By: Kathe Lieber
Try to remember a mall-free December - no crowds, no canned choruses of The Little Drummer Boy, no overheated children screaming for the latest overhyped toy. Now picture a Christmas/Hanukkah when all the gifts you give are gifts from the heart - warm, thoughtful, and in line with your own philosophy of life - and you can even order many of them from the comfort of home. Here are some ideas for making this a truly meaningful holiday for those who give and those who receive.
Site-hopping and shopping with a conscience
No one really needs another necktie - and you have no way of knowing whether that blouse was made in some Third World sweatshop. With a little homework, you can find companies that sell products made under humane, dignified working conditions by people who are paid a living wage and benefit from equitable profit-sharing.
Bridgehead's slogan is "People before profit!" The company supports sustainable environmental practices, working with grower co-operatives and supporting fair trade, an alternative system designed to enable producers, distributors and consumers alike to live with dignity by supporting community cooperatives in North America and Third World countries. Products include coffee, tea, chocolate, cards & CDs, gift baskets and calendars. www.bridgehead.ca or 1-800-565-8563.
Ten Thousand Villages provides vital fair income to Third World artisans by marketing their handicrafts. A member of both the International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT) and the Fair Trade Federation, Villages sells folk art, tableware, toys, and home furnishings, including Oriental rugs, through stores around the country. Find the nearest store and browse at www.villages.ca.
eZiba (the name comes from the Persian word for beautiful, ziba) aims to create a new kind of global marketplace, reinvigorate craft traditions and help preserve the livelihood of the artisans in a community-based, culturally sensitive manner. Products from around the world include artefacts, fashion/jewellery, home furnishings, bed/bath, garden, and kid stuff. www.eziba.com or 1-888-404-5108 (U.S. site).
The Body Shop is famed for founder Anita Roddick's strong stands against animal testing and for viable, mutually beneficial trading relationships and the use of environmentally sustainable resources. Yummy products for the face and body, hands and feet, gifts and fragrances are available from Body Shops across the country, through www.thebodyshop-ca or by calling 1-800-387-4592.
UNICEF is committed to children's rights, working in partnership with world leaders, communities and families to keep kids at the top of policy agendas. A tremendous selection of greeting cards (for Hanukkah as well as Christmas, and blank cards too), plus calendars and diaries, gift wrap, stationery, games and toys. www.unicef.ca or 1-800-567-4483.
Charitable giving
You can give your money to a fast-talking telemarketer from a so-called charity who interrupts your dinner in the hope of wangling your credit-card number - or you can give it to charities whose hearts, and principles, are in the same place as yours. Now there's a comprehensive searchable listing of Canadian charities where you can make secure donations. Listings on hundreds of charities from ABC Canada Literacy Foundation to Zoocheck Canada include charity profiles, financial background, programs and activities, vision statements and contact information. www.charity.ca.
Individual charities run their own web sites, of course, where you can make a donation in your own name or someone else's. For example, the World Wildlife Fund Canada offers "gifts of a different nature" - you can adopt a polar bear ($25 for one bear, $50 for a mother and cub, $100 for a family of bears) or protect the Cuban coast (various levels of giving). www.wwfcanada.org.
Gifts from the heart
Our highly unscientific survey revealed some heart-warming gifts with a common denominator - they all take more thought than money.
Marianne Scott of Victoria has holly growing in her yard. Every year she sends a box of holly to her aunt in Ontario. "I make sure I pick some branches with red berries. She doesn't want 'things' as she's in her 80s and trying to pare down her possessions."
Paul Lima of Toronto goes food-shopping for his parents: "Not macaroni and cheese, but not caviar either. Stuff I know they probably wouldn't buy for themselves - some neat cheeses and fancy crackers and wonderful chocolates and biscuits. They love it, and it's much more fun than shopping for fancy soap on a rope that collects dust."
Eve Lazarus of Vancouver sends her mother, who lives in Australia, a calendar with family photos. "I get a real kick out of selecting my favourite 12 shots of the kids every year. I can't send anything perishable, and I'm sure her scarf drawer is way too full!"
Stephanie Whittaker of Montreal painted a set of dishes for her parents depicting special scenes and in-jokes from the family's life together. "The dishes are a sunny yellow, and each picture is black. There's a headline on the underside of each plate, such as 'Woman Insomniac After Husband Explains Comet Heading for Earth…' My parents were completely bowled over. Of course, they got all the jokes!"
On-line sources and resources
www.craftcanada.com (cross-country list of craft shows)
www.ethicalconsumer.org (general background site, with boycotts list and great links)
www.ethicalshopper.com (screens products for social consciousness, community awareness and overall ethical standards - U.S. site)
www.ifat.org (general background site on fair trade organizations worldwide)
Kathe Lieber of Montreal did most of her own holiday shopping while researching this article.
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