13 unique gifts that give back this holiday season
This year, holiday spending is expected to exceed $1 trillion, according to consulting firm Deloitte, with the average consumer doling out an average of $1,226. With all that money being spent, don't forget to set aside some of your gift-giving budget for presents that give back. The holiday season is a time for generosity and goodwill, after all.
Check out our 2017 guide to find out how you can give this season to both the people and the causes you care about. And while you're at it, check out our past gift guides as well.
1. UNICEF Kid Power Band
Give your little ones the coolest new wearable technology—with a socially conscious purpose. The UNICEF Kid Power Band takes your kids on fun missions that are both educational and impactful. While they learn about cultures around the world via the mobile App on their Power Band, kids also earn virtual points that unlock real therapeutic food packets. This program has already saved the lives of more than 40,000 malnourished children.
You don't have to worry about your kid's privacy with this wearable tech. The Kid Power Bands do not track location or GPS.
If you purchase the Band, $10 off the price will serve as an unrestricted donation to UNICEF USA.
Price: $39.99
2. ME to WE Tea
Sipping tea has never been more charitable. DavidsTea has partnered with social enterprise ME to WE to offer a special blend this holiday season.
For every 50 grams of the all-natural pineapple, hibiscus, and cranberry-flavored tea sold, a developing community in Kenya will receive two weeks of clean water.
Price: $8.98 for 50 grams of tea
3. Bird + Stone Cuffs
Trendy gifts can be purposeful, too. New York-based company Bird+Stone sells jewelry in support of socially-conscious causes.
The jeweler sells a cuff bracelet that reads "The Future is Female." Another shows a line graph of the Earth's rising temperature from 1880 to now and says "Our Planet, Our Future" on the inside.
Five dollars from each cuff's price goes to Planned Parenthood and environmental organizations (including the National Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Sierra Club, and 350.org), respectively.
The bracelets are made in NYC from sustainable materials, including upcycled brass.
Price: $35-$38
4. Children's books from zulily
Online retailer zulily teamed up with Penguin Random House for its first interactive book fair. From now until Dec. 10, when you buy any children's book marked with a "Buy One, Give One" badge on the retailer's website, Penguin Random House will make a donation to First Book, a nonprofit organization that provides new books and supplies to children in need.
In the wake of recent devastating storms, First Book is dedicated to helping schools affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
"Educators have shared heart-breaking stories of students, families, and fellow teachers who have lost their homes and belongings, as well as entire school libraries now destroyed by flooding or mold," Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book, said in a statement. "The support of zulily, zulily's customers and Penguin Random House will bring treasured books to these communities, enabling educators to restore learning in their classrooms, and providing a lifeline of hopes and dreams for students and their families. It means the world to all of us."
Available titles include The Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Price: $4.29-$17.99
5. Rudy's Barbershop Shower Bundle
This holiday season, Rudy's Barbershop aims to support the LGBTQ community with its holiday bundle. When you purchase a 1-2-3 shower bundle, Rudy's will donate the same shower products to a homeless shelter that serves LGBTQ youth.
The shampoo, conditioner and body wash are sulfate-free and use gentle formulas suitable for all skin and hair types. The products are not tested on animals.
Price: $60
6. To Write Love on Her Arms Clothing
Since the sale of its first t-shirts in 2006, To Write Love on Her Arms' primary source of revenue has been its merchandise. The mental health advocacy group raises money to fund treatment and recovery via its clothing and accessories sales. The products also raise awareness about depression, addiction, self-injury, suicide, and start conversations that could save a life.
Price: $1.00-$48.00
7. b.a.r.e. soaps
b.a.r.e. soaps is an all-natural soap company founded with the mission to "bring antiseptic resources to everyone."
Beyond soaps, b.a.r.e also offers bath products and candles scented with essential oils.
Twenty percent of the proceeds go toward purchasing sanitary and health supplies and funding local initiatives with Children's HopeChest in Uganda. The money also supports the Sundara Fund, which pays women in India fair wages to transform used hotel soap into new sanitary products and teach their communities about hygiene.
Price: $6.49-$45.99
8. LottoLove Scratch Cards
Even your stocking stuffers can be socially conscious this holiday season.
With the purchase of each scratch card, LottoLove donates to one of its nonprofit partners to support a different worthy cause.
Lucky recipients can scratch off the foil overlay on the environmentally-conscious cards to see which donations were received on their behalf.
Gifts awarded on the "Basic Needs" card include, but are not limited to, one week of clean water, four months of solar light, three sets of literacy tools, and one nutritious meal.
Price: Variety pack of 4 cards for $40
9. Pala Sunglasses
It's never too late in the year to give the gift of sunglasses, especially if it contributes to a good cause.
Chic sunglasses brand Pala partners with Vision Aid Overseas to help bring eye care to people in developing countries in Africa who have poor vision.
For every pair of sunglasses sold, a patient in need receives a pair of prescription glasses from a Pala-funded vision center or dispensary in Africa.
Price: $59.60
10. beelove Honey Products
beelove's natural raw honey and honey-infused body care line comes straight from the heart of Chicago. At Sweet Beginnings in the North Lawndale community, men and women returning from incarceration make beelove products while learning marketable skills and preparing to re-enter the workforce.
beelove's thoughtfully-made products include shower gels, lip balms, and body lotions that all use honey as a moisturizer.
Price: $5-$65
11. Lubanzi Wines
This socially-conscious wine company has the perfect gifts for the wine connoisseurs in your life. Lubanzi Wines was started by two Americans who studied as exchange students in South Africa and wanted to connect people in their home country with a community that they had fallen in love with.
They partner with local winemakers in South Africa and with the Pebbles Project, a nonprofit organization that provides health and education resources to the South African families who live and work on wine farms, in the hopes of maintaining an equitable supply chain.
Fifty percent of the company's proceeds go to the Pebbles Project's efforts.
Price: $18
12. Heifer International Chocolate and Coffee
Heifer International is a nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger and poverty by providing livestock and agricultural training to communities in need.
In addition to providing you with the opportunity to give a family in need an animal, send a girl to school, or help launch a small business, Heifer International also sells products made by the locals that they assist.
You can buy coffee and chocolates made with coffee and cacao beans grown by farmers in need in order to support projects that champion sustainable farming and higher quality of life for these farming communities.
Price: $15-$25
13. Brave Collection Bracelet
These bracelets are handmade by artisans in Cambodia who are underprivileged or live with disabilities. Most of them are mothers, and they make above average wages and receive benefits that help them and their children.
In addition to providing jobs to these artisans, the Brave Collection also aims to fight human trafficking in Cambodia. Ten percent of the jewelry company's profits are donated to programming that empowers vulnerable young women.
Price: $38
Topics Activism Social Good
Alison Main is an intern with Real Time. She is originally from St. Louis, but she currently lives in Los Angeles, where she studies Broadcast and Digital Journalism at the University of Southern California. Alison has previously interned at CNN, both with "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon" and with the New York news bureau. The highlight of her journalism career (so far) was serving as political director for USC Annenberg Media during the 2016 election season.
