Shopping for Sharks, Penguins, Elephants and Kids? – A Unique Kind of Experience: Eco-Retail and Reusable Therapy! (Part II)

In Part I of this article, an underlying assumption was made that your online eco-shopping experience would generate unique gift ideas, new product purchases, and a psychological uplift whose primary beneficiaries would be yourself, your family, your friends and your pets — and of course the environment itself – – but what if the beneficiaries were perfect strangers – people you had never met before in your life? And what if the gifts you gave them were “used” items? Well, – Welcome to the Eco-friendly World of “Reusable Gift-Giving”!

Once again, the best source of reusable gift-giving ideas can easily be found online through some really cool non-profit organizations many of which were founded by socially-minded entrepreneurs. Let us now take a look at eight of these socially and environmentally progressive-thinking groups and at the same time, take stock of our own closets, bins, storage boxes, and bureau drawers.

1- Sole Responsibility – www.soleresponsibility.org
Gift-Giving Category: Unworn & Slightly Used Running Shoes

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded by a group of women runners in 2005 – Jennifer North of Ottawa, Canada and her running mates, Tracy Clark and Cindy Scott – this non-profit organization collects, washes, and sends unworn and gently used athletic shoes to needy communities in Africa – including refugees, orphan children, the elderly, the disabled, the disadvantaged and the physically-challenged in Africa.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in collecting running shoes thru your office or school or expanding the number of collection sites?

2- Cell Phones for Soldiers – www.cellphonesfor soldiers.com/
Gift-Giving Category: Used Cell Phones

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded by the Bergquist family of Norwell, Massachusetts in 2004, this non-profit organization collects ‘used’ cell phones, sells them to recycling firms, and takes the proceeds to buy calling cards for deployed and returning troops so that they can communicate with their family cost-free while serving in the United States military.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in gifting your cell phone to an American service man or woman in remembrance of a loved family member or close friend who made a difference in your life?

3- Cristina Foundation – www.cristina.org/
Gift-Giving Category: Used Computer Equipment & Related Technology

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded by David Bruce McMahan and Yvetter Marrin in 1984, and based in Greenwich, Connecticut, this non-profit organization collects used pc desktops, notebooks, printers, scanners, copiers, keyboards, modems, monitors, software, video cards, and digital cameras -and in turn – donates these used items to schools, public agencies, and other non-profit organizations who help to train people with disabilities, students at risk and economically disadvantaged persons so that they may lead more independent and productive lives.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in gifting computer equipment so that others in need may have access for the first time to special educational programs and vocational support?

4- Bicycles for Humanity (B4H) – www.bicycles-for-humanity.org
Gift-Giving Category: Used & Unwanted Bicycles & Related Accessories

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded in 2005 by Pat Montani in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, this non-profit organization collects old and unwanted bicycles, bike parts, clothing, helmets, and shoes and sends them to disadvantaged communities in Africa so that people there are empowered with their own transport.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in giving the gift of mobility so that others may have better access to healthcare, education, food, water, employment, and social opportunities?

5- Riley’s Toys Foundation – www.rileystoys.org/
Gift-Giving Category: New, Slightly Used & Unwanted Toys

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded in 2009 by then five year old, Riley Hebbard, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, this non-profit organization collects new toys and slightly used and unwanted toys and sends them to vulnerable children in Africa many of whom live in orphanages, AIDS camps, refugee camps, and various impoverished areas.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in giving the gift of joy to a struggling child that is toyless and forgotten by creating a smile of hope with your toy?

6- St. Jude’s Ranch for Children – www.stjudesranch.org/
Gift-Giving Category: Used Greeting Cards

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded by Episcopal priest, Father Jack Adam, in 1967 and based in Boulder City, Nevada with two other locations in Texas – this non-profit organization recycles used greeting cards by allowing abused, abandoned, and neglected children residing at their facilities to reconstruct these old cards into new holiday cards and greeting cards for every occasion which are then sold in turn to support their organizational programs and services.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in giving a teenager “green” entrepreneurship skills and a sense of importance, dignity, and purpose in life?

7- The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) –
www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/fur/wildlife_rehabbers_fur_donations_list.pdf
Gift-Giving Category: Used Real Furs

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded in 1954 by journalist Fred Myers and his three colleagues – Larry Andrews, Marcia Glaser, and Helen Jones – this Washington D.C.-based organization is the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. Backed by 11 million Americans, the HSUS is dedicated to seeking a humane and sustainable world for all animals that will also benefit people. In its efforts to reduce animal suffering and celebrate pets as well as wildlife, the HSUS now collects used real furs (including fur apparel, fur trims, and fur accessories) and sends them to wildlife rehabilitators so that these furs can then be repurposed as blankets for orphaned and injured wild baby animals they find every year.

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in giving an abandoned or injured wild animal the warmth and comfort of a furry blanket a.k.a. – a surrogate mother?

8- Combat Paper Project – www.combatpaper.org/
Gift Giving Category: Used military uniforms

Gift-Giving Goal: Founded in 2007 by Drew Matott, a paper and book artist and Drew Cameron, a soldier-turned-artist, this San Francisco-based organization administers papermaking workshops all across the USA to assist military veterans to work out, reconcile, and share their personal military experiences by teaching them how to make paper pulp by hand from their old combat uniforms and transforming the pulp into a variety of cathartic works of paper art – giving the veterans “a vehicle to tell their personal stories of military service.”

Ask Yourself: Are you interested in donating a military uniform to a veteran community at one of these workshops so that our military men and women are better able to embrace their military experiences and find within themselves the artistic ability to turn uniforms into combat paper and ultimately books, personal journals, broadsides, and other works of art?

Truly the backstory of these reusable gift-giving ideas is fascinating. You may now want to ask yourself this all important question – are you inspired enough to organize a grassroots chapter of your own within your local area?

Comments

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