Sustainable Products for the Home and Kitchen; Organic and Fair Trade Food and Beverages; Ethical Shoes, Apparel, and Accessories
Selecting holiday gifts from businesses that create social impact can do much more than bring joy to the people who receive your presents. During the holiday season and beyond, supporting social ventures helps create a positive impact in communities around the world.
To help you find ethically and sustainably made gifts that make a positive impact, we’ve created this list of ideas from social ventures. Each of these socially conscious gift options is produced by founders in the SOCAP Entrepreneur Program. Support a social venture and feel good about your holiday shopping!
Sustainable Products for the Home and Kitchen
Sitti Social Enterprise
Sitti is committed to building the self-reliance of refugee and displaced communities through long-term employment opportunities and skill development training. Find artisan-made apparel and accessories, bath and body products, corporate gifting options, and more. Through its products and partnerships, Sitti supports UN Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, achieve gender equality, promote sustainable economic growth, and reduce inequalities.
MyTindy
MyTindy is a marketplace designed to introduce the world to Morocco’s talented craftspeople. Each maker produces their goods entirely in Morocco. MyTindy works with each brand to review their items, understand their process, and ensure they are producing high-quality pieces. With MyTindy, the community of Moroccan makers is able to reach a worldwide audience and have the chance to grow a successful, flourishing business.
Tierra & Lava
Tierra & Lava believes skin care products can be kind to skin and the Earth. All ingredients are locally sourced in an ethical and transparent way to ensure quality from inception to the final product. Tierra & Lava builds relationships with farmers and provides financial support so they can carry on the legacy of some disappearing traditional cultural practices. Many ingredients are grown with care in the company’s organic garden. With this direct connection, Tierra & Lava works to preserve the natural integrity of ingredients by using them as close to their natural forms as possible.
LIKHA
LIKHA is a retail and wholesale brand that brings modernized artisan home goods and fashion accessories to global markets. Its mission is to empower artisan families to overcome poverty by reimagining time-honored local craft. With pillars of design, tradition, and inclusion, LIKHA offers products crafted from natural, eco-friendly materials, including natural straw and plant fiber, sustainably sourced shells, and recycled wood.
Organic and Fair Trade Food and Beverages
Dog & Whistle
Dog & Whistle is disrupting the pet food industry with expertise in the food industry and a love for dogs. Through partnerships with food service businesses, Dog & Whistle prevents waste by converting excess food into human-grade dog food. Each batch is made fresh and minimally processed so dogs can chow down the way nature intended.
Kazi Yetu Ltd
Kazi Yetu, which means “our work” in Swahili, promotes African products that are traceable, organic, ethically sourced, and innovative. They focus on local value addition to tea and other agricultural products, creating jobs for women and improving the livelihoods of farmers. Kazi Yetu partners with promising agri-businesses, providing branding, packaging, marketing, and distribution support.
NEMI Teas
NEMI Teas is a London-based organic tea company and a social enterprise focused on empowering refugees by providing them with employment and leadership opportunities. As a Fairtrade-certified organization, NEMI supports farmers and workers with improved working conditions, training in how to improve the way they farm and manage their environment, and the opportunity to improve health care and education in their communities.
Plant Powered – Neros
Plant Powered is a food tech company that develops, manufactures, and markets plant-based foods designed to help consumers have a flavorful, more environmentally friendly diet. The Caribbean and Latin American fusion cuisine is made with methods that minimize its environmental footprint.
Ethical Shoes, Apparel, & Accessories
Someone Somewhere
Someone Somewhere provides a market connection to help enhance the development and well-being of thousands of artisans who live in vulnerable conditions. By creating innovative products that incorporate artisanal work, Someone Somewhere helps shape a more resilient, responsible value chain. Through its work with large customers, Someone Somewhere helps scale positive impact for people and the planet.
Ne Nepal
Find handmade jewelry styles with a story at Né Nepal. The culture-focused design studio co-creates with more than 40 Indigenous artisan groups through a social commerce model that serves the growing market of conscious consumers. The company’s guiding values include cultural preservation, community engagement, ethical practices, and innovation.
ONEOFEACH
ONEOFEACH is a mother-daughter company that promotes creativity by combining modern fibers with traditional African prints. Using primarily off-cut materials, the company enhances its sustainability and helps protect natural resources. By establishing the African Academy of Fashion in Cape Town, South Africa, ONEOFEACH connects African women with training and techniques to construct garments and accessories.
Sequence
SEQUENCE is an urban lifestyle brand based in El Salvador that offers handmade, fashion-forward products with a meaningful message. Its bracelets, tote bags, keychains, and more can be customized for corporate and wedding gifts or brand collaborations. All products are handcrafted by young people who go through training and personal development programs.
Warmi
With an innovative and culturally respectful business model, Warmi partners with local communities and entrepreneurs in the Argentinian Puna who manufacture traditional styles woven with llama and sheep fibers. The Certified B Corporation reinvests proceeds from sales of its shawls, blankets, and other products in projects that help improve the well-being of local communities.
