@
@
@
@
eANDREW KURJATA |

@FEATURES AND’ Ormions
eEDITOR ze
e Perhaps ‘Lucy Van Pelt-in A”
Charlie Brown ‘Christmas said it ©
best: “Look, Charlie, let’s face it.
°We all know that Christmas is a
ebig commercial racket. It’s run
eby a big eastern syndicate, syou
know.” Flipping TV channels, it’s
*hard to disagree: everywhere
eadvertisers are.insinuating that if
eyou really love your loved ones,
oul be buying them diamonds,

“cellphone plans, and prepaid”

credit cards, all for the purpose
eof increasing the profit. margins
of corporate stockholders.
Fortunately, a revolution of
®sorts is under way, with all sorts
eof vendors popping up ready to
qfunnel your gift-giving dollars to-
wards social good, be it animal
®rights, community-building, or

eenvironmental protection. Here

eare some of our favourites.

® Technology
é 8
@ One Laptop Per Child. The
XO laptop has been. creating
°a buzz in industry circles for its
, emission of creating the most
@low-cost laptop that still has the
computing power needed for
°wireless connections. The idea
®behind the company is to level
ethe-technological playing field by
@providing every child in the de-
veloping world with open-source
_®software, internet access, and
eother learning tools. From now
until December 31, for $400 you
can donate one and get one for
®yourself (or a loved one). http://
elaptopgiving.org/en/index.php
e Phsiphon. This software al-
lows you to open up the web by
®connecting with someone living
ein a country that is subject to
overnment censorship without

being traced. With recent media
®crackdowns in Iran, Burma, and -

ePakistan, allowing bloggers, jour-
ealists and human rights activists

to freely trade information online
°can be a great tool for ending re-
@pressive. regimes. sas J pIpHOn.
ecivisec. org/

® Fashion:
°

e Artezan designs. This is a

oPigject, degiaged Jo help, wamneg

‘What would Jesu:

ETHICAL Girt GiviING

in Afghanistan by selling hand:

». Make silk shawls worldwide.
This provides much-need em-
~ ployment to Afghani women and

“helps create the infrastructure
‘needed for local economies.
hitp://jwww.artezandesigns.com/

Mukluks. If you are out-and-out
against the use of fur in clothing;
then this isn’t for you. But if you
think fur can be used ethically via
strict regulations, then you can
do- worse than the fashionable
Mukluks. Inspired by traditional

. Aboriginal footwear, these high-

end boots are appearing every-
where, from European runways
to Hollywood superstars. Fur is
bought from traditional Aborigin-
al trappers, and all beadwork is
done by craftspeople residing on
Canadian reserves. A percent-
age of profits is also given to the
non-profit Centre for Aboriginal

-Human Resource Development.

http:/Awww.muklukstore.com/
‘Environment:

Everyone’s talking about going
carbon neutral, but is it actually
possible? In a word: no. But
you can cut down, and for the.
rest environmentalists recom-
mend buying “carbon offsets’,
which invest in projects that at-
tempt to neutralize necessary.
carbon use. The “gold standard”
vendors include http://planetair.
ca/, _http://www.myclimate.org/,
http://www.my-climate.com/,
https://climatefriendly.com/, and
http://www.atmosfair.de/.

they might appreciate the adop-
tion of endangered animals,
including polar bears, vampire.
bats, and homed puffins. When.
you go through the World Wild-

life Federation you get an in-

formation kit about your animal
(including a stuffed animal) and
support conservation projects.

Human Development:

kiva.org. This website has
revolutionized donations by al-
lowing participants to browse.
entrepreneurial projects from

around the world and deciding

who is most deserving of their.
dollars. You then get regular up-
dates on the project, and as they

oe e eo eo s' 6 6 © ¢ © @ eo 6 6€ 6's 6

- check off your giving list, visite
_ Know an animal lover? Then

_ There are plenty of other ways»

OVER THE EDGE
December 5, 207 fanuary mn! 2008

S

@. Gm @

give?

turn a profit, you get your money
back, which you can either keep
for yourself or reinvest. http://
kiva.org/

A large number of NGOs now
have websites where you can make,
donations to third world countries in ¢
someone’s name. You can buy any-"«
thing from chickens to safe drinking
water to education and vocational.)
training to basketballs and shoes, all “ ul 8 Se
designed to improve the quality aPOrgantzations like World Vision and Oxfam let you make dona-
life for those most in need. Check®tions of food, health, and other vital necessities in someone’s
out — http://www.oxfamynwrapped.gname.
ca/, http://www.greatgifts.org/, and
hitp://shop.christianaid.org.uk to
start. ing

-PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.GREATGIFTS.ORG

®
Online shopping: 4

At sites like www.ethicalsuper-©
store.com you can browse all sortse
of environmentally friendly and,
fair-trade items, from solar-powered
razors and iPod chargers to organic®
foods to a grow-your-own Christ-®
mas tree kit. A

Of course, not everyone you're
buying for will want an “ethi
gift, but that doesn’t mean you can’t®
still give them one. Here's S somes
suggestions how:

Rectifi. No matter what you buy”
or which websites you surf, you can®
still helpiout by visiting http://www.e
rectifi.org.uk/. When you go through

oe se C
here, sponsor companies will donate
a portion of their profits to charity--®
which means you can buy that newe
iPod and still feel good about your-.
self.

Ethical Consumer. Before you®

The One Child, One Laptop project: Green, literally and figura-
tively.

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/. ‘o -PHOTO COURTESY OF HTTP://LAPTOPGIVING.ORG/EN/INDEX.PHP
This ranks popular consumer oa
jects in a variety of areas, includ-°
ing sustainability, human rights,e
and animal testing. The good news? ¢7
Their top-ten Christmas list includes

an mp3 player, digital camera, and®
the Nintendo Wii. ®

you can buy ethically this season,
and. with a bit of online search-
ing you can find the project that’s®
tight for you. And don’t forget thee
old standards, either: local charities
from the SPCA to the soup bus, plus
fair-trade, human rights, and en-®
vironmental projects are doing goode
work at home and abroad that can,
be supported, too.

© High-end fashion you can still feel good about.
® -COURTESY OF ATTP://WWW.MUKLUKSTORE.COM/
fo)

climatefriendly.org, one of many carbon-offest vendours, lets you neutralize your polluting and donate to the World Wildlife Federation.

eter

-PHOTO COURTESY OF CLIMATEFRIENDLY.ORG