a year. The utilization of upcycling to create their products is how they removed over three million plastic water bottles from the ocean and planted more than 166,000 trees.

9. Ethnotek Cyclo Travel Sling Bag $89

The Ethnotek Cyclo Travel Sling Bag is made using a process called ‘jaspe’ by a family in Paxtoca, Guatemala. The yarn for this bag is tied and dyed in sections, then spooled and fed into a treadle loom, all by hand. The Travel Sling’s main compartment rolls open and closed, allowing for maximum storage volume. There’s a built-in organizer with a small pocket for documents, two stretch mesh pockets for water bottles, and a pen slot. The hidden zipper pockets on the side are there to hold your quick-grab accessories, like a phone or sunglasses. Lastly, the hidden back zipper pocket allows for quick access to your important travel documents while keeping them safe and secure.

Ethnotek creates high-quality backpacks, laptops and travel bags that feature ethically sourced, traditional, handmade textiles. Weavers and artisans around the world are seeing less local demand for their fabrics, and traditional techniques are quickly being replaced by machines and factory labor in major cities. Ethnotek sources handmade textiles in person and purchases them directly from the artisan or village they’re created in. Your purchase helps stimulate the demand for these traditional, handcrafted pieces and practices of hand printing, weaving and embroidery in Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

10. Cotopaxi Fuego Down Vest $150

The Fuego Down Vest features responsibly sourced, water-proof, RDS-Certified down in a streamlined design. The vest is perfect for those chilly weather days that don’t quite warrant a jacket, but also serves well underneath one as a core-warming layer on colder days. The vest includes an adjustable drawcord along the hem, two zippered exterior pockets and two interior pockets. The vest is light and compactable, so when it’s not being worn it can be packed into its interior pocket.

All of Cotopaxi’s insulation pieces are made using responsibly sourced down that ensures the humane treatment of ducks and geese. As a B Corp Certified company, all of their factories promote fair labor practices. Additionally, Cotopaxi allocates one percent of its revenue to the Cotopaxi Foundation, awarding grants to non-profit partners who work to improve the human condition and alleviate poverty. This year alone, the foundation has awarded 34 individual grants, directly assisted 750,000 people and donated over $400,000.

This holiday season, give the gift of support to nonprofit organizations operating across the globe. Through your donation, you have the ability of giving literacy to children, gender-equal education to girls, protection for displaced people and more.

Silent reading time in Lao, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA-3.0

Education is an important tool that many nonprofits work to provide to children in countries around the world. By building literacy and providing important resources, organizations are granting children the ability to change their lives.

1. Pencils of Promise

Pencils of Promise is a global organization that works for greater educational opportunities. Their initiatives provide teachers with training and resources and provide students with safe places to learn. Pencils of Promise has now built more than 550 schools in Ghana, Guatemala and Laos. Your donation would help them continue providing children with access to education in facilities that grant them access to clean water and private bathrooms.

2. Room to Read

More than 750 million people are illiterate, two-thirds of them women and girls. Room to Read works with global communities to extend literacy and gender equality in education. So far, more than 23 million children and communities in South Africa, South Asia and the Middle East have received their support. A donation will help bridge the gap, granting more women and young girls the power of literacy.

Women and girls are a crucial focus among national and international organizations. By providing women and young girls with equal access to education, healthcare and economic and political empowerment, nonprofits are creating a brighter future for generations to come.

3. Girls Rising

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, girls’ education is in a state of crisis. Girls Rising provides their own customized curricula focused on building confidence and agency among young girls in more than 12 countries. A donation gives girls the gift of understanding their rights along with confidence in their ability to change their lives and communities.

4. Global Fund for Women

The Global Fund for Women is one of the leading foundations for women’s equality. They have invested in nearly 5,000 grassroots groups in 175 countries, helping win rights for millions of women and girls. Their campaigns for economic and political empowerment as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights both take a movement-led approach that is consistently under-resourced. Donations support these movements and lead to more egalitarian workplace regulations, more equitable land rights, better access to financial institutions, expanded legal protections for domestic workers and stronger laws against sexual harassment around the globe.

The environment is a crucial issue for our planet and everything it inhabits. As temperatures continue to rise, resources deplete and weather intensifies, we are beginning to see the realities of a future on Earth.

5. Greenpeace

Greenpeace’s global priority is to undermine the fossil fuel sector and remove fossil fuels’ legitimacy in society. Through nonviolent creative action, Greenpeace confronts the systems that threaten our environment. Donations support them as they pave the way towards a greener world.

Human rights issues occur around the globe, and there are nonprofit organizations doing the work to help. Through their efforts, victims of human trafficking and refugees around the world receive lifesaving assistance.

6. Free the Slaves

Free the Slaves is on a mission to abolish the conditions that allow modern slavery to exist. Their community liberation model focuses on community engagement, policy and advocacy, movement building and learning initiatives. Your donation would allow them to provide funding and technical expertise to local organizations in human trafficking hotspots in India, Ghana, Haiti, Mauritiana, Brazil, Nepal, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

7. Amnesty

Show your support and give to Amnesty, a nonprofit organization that works for human rights across the globe through a three-tier approach: research, mobilization and advocacy. They are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization. Last year alone, Amnesty helped free 153 people who were wrongfully imprisoned and changed laws in dozens of countries on refugees, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ equality, free speech, the death penalty and other critical human rights issues.

8. Refugees International

There are currently more than 80 million people displaced by conflict, human rights abuse, persecution and climate disasters. Refugees International does work in the Americas, Asia, Europe, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East to provide lifesaving assistance, human rights and protection for displaced people. A donation to Refugees International supports promoting solutions to displacement crises around the world.

Travel can often have a negative impact on local communities. However, there are organizations whose goals are to connect travelers with locals to ensure the communities’ residents are the ones benefiting.

9. Travel2Change

Travel2Change is a Hawaii-based nonprofit organization that encourages travelers to make a difference in the community. Their work ensures that the local Hawaiian community benefits from tourism by connecting visitors with impactful activities offered by locals. Your donation this giving season helps Travel2Change keep its activities affordable or free so as many people as possible are able to participate and connect to the local community.

Health is a universal subject across the globe and during the pandemic, the most susceptible communities were ones that were already distressed. Nonprofit organizations are providing medical assistance to people all over the world who normally would not have access to it.

10. Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization that provides medical assistance to people in 88 countries. Amid conflict and political instability, their teams in Afghanistan provide vital medical care in Herat, Helmand, Kandahar, Khost and Kunduz provinces. The 2,300 staff members working in the country respond to a range of medical needs, from acute malnutrition to maternal health services. Donations support their work providing medical services to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters or exclusion from healthcare.

Sports are a competitive and entertaining activity that bring people together. Today, there are organizations using sports to break down cultural and political barriers in areas of conflict.

11. Surfing 4 Peace

Surfing 4 Peace is a community of surfers and supporters that conduct cooperative projects, host events and run campaigns that emphasize coexistence, cross-cultural dialog and the shared experience of surfing. In the Middle East and around the world, Surfing 4 Peace aims to bridge cultural and political barriers between surfers in diverse communities. In 2007, Surfing 4 Peace successfully gathered and transferred 14 surfboards through border authorities from Israel to Gaza to donate them to the small Palestinian surfing community. Since then, the group has organized multiple projects for the surfing community in Gaza, including the Gaza Surfer Girl Project and Gaza Surf Relief. Donations support creating a safe and inclusive community rooted in the shared love for surfing.