by Kade Agan
If you’re still scrambling for holiday gift ideas, you’re certainly not alone. On the heels of my last post about gifts that don’t result in unwanted consumer waste I’d like to follow up with a holiday gift-guide of sorts. This particular installment focuses on charitable giving, an act that makes both the giver and recipient feel full of holiday spirit without the need to scour the house for tape, scissors and festive wrapping paper.
Once again the Good Card gets a mention as a gift card that engenders good will toward men through any organization they choose. Whether it be Greenpeace, PETA, or Doctors Without Borders (to name a few) this little card can be used to add value to the meaning of “it’s better to give than to receive.”
Heifer International is an organization that provides both livestock and training to families in some of the poorest parts of the world. The website explains that giving livestock can “help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways.” Furthermore, in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of the animal’s offspring to another family in need. It’s called Passing on the Gift. A $20 flock of chicks, for example, would be a great gift to give on behalf of a child who could learn about how their gift will grow into fowl whose eggs will help feed a family.
Women for Women International, a charity that “provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.” Their Gifts that Give Back program ends on December 16th and is full of simple items that can make a real difference for a woman in need. Twenty-five dollars, for example, buys carpentry tools and training for a woman in need of a skill and resources to put that skill to use. Fifty dollars provides private tutoring for a woman who wishes to learn to read. Gifts start for little as $15. If you miss the December 16th deadline don’t fret – Women for Women International offers a year-round sponsorship program that would also make a great present for this holiday season.
Lastly, perhaps one of the simplest gifts a person can give is also the most necessary: the gift of water. Charity: Water is a non-profit organization that recognizes that one in eight people doesn’t have access to clean drinking water, and aims to fix that by bringing clean water to the developing world. Charity: Water has a holiday gift section that ranges from $24 for a Little Black Box containing a rubber, Livestrong-style bracelet that signifies the donation of clean water to a person in a developing nation for 20 years. A $5,000 option sponsors the building of a well, the GPS coordinates of which are sent upon the well’s completion 12-18 months later. Like Women for Women International these gifts do have shipping deadlines, but Charity:Water gladly accepts donations anytime.
Obviously there are lots of ways to express love and kindness during the holiday season, and when giving gifts it never hurts to think outside the box, so to speak. These are just a few ideas of the things that money can buy this season as a way of saving the earth as well as the people who share it.
About Eco Encore
Eco Encore raises finds for environmental causes around the Pacific Northwest through online reselling of donated used books, CDs, DVDs and software. Since 2002 Eco Encore has shipped over 26,000 items to 51 countries, diverting about 25 tons of paper and plastic from local landfills.
It's easy to join the Eco Encore mission by donating or buying used media through our online bookstore.
