photo via Shannon Martin

Again, not a definitive list. Just some stuff I thought you’d like and that supports supporters of this blog and/or have a snappy, ethical slant. Enjoy!

merfins by Oceanika

For your mer-obsessed daughter, from $115. Kazzie’s a Byron chick who dreamt up this idea – eco mermaid fins for kids – a number of years ago. They’re made from recycled rubber, in a factory that uses environmentally sensitive practises and machines. I’ve seen kids swim in these things – they actually swim like dolphins. Check it out in this YouTube clip

The MerFin Package, which includes MerFins, swim tights and bikini, is priced from $174.00, or the MerFin alone starting from $115.00. Get em here.

clever personalised posters by Stevie and Three

For your inspired best mate: from $24.50. Clare Lancaster is a gem of an operator. She chatted to me ages ago about my blog and generously shared some wonderful tips. Which is pretty much what she does for a living. Now she’s decamped to London and has launched a new blog Stevie and Three, a design site where you can buy these clever posters. Basically, you customise a range of typographic designs to create personal, meaningful prints. Choose the format, colour and the words you’d like and Clare will design a bespoke print. Purchase here.

bicycle wine rack from Cycle Style

For your bike mates, $29. This is the perfect way to carry your Christmas party wine on your bike. It’s handmade from leather and brass, and has featured in DesignSponge and Playboy. You can get hold of one from CycleStyle here.

Joyce has kindly offered free shipping on this item, and you can still use the discount if you purchase other items as well. Just make sure you use the code BIKEWINE and buy your wine rack before the 15th December.

author matchbooks by Readers Niche

For your literary mate, $9.95 (pack of six). The colourful author matchbooks feature 6 of literature’s great authors. Each 10pg matchbook features a brightly outlined author portrait, with one of the author’s quotes in the background. Covers are made from 100% recycled content cardstock. Perfect for a wallet, purse, handbag, coat, or car. Check out Reader’s Niche – a stack of literary gifts on offer - here.

natural face oil by Vanessa Megan

For your favourite workmate  $35. I’ve written about how much I love facial oils before. This one from Sydney chick Vanessa Megan is particularly special. It contains organic rosehip oil, which is high in fatty acids – responsible for its ability to encourage regeneration and repair of skin tissue. Plus rosemary (helps lift saggy skin), lemongrass (minimises pore size), carrot seed (known to diminish/remove age spots and/or blemishes) and vetiver (tones the skin).  Buy it here.

crocheted wrist cuffs by CultureCycle

For your cycling buddies, $29. Angelina from CultureCycle makes these crocheted reflective cuffs (plus a bunch of other cool bike gear) for high visibility and a little style on the road. Buy a pair’o'cuffs here.

iron bark collar from TobyE Jewellery and Blue Caravan

For your best mate, $275. This necklace is one of many ethical gifts available via Australian site Blue Caravan.

Toby E is an Aussie jeweller whose stuff is 100% handmade, 100% recycled, and is made for sensitive skin types. Toby has said she’ll offer a beautiful handmade gift with every purchase. Get hold of one of her creations here.

anti-aging skin care packs by La Mav

Great for your health conscious Mum: $89.95. La Mav is an Australian owned, completely organic skin care range that delivers visible results while being gentle on the skin and environment. The anti-aging pack includes antioxidant rich nightly repair nectar, Bio VA5 daily wrinkle smoothing creme, and Bio A7 firming eye lotion. Get hold of these packs here.

and some nice charity collaborations I’ve come across

• Georg Jensen are donating $50 to the Red Cross for each of their red cross heart bracelets bought. You can get yours here. 
• Leave a gift under the K Mart wishing tree in your local K Mart store. They’re donating to the Salvation Army. Or donate online here.
• Choose gifts for your family and friends that make a world of difference to communities in need. Browse World Vision’s gift options here. 

I’m not a big fan of mass present-buying. Consumerism is something I actively avoid. All that said, gift giving is lovely, especially if it’s mindful. So I’ve decided to share some ideas I’ve accumulated over the year: products that grabbed me, or are mindfully made and have a touch of quirky expression to them, or are made by friends of this blog. I’ve even secured a few special offers for readers on this blog. Happy Crazy Season!

1. exfoliating cleansing bar by Miessence

Something for your brother: $9.95. I love this exfoliating Cleansing Bar ( in both geranium + tea tree). Soap-on-a-rope that’s good enough to eat, making a simple, all-round gift. Miessence products are possibly the most legitimately toxin-free products on the planet. EWG’s cosmetic database rates it in their top 5 brands and it’s a local (Queensland) company run by one very passionate Narelle.

As a lovely Noel gesture, Narelle is offering readers here 30% off any Miessence purchase over $100 (buy a few soaps for friends and family!). Details here, and make sure you use the code SWB, from December 01 – 25.

2. handwoven mexican throws by Table Tonic

For your partner: from $449. Lou, the very talented designer behind Table Tonic, has been a big supporter of this blog over the year and I’m a massive fan of what she does on her site. When I was editor of Cosmpolitan, she was creative director and designed my covers. So I’m indebted to her for enduring my Capricornian pedantism. These Suzani throws are very pretty. Lou describes them thus:

“The Mexican Suzani throws/bedspreads are made by a native Mexican ethnic group, known as “Otomi”, in the state of Puepla. The yarn is bought by the native people at their local stores in Puebla and the base cloth (or ’manta’) is hand made, according to ancient traditions, from natural, eco-friendly materials. By purchasing this Mexican folk art, you are supporting a native group and their traditions.”

She’s giving 15% off everything on her site to readers – just use the coupon code ‘SARAHTONIC ‘ at checkout.

3. linen beach towels by Boatshed

For your mum or best mate: $70. My friend Amber and her best mate set up this little towel business. The concept is this: a towel you can carry as a wrap or sarong or scarf when you flip-flop down to the beach, that doubles as a towel. Lovely and lightweight, I use mine every day. You can buy them here.

4. natural almond oil mascara and natural tinted rice powders by Ere Perez

For your Mum: natural almond oil mascara $28.95 and natural tinted rice powder $37.95. This mascara and powder are the only beauty products I now use. Toxin-free. Clean. Simple. Effective.

Ere has also offered a Free Natural Powder Brush worth $33.95 to readers when you buy an Almond Oil Mascara and a powder here. Click here.

5. Bonita crocheted shorts from Spell Designs

For your sister: $49. Spell is a gorgeous Byron-based company with a gypsy girl aesthetic,  Lizzie who runs the label with her sister has become one of my favourite locals, and these crocheted shorts are crying out for a pretty bikini and a big shirt thrown over the top. Buy the shorts here.

6. healing stones by Shashen Jewels

For the special person who helped you out this year: $160 – $280 This is a lovely idea…Eilish contacted me a while back and sent me one of her stones as she felt I needed some special healing. I was really very touched. And it got me thinking what a nice gesture it is to give a stone to someone who you want to reach out to and just say, “thank you” or “I see you” or “I care”. Eilish recommends “rose quartz which is all about love – giving it and receiving it”, “chalcedony which is an auric balancer and about bringing harmony to groups – many families need this at Christmas time” or “citrine, which carries the energy of the sun. It is the stone associated with success and abundance. Balances the yin-yang energy to manifest and align your energies with your higher self. Abundance and success can be love, luck, wealth, happiness.”

 All pieces come in a lovely box tied with a ribbon and includes a card telling you about the stone’s emotional, spiritual and physical qualities with instructions on how to cleanse and activate the stone so you can work with its energies.

Shashen Jewel’s is offering readers a special selection service – simply email eilishbouchier@gmail.com with the gesture you want to share and Eilish will help select the perfect stone and will share a special intention you can pass on to your special person. She’s also offering 20% off and free shipping when you use the code SWX11 (valid until Jan 01/2012)

In addition, Eilish donates 20% of all sales to a charity in India called Nanhi Kali that educates girls. Which is just lovely.

via goldsnowdrops

Tip: Flag this post so you have a gift idea ready to go (perhaps add it to instapaper…I have a file called “gifts’ filled with ideas).

Basically, you buy a gift for someone that goes to someone else in need. A goat. Or a bike! I do this at Christmas. My family and previous partners have always groaned at first. But then been grateful. We used to wonder how the goat was going, living its little goat life in Namibia or whatever. (I once wrote a “sponsor letter” from the goat and posted it six months later…”thank you for my life, milking time is always fun”…).

Three of my favourite gifts:

• A Bike! $87. UNICEF has found that in some parts of the world a bike is one of the most important modes of transport for villages. It is particularly helpful for health workers to reach vulnerable children in remote communities. It is often used to transport other Inspired Gifts like the vaccine carrier.
• Measles vaccines: $31 will protect 100 children from measles.
• Family water kit: $127

Here’s what others’ gift-giving antics delivered around the world last year:

All UNICEF gifts are listed here. Getting married? And don’t really need another toaster or brass goblet set?  Request an Inspired Gift from your wedding guests.

Please do share if you’ve tried something similar…include a link if you can!

I’ll come clean with you all. I get sent some very lovely gifts by strangers daily. Some of these strangers are wanting me to promote their wares. Others are genuinely spreading their eagerness for something they really care about. Others are simply giving to say thank you.

But thing is, I’m not a big fan of things. I grew up this way. And I like living this way. Less makes me happier. It’s not a pious statement to the world. Just a preference borne from habit. Anyone who knows me knows I wear the SAME clothes over and over. And am not one for caring about handbags. Or nailpolish. Or scented candles. Or new bikinis. Or whatever. I just don’t derive joy or excitement from them. It’s a different language to me.

Which makes it hard when I’m given things. I’m grateful for the care and gesture. But feel guilty. Because sometimes the thing (not the gesture!) is just wasted on me. So. From Now On… When someone gives me something because they’re genuinely wanting to spread their eagerness…I’m going to share the love with you instead. Not in an Oprah way. More because it’s doing me a favour.

Let’s kick off with this crocheted glass bracelet…

The wonderfully generous team at Kindred Gifts (a gift buying site that features ethical presents) have agreed for me to share this Same Sky bracelet (worth $229) with someone. To be honest, I think it makes sense to pass this love on. These bracelets have a wonderful story behind them:

Same Sky has a worldwide mission to empower women by giving them a hand up not a hand-out. You can read more about Same Sky and their initiatives here. Same Sky bracelets are hand-crocheted by HIV-positive women artisans who survived the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It comes signed by the woman who crocheted the individual piece.

Please add your name to the comments below, and we’ll do a draw in the office in the next day or two.

Thank you Kindred Gifts. xx

]]> http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/2011/01/my-dilemma-with-gifts-and-a-resulting-gift-giveaway-for-you/feed/ 109 http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/2010/12/a-charity-gift-guide-for-you-cos-i-hate-buying-xmas-junk/ http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/2010/12/a-charity-gift-guide-for-you-cos-i-hate-buying-xmas-junk/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:58:04 +0000 Sarah Wilson http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/?p=1676 I wrote about giving this week. So, then, the very committed Julie Cowdroy, an activist and academic and ambassador for Opportunity International Australia and the Global Poverty Project alerted me to a post she’s just put up ABC’s The Drum about how to give goats for Christmas.

Or, more to the point, how to give a charity gift, instead of something consumerable. She kindly offered to provide a bit of a guide to the gifting charities she rates… handy for any of you out there who Just Can’t Face Buying Crap In A Mall this Christmas. Or Have Left Shopping To The Last Minute. Or who Want to Care More.

I’ve also posted her ABC piece below.

1. OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA
Buffaloan: $50
Help sustain the source of livelihood for a poor entrepreneur in India by investing in the buffaloan. For just $50, you can feed this valuable creature for a month, keeping a buffalo full, healthy and ready to produce the milk that provides a regular income for a number of the rural poor in India.

Peas on Earth: $96
This gift helps entrepreneurs in Indonesia plough through poverty, allowing them to start a small vegetable farm – be it cabbage or carrots, beans or broccoli. Once it’s harvest season, they can collect their crop and sell the fresh produce at their own market stall for a profit, using the money to provide the basics for their families. Makes you wonder about money not growing on trees…

2. CHARITY WATER
Water Project in a Village: $5,000
A $5,000 well will mean that 250 people will have access to clean water. It’s the holidays. There’s no better time to thank your employees, vendors or customers for working with you. Honor them by sponsoring a water project. Once you do, we’ll direct you to our assets page so you can download printable or email-able cards to give to them. 100% of your gift is used to implement water projects in the field. For all the details on sponsoring a water project, click here.

3. ACTIONAID AUSTRALIA
Donate to the Burredo Seed Bank Project: Any amount
70% of the hungry are women. Despite growing more than 60% of food, women own less than 1% of land in poor countries. With ActionAid’s support the BUREDO Seed Bank was established. Instead of paying for the expensive seeds, the members ‘borrow’ seeds to plant. When they have a harvest they pay back the seed, with interest, so that the community seed bank continues to grow and benefit the whole community.

Leya from Uganda: “The seeds that we used to grow were useless – they gave us very low yields and we were always hungry. Then I was given two bags of improved groundnuts seeds and maize seeds. That first season I harvested seven bags of groundnuts and 27 bags of maize grains. I gave back double to BUREDO. I sold some groundnuts and bought two goats and my life really started changing. I hope that the ActionAid seed bank gets more funding so it helps other families.”

4. TEAR AUSTRALIA
Buy a goat: $50
Buy a goat and contribute to a long-term poverty-fighting project. Goats are a great source of nutritious meat, milk and cheese. With training, families can breed goats to pay for their children’s education and health care.

5. OXFAM AUSTRALIA
Batsiranai dolls: $29.95
For every one of these cute little Batsiranai dolls you buy a twin doll will be given to an HIV/AIDS affected family in Zimbabwe. There are twelve different dolls to choose from – boy dolls and girl dolls, all of them with names and all dressed in traditional African style. The Batsiranai dolls are exclusive to Oxfam Shop in Australia and the project has touched the hearts of customers across the country. Learn more about these great dolls and of course their twins in Zimbabwe

Goat Gifts 101

(republished from ABC’s The Drum)

Pictures of goats are popular at this time of year. Cards and e-cards featuring a photograph of a goat usually wearing sunglasses are in circulation representing the fact that somewhere, someone has received a goat, and someone else has received a picture of a goat.

The charity gifts trend is alive and well in Australia and many are jumping on board to purchase goats as well as a plethora of other gifts, spending anywhere from $5 to $10,000. One can choose to buy pencils, poo, piglets, or a taxi service in the Philippines for the world’s poorest people.

TEAR created the first charity gifts catalogue in 1994 while Oxfam launched its first Unwrapped campaign seven years ago, and many poverty driven NGOs have hightailed it to follow in their, er, hoovesteps. An environment of goodwill is a great way to stimulate some Christmas cha-ching for overseas development programs – in 2008, Oxfam alone raised $6 million, even at the height of the GFC – but it’s also what we as consumers want.

According to a 2005 report issued by the Australia Institute, 73 per cent of Australians would be happy to receive a charity gift, although, of course we would answer that way.

Still, a marketing manager of one organisation that only jumped on board the charity gifts bandwagon this year said that they decided to run a Christmas campaign because many of their donors were asking for it. Why? People are sick of buying crap at Christmas. They want something more ‘meaningful’.

Yet how meaningful are goats? There is nothing worse then getting something you don’t need – a universal truth that also applies to those who live below subsistence.

One of the first lessons that purchasers of such gifts learn is that it is not always clearly articulated that paying for a goat does not actually mean that a kid named Billy is bought and shipped off overseas. Often the money is collected and spent on projects and programs according to where an organisation decides the ‘most need’ is.

The method of delivery varies from group to group. For instance, every gift available for purchase at ChildFund Australia has been researched and the number of, say, piglets available for ‘sale’ is the number of piglets required for a particular community. You buy a piglet, a piglet shall be given. World Vision and Oxfam have broader categories. Buy a chicken and they’ll put the money towards their livelihood programs. Buy a bicycle ambulance or a hip-hop microphone and the money will go towards their education programs. Yes, one of the items you can buy is a hip-hop microphone. World to the Vision.

TEAR have a colour-coded system – red for education, green for agricultural and farming gifts, blue for health and so on. By placing gifts within categories as TEAR, World Vision, Oxfam and others do, the donor can see how their gift is a part of a broader development strategy.

Edward Fox, who was Oxfam’s Fundraising and Marketing Director until 2007, and is now the CEO of Opportunity International UK says, “When done well, the charity gifts proposition can improve the public’s understanding of the charity and increase the supporters’ affection for the cause. They can be fun and they are a light-hearted way to explain (unwrap) what the charity does.”

The desire to understand more about international development is evident in the many requests to organisations for donors to track specific gifts and get a photo of the actual gift being given. It seems to get on one’s goat not knowing who gets one’s goat. Some are bursting to know if someone will be bursting with gratitude to see the goat that they gave. NGOs do not generally offer this service.

However, a group called Charity:water has an aspect to their campaign called Proving It. Once a donor funds a project, local partners submit reports back to the group about the execution of the project. Charity:water then give donors photos as well as coordinates to plug into Google Maps so one can see the project they funded. A commemorative plaque is uploaded that recognises the donor and community who worked together to make the project possible.

People enjoy this. They want to feel connected to the receiver of the gift. However, it is a very fine line between wanting to know where one’s donation ends up and reinforcing the message that donors are the “Whites in Shining Armour”.

Goats at Christmas time provide the perfect opportunity to reflect on how we approach international aid and development. Archie Law, CEO of ActionAid says, “For the worlds billion hungry people who are marginalised and excluded from basic services, the daily struggle continues long after Christmas. When you buy that goat this Christmas maybe you can spend a moment thinking about what you can do in 2011 to contribute to the long-term changes needed to affect meaningful change in the lives of the most excluded.”

There are great projects and programs that poverty-driven NGOs are executing and donors should ensure they are savvy and do their homework to make sure the groups they channel money into have sustainable development strategies. True partnership with the worlds marginalised involves an understanding on our part of the role goats play in global development. And that shouldn’t get on anyone’s goat.

In my family, we don’t do presents…which leaves a gaping hole for giving in other ways. Below are a few ideas, based mostly on some projects I’m working on…

1. give $2 to the homeless in your ‘hood.

I’m an ambassador for StreetSmart. So, is Stephen Fry! In the lead-up to Christmas, StreetSmart  restaurants – Longrain, Otto, Coast, Universal, Sake, Red Spice Road, Mezzo Bar&Grill, Ladro, Cutler & Co, Il Centro Restaurant & Bar, ecco Bistro, Urbane and hundreds of others – ask diners to donate $2 to StreetSmart on their bill.

The two bucks is simply added to your bill.  I’ve always liked this idea…it gives you the option to opt out…but invites you with conviction to give…it makes it easier for us to care, which I think we all want.

The cash goes to homeless projects in nearby areas – choirs, book exchanges and simple accommodation and food. This matters. Donating local I think is good. It’s more intimate. You’re more part of it. Your care is tangible.

I guess what you can do is choose to eat at a participating restaurant. And ask your favourite cafe/restaurant to take part next year.

2. if you’re buying gifts…

…check out this Women in Business gift guide Clare put together, which supports Australian women in business.

And avoid products made by this list of companies that committed some pretty sexist acts this year.

3. donate to Aboriginal literacy

Four out of 5 Aboriginal kids in remote communities can’t read. Donate some extra $$ to the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation here.

4. or donate to young girls.

I’m also involved in the Because I Am a Girl campaign. ‘Because I am a Girl’ is Plan International’s global campaign to fight gender inequality, promote girls’ rights and lift millions of girls out of poverty. If you want to know why this matters…click here.

Do you have any gift ideas that matter? I’m happy for you to add here…

Uge has become a great mate after years of running into him down at Bondi in the mornings where, for the past 11 years, he’s been found taking beautiful pictures of people being happy in water… which he then posts on his site aquabumps. 40,000 people check in each morning to view his work. And thousands have bought his over-sized prints. I’ve seen them hung around the world.

You might recall, I’ve written about Uge before. He taught me about “checking in with your inside people“. And I can safely say, Uge is one of the happiest people I know. He smiles when he surfs. It shows in his book.

Plus a gratuitous shot of our mate Gezza x

I reckon it’d make a great Christmas present. Happy, fresh, summery. This you might like to know:

* It’s a massive coffee-table spectacular (almost a metre across when open).

* It’s designed by Ant Donovan

* It’s $150 and you can buy it in Uge’s gallery on Curlewis St or here:

Have a great Friday xxxxxx