Wouldn’t it be great if the next pair of sunglasses you bought provided a sight-giving operation to someone in a developing country? Or the next pack of mints you bought contributed to providing a nutritious meal to a family in need? Well folks, I have some stupendously good news… You can!
There seems to be a new breed of cool. A movement of fashionable philanthropic businesses determined to change the world. I would like to introduce some brands I have come across over the last few years that you may or may not know about. These brands are movements that are driven by sales of items which in turn are able to finance a necessity to those on this planet who need it the most. How wonderful!
(2012 New Year Resolution: When I buy, buy products that make a difference in people’s lives.)▨▧▨▧▨▨▧▨▧▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧▨▧
TOMS
My last philanthropic purchase came from TOMS – well, to be fair, my doting husband gave me some TOMS shoes for my birthday! Now these shoes are no ordinary shoes. Not only are they comfortable and practical, etc, my shoes have a sibling. These shoes gave a child without shoes something to protect their feet from the harsh ground and from potentially dangerous objects. 
Here’s some beautiful TOMS shoes I took a screenshot of (right). I saw these on Pinterest and love them (but can’t see them on the TOMS site anywhere (sad face)).
TOMS also sells sunglasses. These are the kind that not just protect your eyes, but they give or aide sight for another person by funding treatments and operations. (Just take a moment to ponder that…)
Pretty humbling stuff right there.
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FEED
The Feed Project aims to sell products that raise funds to supply food through the UN World Food Program. I have two Feed 1 bags – you know what this means? Two children for 1 whole year were fed a meal everyday at school.
World’s best bag? Yes, I’m nodding too.
The awesome people at Feed have sold over half a million bags and have helped to raise money for more than 66 million meals. Read more about their mission here.
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Better World Books
Better World Books is a business which collects and sells books online. Their profits fund international literacy programs, and supports a list of beneficiaries including Books for Africa and Invisible Children.
One of the many good things about Better World Books is the FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE! Yep. The consumer in me finds this an agreeable condition of purchase.
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charity: water
charity: water is a non-profit organisation that helps facilitate clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. charity: water is really simple – gift the gift of water on behalf of your gift recipient.
Please take the time to read the story of charity: water’s founder Scott Harrison (here). It’s beautiful, challenging & inspiring.
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PROJECT 7
PROJECT 7 is not about buying more, it’s about making the swap. PROJECT 7 sells all the items you already buy! Bottled water, mints, gum, and more! You can see what humanitarian cause the profits of the sale will go to on the packaging. If you want to read more about the causes, click on the links at the top of their site.
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Good Art: Art For Good
One of my favourite Australia artist is a long-time friend Joanna Darby, a woman of vision and action. Joanna has produced two sets of postcards for $8 each, with her paintings reproduced with soy based inks on recycled card.
100% of the profits goes towards providing life changing surgery for Nepalese women suffering uterine prolapse. This condition affects more than 600,000 Nepalese woman from as young as 16 years old.
(p.s Isn’t her art amazing?!)
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I’d love to update this list, so if you know of any companies/products/people with a similar philosophy please contact me via the contact page!
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