Five Holiday Gifts that Give Back to Society

With the holidays at hand, gift giving season is right upon us. While some Postconsumers eschew gift-giving altogether, that may not be where you fall on the postconsumer scale. And that’s absolutely fine! Everybody needs to find his or her own comfort level with consumerism based on a knowledge and awareness of how corporate consumerism and marketing work. For many, one of the first steps that they take to reduce their consumer footprint is to focus on gifts that do good rather than gifts that are just “stuff.” If that’s where you are in your journey, then we’ve compiled this list of gifts that do good to get you started with your holiday gift shopping.

The Always Popular Charitable Donation. Just Remember to Donor Beware!

Of course, the most obvious (and often most popular) way to give a gift that does good is to make a charitable donation in the name of the gift recipient to a cause that he or she is passionate about. We certainly always advocate for this idea, but it’s equally important that you research the charitable organization or non-profit that you’re planning on donating to. Not all nonprofits are created equally when it comes to how much of your money actually goes to the cause itself. We’re not necessarily opposed to portions of your donation going to administrative staff (you try running a non-profit!) or marketing costs to raise awareness. Just do the research before you select a donation recipient for your gift.

Direct from Developing Nations…

One of our favorite suggestions if you do want to give an item gift is to look for goods that support economic development in developing nations. Stores like A Thousand Villages or online options like the Leakey Collection both offer you the opportunity to buy items as well as coffee and food that are not only fair trade but also industries specifically developed to help tribes or individuals in developing nations gain an economic foothold (to gain access to what many of us would consider basic needs such as clean water or fuel). Instead of hitting the malls this holiday season, do some research on fair trade and developing nation support stores in your area or online and opt to purchase gifts from there.

Even Shopping Local Does a Society Good

You don’t have to make huge choices to buy a gift that does good for the world. Even if you’re completely embracing the consumer nature of the holiday season, you can make choices about where you shop and which companies you support that can help improve conditions in the world at large. By avoiding big box stores that drive down prices, diminish work wages and support a race to the bottom and by using tools such as the Buycott app to make sure that the products that you are purchasing are produced by companies with at least average moral and ethical standards, you can essentially do good while still shopping. Supporting local business has many upsides. In this case, one of them can be a way to still get your holiday shopping fix while also putting something beneficial into the world.

The Gift of (Used) Books

We’re going to be upfront with you and say that this gift to the wrong recipient is going to get you side eyed and possibly talked about behind your back. But there’s so much about a well-chosen used book that can put good into the world. Firstly, you are fostering reading which we all know could use some great PR these days. Secondly, books are one of the best things to buy used since it means less paper and less waste. And thirdly you’re doing something that will help reduce the amazing amount of screen time that most people are spending these days. Will you be the most popular gift-giver in the room? Possibly not. But it’s a good gift that ultimately does good.

Give the Gift of Experience

With public funding down, local arts and performance organizations need your support in the form of ticket sales even more than ever. When you give somebody tickets to an event, an art showing or any type of performance, you’re putting double good into the world. Firstly, you’re ensuring that your gift recipient gets a real experience instead of just “stuff.” Secondly, you’re helping to support having a thriving (and important) arts community, which is essential to any healthy society. This gift idea is truly a win for everybody.

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