It’s time for the annual festival of consumerism known as holiday shopping season. It may actually be past time, given supply chain problems that have led some people to shop early. But the culture says this weekend is about shopping. Let’s say that you want to opt part of the way out of hypercommercialized Christmas but still want to give some gifts, and you’re looking for gifts to feel good about in some way or other.
Experience gifts may be back again this year after becoming very difficult last year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Be cautious, of course, that you feel good about the safety of anything you’re doing or urging other people to do, but things like museum tickets or memberships and live shows with solid COVID-19 precautions could be very nice gifts after close to two years of restricted opportunities. If your crafting skills are up to the level of making homemade gifts, more power to you, but … many of us are not there. So here are some places to look for gifts to feel good about beyond the pleasure of giving.
One thing you should not do from Black Friday through Cyber Monday is shop at Wirecutter, using links from their reviews to buy products. Wirecutter workers are staging a work stoppage for the big holiday shopping weekend because New York Times management is denying them a fair contract. They’re asking you to support their virtual picket line.
If you’re looking to support workers, here’s a good year-round tool: Find products that are union-made in the U.S. And for the holidays, union-made chocolate and coffee gift baskets.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing is once again out with its Made in America Holiday Gift Guide, with at least one idea from every state. Check out copper mugs from Arizona, cat furniture from Florida, natural deodorant made by a Black-owned Georgia business, mittens from Michigan, waterproof bags and pouches from Puerto Rico, or heirloom-quality wooden chests and boxes from Rhode Island. Just for starters.
DoneGood is doing Shop for Good Sunday for the fifth year, but, citing supply chain concerns and early Black Friday sales by big retail chains, they kicked it off early with some sale options. As always, DoneGood lets you filter for values-driven options like empowering workers, recycled or upcycled, vegan, and more. The gifts-under-$50 guide includes my favorite solar lights, a very nice leather wallet that uses recycled inner tubes for its inner pockets, and a natural soy candle made by women refugees working in Massachusetts, among other things.
For the cook in your life, check out Curio Spice Company, which has amazing spices—I quickly learned to cut down the amount of cayenne pepper I’d been using in some dishes because theirs is so potent—and special blends. But their sourcing is also something special:
Shopping for a tea-drinker? At Rakkasan Tea, “Unlike most premium loose-leaf tea companies, we import solely from carefully selected estates in post-conflict countries to promote peace and economic development.” Their teas come from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Colombia, and more. Rakkasan was co-founded by Brandon Friedman, a veteran, former Daily Kos diarist, and former Obama administration official. Check out the company's origin story.
This Twitter thread from last year has some amazing gift ideas from Black-owned businesses. Check out the gorgeous hand-blown stemware toward the beginning of the thread. It’s been a year since I first saw it, and it’s still gorgeous.
The sad truth, as always, is your individual consumer choices aren’t drivers of major, deep economic, environmental, or any other kind of change. Maybe all you're doing is making yourself feel a little better. Maybe you’re doing something more—supporting union jobs or a better way of doing business—however small. Maybe it’s worth it to you either way.
Experience gifts may be back again this year after becoming very difficult last year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Be cautious, of course, that you feel good about the safety of anything you’re doing or urging other people to do, but things like museum tickets or memberships and live shows with solid COVID-19 precautions could be very nice gifts after close to two years of restricted opportunities. If your crafting skills are up to the level of making homemade gifts, more power to you, but … many of us are not there. So here are some places to look for gifts to feel good about beyond the pleasure of giving.
One thing you should not do from Black Friday through Cyber Monday is shop at Wirecutter, using links from their reviews to buy products. Wirecutter workers are staging a work stoppage for the big holiday shopping weekend because New York Times management is denying them a fair contract. They’re asking you to support their virtual picket line.
If you’re looking to support workers, here’s a good year-round tool: Find products that are union-made in the U.S. And for the holidays, union-made chocolate and coffee gift baskets.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing is once again out with its Made in America Holiday Gift Guide, with at least one idea from every state. Check out copper mugs from Arizona, cat furniture from Florida, natural deodorant made by a Black-owned Georgia business, mittens from Michigan, waterproof bags and pouches from Puerto Rico, or heirloom-quality wooden chests and boxes from Rhode Island. Just for starters.
DoneGood is doing Shop for Good Sunday for the fifth year, but, citing supply chain concerns and early Black Friday sales by big retail chains, they kicked it off early with some sale options. As always, DoneGood lets you filter for values-driven options like empowering workers, recycled or upcycled, vegan, and more. The gifts-under-$50 guide includes my favorite solar lights, a very nice leather wallet that uses recycled inner tubes for its inner pockets, and a natural soy candle made by women refugees working in Massachusetts, among other things.
For the cook in your life, check out Curio Spice Company, which has amazing spices—I quickly learned to cut down the amount of cayenne pepper I’d been using in some dishes because theirs is so potent—and special blends. But their sourcing is also something special:
Shopping for a tea-drinker? At Rakkasan Tea, “Unlike most premium loose-leaf tea companies, we import solely from carefully selected estates in post-conflict countries to promote peace and economic development.” Their teas come from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Colombia, and more. Rakkasan was co-founded by Brandon Friedman, a veteran, former Daily Kos diarist, and former Obama administration official. Check out the company's origin story.
This Twitter thread from last year has some amazing gift ideas from Black-owned businesses. Check out the gorgeous hand-blown stemware toward the beginning of the thread. It’s been a year since I first saw it, and it’s still gorgeous.
The sad truth, as always, is your individual consumer choices aren’t drivers of major, deep economic, environmental, or any other kind of change. Maybe all you're doing is making yourself feel a little better. Maybe you’re doing something more—supporting union jobs or a better way of doing business—however small. Maybe it’s worth it to you either way.