{"id":4159,"date":"2013-12-17T13:08:43","date_gmt":"2013-12-17T20:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oregonstate.edu\/sustainability\/blog\/?p=4159"},"modified":"2013-12-17T13:08:43","modified_gmt":"2013-12-17T20:08:43","slug":"shop-socially-conscious-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/2013\/12\/17\/shop-socially-conscious-this-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Shop Socially Conscious this Holiday Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">V<span style=\"color: #339966\">o<\/span>t<span style=\"color: #339966\">e<\/span> w<span style=\"color: #339966\">i<\/span>t<span style=\"color: #339966\">h<\/span> y<span style=\"color: #339966\">o<\/span>u<span style=\"color: #339966\">r<\/span> W<span style=\"color: #339966\">a<\/span>l<span style=\"color: #339966\">l<\/span>e<span style=\"color: #339966\">t<\/span>!<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">If you need to buy products, choosing to buy products from a socially conscious point of view is a great way to participate in civic engagement during your every day routine. Buying fair trade and\/or local products reduces or eliminates the need for mass production, causing\u00a0pollution and unfair working situations, and benefits the artisan directly. By participating in this type of lifestyle, the local economy will grow and more individuals can earn their way out of poverty.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">Do you find that you struggle buying people gifts for birthdays, weddings, graduations, and special occasions? Research is showing that it may be because people simply have enough. In a world filled with excess, &#8220;stuff matters less&#8221;\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Reconsidering our gift-giving habits article\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/lifestyle\/style\/carolyn-hax-reconsidering-our-gift-giving-habits\/2013\/06\/27\/30f3284a-d389-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">according to this insightful Washington Post article<\/a>. As Carolyn Hax encourages us, &#8220;It\u2019s time to ask ourselves every time:&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li>Does this thing I\u2019m about to buy have any chance of being important to its recipient?<\/li>\n<li>Does it get cash to someone strapped, free up time for someone busy, show support or appreciation for someone down, strengthen connections for someone lonely, provide a pleasant experience to someone who wants for nothing material?<\/li>\n<li>Would this person prefer no gift at all?<\/li>\n<li>Is there something only I can give, even just my thoughts, expertise or time?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">Strive to support your local economy through buying locally produced items and supporting local businesses. Buying local helps our community prosper and keep our local economy healthy, diverse, and stable. Learn about\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"CIBA - Corvallis Independent Business Alliance Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.corvallisiba.org\/cgi-bin\/headlines.pl\" target=\"_blank\">CIBA<\/a>, the Corvallis Independent Business Alliance.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4149\" style=\"margin: 4px\" title=\"137652-347x346-eco_shopping_option\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/files\/2013\/12\/137652-347x346-eco_shopping_option-300x299.jpg\" alt=\"137652-347x346-eco_shopping_option\" width=\"170\" height=\"169\" \/>Access resources from the Center for a New American Dream.\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"External Link to Center for A New American Dream\" href=\"http:\/\/www.newdream.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Center for a New American Dream<\/a> helps Americans to reduce and shift their consumption to improve quality of life, protect the environment, and promote social justice; they are focused on inspiring, engaging, and challenging Americans to re-examine their cultural values on consumption and consumerism and initiating a new national conversation around what \u201cthe good life\u201d and the \u201cAmerican dream\u201d mean.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">Visit Better World Shopper.\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"External Link to Better World Shopper\" href=\"http:\/\/www.betterworldshopper.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Better World Shopper<\/a> is a site dedicated to providing people with a comprehensive, up-to-date, reliable account of the social and environmental responsibility of every company on the planet AND making it available in practical forms that individuals can use in their everyday lives. Coming out of more than 5 years of intensive research, this work is based on a comprehensive database of over 1000 companies and utilizes 25+ reliable sources of data to cover everything from the environment to human rights, community development to animal protection.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">Consider shifting your consumer habits to reduce your consupmtion and buy more sustainably when you are shopping. See below for a resource of ways to become a more socially conscious shopper.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<h3 style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;font-size: 1.231em;font-weight: bold;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;color: #000000;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\"><strong>Alternative Gift Giving<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">According to AlternativeGiving.org, alternative gift giving (or virtual giving)\u00a0is &#8220;a form of\u00a0gift giving\u00a0where the donor, instead of buying a gift for the recipient, makes a\u00a0donation\u00a0to a\u00a0charitable organization\u00a0in the recipient\u2019s name and the organization provides an &#8220;alternative gift&#8221; or &#8220;virtual gift&#8221; &#8211; usually a certificate or card &#8211; for the recipient.&#8221; Alternative gift giving is giving gifts that pay it forward. Check out the following list for a few examples of alternative gift giving sites:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Alternative Gift Giving Catalog for Community Services Consortium\" href=\"http:\/\/www.communityservices.us\/giving-season-catalog\" target=\"_blank\">Alternative Gift Giving Locally with Community Services Consortium.<\/a> Community Services Consortium administers poverty-fighting programs in Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, including Linn Benton Food Share, Community Housing Services, Utility Assistance, CSC Youth Garden, CSC YouthBuild, Career Tech Charter School and other education and job training programs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Kiva Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kiva.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Kiva.org<\/a> is &#8220;a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the Internet and a worldwide network of\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"About Microfinance Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kiva.org\/about\/microfinance\/\" target=\"_blank\">microfinance <\/a>institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.&#8221; You can learn more about how the process works\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"How Does Kiva Work?\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kiva.org\/about\/how\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Carbon Fund Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.carbonfund.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Carbonfund.org<\/a> is &#8220;leading the fight against global warming, making it easy and affordable for any individual, business or organization to reduce and offset their climate impact and hasten the transition to a low-carbon future.&#8221; Through carbonfund.org, you can make a cash donation to offset your own carbon footprint through a\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Types of Carbon Offset Purchases\" href=\"http:\/\/carbonfund.org\/individuals\" target=\"_blank\">variety of options<\/a>, from which kind of vehicle you drive, the home you live in, or how much you travel.\u00a0<em>This could be a great option for the eco-friendly traveler in your family!<\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4145\" title=\"Planting trees\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/files\/2013\/12\/tree-seedling-arborday-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"Planting trees\" width=\"137\" height=\"210\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Arbor Day Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.arborday.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">ArborDay.org<\/a> is run through the Arbor Day Foundation and is a great\u00a0resource\u00a0for\u00a0alternative gift giving in a sustainable, environmentally-friendly way. It has a\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Earth Friendly Gifts from Arbor Day Foundation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.arborday.org\/shopping\/gifts.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">webpage dedicated specifically to gift giving<\/a> that lays out your options very easily (and affordably!). You can purchase a gift tree for $3, dedicate a tree to a loved one for $10, or buy chocolate\/coffee\/t-shirts for your tree-loving friends and family!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"MeryCorps Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mercycorps.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">MercyCorps<\/a> works to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"MercyCorps Gifts Website\" href=\"http:\/\/gifts.mercycorps.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Learn about gifts through MeryCorps.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Smile Train Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.smiletrain.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Smile Train<\/a> is an international children\u2019s charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. Millions of children in developing countries with unrepaired clefts live in shame, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking. Cleft repair surgery is simple, and the transformation is immediate. Our sustainable model provides training and funding to empower local doctors in 85+ developing countries to provide 100%-free cleft repair surgery in their communities.\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Smile Train Tribute Gifts\" href=\"https:\/\/secure.smiletrain.org\/site\/SPageNavigator\/donate_now.html\" target=\"_blank\">Learn about tribute gifts with Smile Train.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Heifer International Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.heifer.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Heifer International<\/a> &#8220;work[s] with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth&#8221; &#8211; and &#8220;it all started with a cow.&#8221; &#8220;A gift to Heifer helps provide livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle for reliable sources of food and income. View the Heifer gift catalog to choose from several charitable gifts like water buffalos, chicks, pigs, goats and, yes, even Heifers. Or learn about other ways to donate gifts to poor families around the world.&#8221;<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Heifer International Gift Options\" href=\"http:\/\/www.heifer.org\/gift-catalog\/index.html?msource=CDGCX13PC0001&amp;utm_source=Direct_Marketing&amp;utm_medium=Friendly_URL&amp;utm_content=Give&amp;utm_campaign=Direct_Marketing\" target=\"_blank\"> Find more about Heifer charitable gift options<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Fair Trade<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Fair Trade is an organized social movement that aims to help producers in developing countries to make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. It advocates the payment of a higher price to exporters as well as higher social and environmental standards. Check out this video from\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Fair Trade USA Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fairtradeusa.org\/what-is-fair-trade\" target=\"_blank\">Fair Trade USA<\/a> to get a better idea of what fair trade certified products can do for our global community. Check out this YouTube video regarding the idea of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7K4G5-ydhS0\">Fair Trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">In other words, fair trade goods are promote fair wages and fair working conditions for producers and exporters. They are goods produced by individuals that directly benefit those individuals through our purchasing power. Click the<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"What Is Fair Trade?\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fairtradeusa.org\/what-is-fair-trade\" target=\"_blank\"> Fair Trade USA link<\/a> to learn more about the concept.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">Check out the following list for a few examples of fair trade gift giving sites:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Ten Thousand Villages Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tenthousandvillages.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">TenThousandVillages.com<\/a> is an &#8220;exceptional source for unique handmade gifts, jewelry, home decor, art and sculpture, textiles, serveware and personal accessories representing the diverse cultures of artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. One of the world&#8217;s largest fair trade organizations and a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO),\u00a0the company strives to improve the livelihood of tens of thousands of disadvantaged artisans in 38 countries.&#8221; For more information on the organization,\u00a0<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"About Ten Thousand Villages\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tenthousandvillages.com\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\">visit their site.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Novica Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.novica.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Novica.com<\/a> is in partnership with National Geographic to be a source of fair trade purchasing. They even have a<a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Unique Gifts from Novica\" href=\"http:\/\/unique-gifts.novica.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Unique Gifts&#8221;<\/a> section of their website!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"SERRV Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.serrv.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">SERRV<\/a> is a nonprofit organization with a mission to eradicate poverty wherever it resides by providing opportunity and support to artisans and farmers worldwide. At SERRV, every product has a true story behind it. These stories are uplifting. They are about freedom from poverty and achieving basic human rights, such as access to food, shelter, education, and basic health care. And they are stories about equality and dignity for all people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Global Goods Partners Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.globalgoodspartners.org\/template\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">Global Goods Partners<\/a> is &#8220;a nonprofit organization that sells handmade, fair trade products in order to improve the economic status of women in marginalized communities around the world. [They] work with nearly 40 artisan groups which collectively employ over 3,000 women in close to 20 countries.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;color: #000000;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;font-style: normal;font-variant: normal;font-weight: normal;letter-spacing: normal;line-height: 16px;text-align: left;text-indent: 0px\">\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4156\" style=\"margin: 4px\" title=\"krochet-kids-international\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/files\/2013\/12\/krochet-kids-international.jpg\" alt=\"krochet-kids-international\" width=\"198\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2114\/files\/2013\/12\/krochet-kids-international.jpg 300w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2114\/files\/2013\/12\/krochet-kids-international-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><a style=\"padding: 0px;margin: 0px;color: #c34500;text-decoration: none\" title=\"Krochet Kids International Website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.krochetkids.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Krochet Kids International<\/a> is a non-profit organization whose mission it\u00a0is to&#8221;empower people to rise above poverty.&#8221; They work with more than 150 individuals in Peru and Uganda to createhandmade hats, t-shirts, technology cases, and more to teach a valuable skill in both a sustainable and fair way. While the individuals are employed with Krochet Kids they&#8217;re also receiving an education and valuable mentorship to living a brighter future. A perfect gift for those friends and family that love the snow &#8211; their hats are very warm and durable!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vote with your Wallet! If you need to buy products, choosing to buy products from a socially conscious point of view is a great way to participate in civic engagement during your every day routine. Buying fair trade and\/or local products reduces or eliminates the need for mass production, causing\u00a0pollution and unfair working situations, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1290,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4159\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/ecologue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}