Holiday Gifts for Your Family, Friends, and Planet
In an earlier Ojai Post thread, many insightful things were said about the practice and philosophy of Buy Nothing Day. Obviously Black Friday has passed for this year, but as we close our year and consider expressing our affections through gifts, i've collected some options and alternatives to traditional holiday fare...and ones that i hope reflect values that support a more peaceful world.
FOOD: As you begin planning your holiday feasts, consider the impact your food choices have on the planet! Find local places to get your foods
CLOTHING/DVDS/ETC: My FAVORITE place to buy union-made, sweatshop-free clothes is No Sweat Apparel, and our super local magazine and film series is called HopeDance. You can get to both and help the planet by going here.
THE DEVELOPING WORLD: Relatively small gifts given through the American Friends Service Committee can go a LONG way in developing countries.
CHILDREN: SOS Children’s Villages uses your tax-deductible gifts to help orphans all over the world.
ANTI-WAR GEAR: For the bold, there are plenty of simply-stated goodies from Not In Our Name.
WORLD HUNGER: Heifer International has been working at “Ending Hunger and Caring for the Earth” since 1944.
LESS JUNK/MORE TREES: Want to reduce your (and your loved ones’) junk mail AND re-forest some of the most devastated places on the planet? Want to do it for a dime a day? GreenDimes will get your name removed from junk mail lists and plant one tree every month for one year for only $36!
Locally, there are many great planet- and society-friendly goodies to get!
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MISC: Until January, there’s a Fair Trade/Organic/Re-purposed Holiday Gift Store open Thurs-Sun from 12pm-7pm at 40 Day Road, near Ventura College.
In the Ojai Valley alone, there are many businesses whose products and values support a peaceful world! Here are A FEW of them:
COFFEE: Coffee Connection in Meiner’s Oaks sells Fair Trade coffees. Plus, John is a beautiful human being, so that’s a gift in and of itself!
TOYS: Serendipity Toys in the Arcade Plaza (behind the Arcade) features all kinds of creative stuff, with no war toys!
FOOD AND MORE: The Farmer’s Market every Sunday from 9am-1pm behind the Arcade is full of earth- and body-friendly things! One of them is RemySol coffee roasters, who feature fair-trade coffee from Costa Rica!
MUSIC: A peaceful world is a musical world! You can find musical things at Cardinali Brothers Music on East Ojai Avenue, Treasures of Ojai on Signal, Ashly Piano Crafts in Oak View, and for kids at Serendipity!
ART: Fun art and music supplies about at Ojai Creates! on North Ventura Street
ORGANIC SOAP: Vicki Cohen reportedly makes local organic soaps, but she doesn’t have a website or a store. Her phone number is 640-0115.
ART: Give the gift of holistic art via the Organic Art Company.
RECYCLE!: Love your old tshirts, but can’t wear ‘em anymore? Goodpillows will make them into a pillow!
JEWELRY: GemQuest Jewelers on Signal Street offers fine designs and is conscious about how they’re made and where they come from!
TEA: Zhena’s Gypsy Tea is the proud recent recipient of the Socially Responsible Business Award! Check out their certified Organic and Fair Trade teas here, or pop on over to 205 Bryant Street for a visit!
FOOD AND HEALTH: Good eats are ALWAYS the order of the day at The Farmer and the Cook in Meiner’s Oaks and Rainbow Bridge behind Rains in downtown Ojai!
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Empower someone to use more public transportation! Purchase monthly pass or multi-ride SCAT bus tickets at Ojai City Hall or get a GoVentura SmartCard by calling 1-800-438-1112.
COFFEE: Java and Joe’s on Matilija Street in Ojai also brews and sells beans from a few Fair Trade lines.
CLOTHING: Clothing and more for a sustainable lifestyle are at Earth Play, 900 East Ojai Ave.
And a smattering of planet-friendly wrapping materials (Jessie and i are actually going to try using fabric!):
Recycled, unbleached tissue paper
A variety of recycled giftwraps
Poinsetta-themed recycled giftwrap
Have any other suggestions? Post 'em here!
Remember, for THIS shopping list, we're interested in businesses and products that are environmentally friendly and are produced in socially responsible ways. And the more local, the better!
Happy gifting!
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Comments (4)
ah, posting on my own post again. at least i interest myself...
i found another gift for the list:
Stop Your Global Warming
We're all concerned about global warming. As U.S. citizens, we should be. We make up 5 percent of the world's population but produce 25 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, our government denies that there's a problem.
Perhaps you bike and carpool. You probably turn off the lights and turn down the air conditioning. You demand that your elected representatives improve fuel efficiency standards. Now you can do even more by going carbon neutral.
Comment #1 Posted by: evan | December 2, 2006 07:39 PM
this just in as an addition to our "gifts and services that REALLY make the world a safer and more healthy place" list:
Drug-free, medication-free! Become or stay an all-organic you . Did you know that Acupuncture and herbs are very effective for anxiety, depression, manic depression, and insomnia? Consult with Apolonia, Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist for sliding scale fees. (805)646-4085
Comment #2 Posted by: evan | December 3, 2006 07:04 PM
from Ideal Bite, the following packaging tips and products to save money and the planet!:
Create less waste. Packaging constitutes as much as 1/3 of the non-industrial waste stream, which is why 28 countries have laws designed to minimize that waste (but not the US, unfortunately).
Save cash by reusing. Boxes can cost a few bucks a pop - avoid buying new ones by reusing the ones sent to you.
Use less energy. Shipping early and using the right-sized box for the job will save lots of energy.
Cornstarch Packing Peanuts - 12 cu ft of the biodegradable kind ($18).
Mailing Boxes - using 30%-100% recycled paper ($3-$4).
Barrier Bubble - recycled plastic bubble wrap cushions whatever's inside your box ($4/10ft).
Gummed Paper Tape - made from recycled Kraft paper ($2).
Earth911 - enter your zip code to find out where to recycle certain packaging materials.
Ship early to avoid shipping by air. Energy costs for over-nighting by air are 4x that of ground shipping.
Lighter means more energy-efficient (and cheaper), so make sure you're using the right size box for the job.
Use old plastic shopping bags or shredded newspaper to pack around breakables so that those materials can be reused before they're recycled.
of course, now i'm wondering what packaging materials they use to ship these planet-friendly packaging materials to us...
Comment #3 Posted by: evan | December 4, 2006 12:35 AM
Thanks for the kind words about Heifer International. I joined Heifer as new media director last year and really appreciate it when someone blogs about us.
We have a new BlogRaising program that lets bloggers like you help us get the word out about Heifer and raise the money we need to do our work. To learn more, just go to www.heifer.org/onlinecommunityfundraising
I hope you are able to take part.
Again thanks for the good words.
Comment #4 Posted by: Dave Patterson | December 4, 2006 01:26 PM