Alternative Gifts: Gifts that Give Back

Each year, I try to do a couple posts about alternative giving. We spend money during the holidays anyway, so we might as well try to make that money do as much good as possible in the world, right? I *love* getting gifts that give back. And there are so many easy ways to do it:

• Help your neighbor by buying from a local store
• Buy fair trade (I just bought a bunch of great presents from SERRV)
• Shop with an organization you'd like to help support

For tips and suggestions on all of these, please check out my Alternative Gifts posts.

A couple of my favorites this year:

Etsy: Your Place to Buy & Sell All Things Handmade
Want to give a handmade gift, but you're not crafty or you don't have the time? Want to support a talented artist in his or her craft? Etsy is filled with cool one-of-a-kind jewelry, candles, coasters, outfits, pillows, scarves, toys. You name it, you can probably find it.

I just bought a bunch of super-cool stocking stuffers for my family. I can't say what they are because some of them read this blog, but here are a few of my favorite Etsy shops:

redfishcircle
buzzabee
awkward
villageclayworks
robotcandy

Adopt-A-Creature: Oceana, Protecting the World's Ocean's
Adopt a dolphin, octopus, penguin, polar bear, sea turtle, or shark for your niece or nephew this year!

This is the kind of thing I would have gone bananas for as a kid (okay, I would probably still go bananas for it now). A donation to Oceana will not only help protect the actual sea creatures and their habitats, but you will also receive a personalized adoption certificate (it's like Cabbage Patch Kids, only better) and a cute animal-shaped cookie cutter and recipe card ($35 donation) or a super-cute stuffed animal ($50 donation).

As a kid, I loved dolphins like crazy. I would have flipped for a gift that made me feel like real dolphins all over the world were being helped AND I got dolphin-shaped cookies out of the deal!