Read

Our Go-To Ethical Trade Gift Guide for 2018

Published:
December 22, 2023
November 23, 2018
Looking for ethically made Christmas gifts? Here's our recommended ethical trade gift guide 2018.|Looking for ethically made Christmas gifts? Here's our recommended ethical trade gift guide 2018.

With the Thanksgiving feast behind us already, we set our sights on Christmas — we’re officially in the thick of the holiday season. Have you ever stopped to wonder what gift-giving is all about? Our planning and preparation and purchasing and presentation of gifts are a way to show our care and regard for someone. It’s a sign of gratuitous love.If we intend to show our love with gifts, it’s worth considering the impact our gifts have — both on the people who receive them and on the people who produce them. The marketplace in which we make purchases touches real lives. That’s why we’re captivated by this ethical trade gift guide from Catholic Relief Services. The products they offer here come from poor and disadvantaged communities around the globe. Our purchases not only support artisans with income from a fair wage but also provide safer working conditions and environmentally sustainable practices. On top of that, part of every purchase gets invested in CRS projects that change lives in places with little opportunity. Here’s an example: When you go to Bethlehem (you know, the birthplace of the person behind all of this gift-giving in the first place), the streets are lined with workshops where Palestinian Christian woodworkers carve mementos and keepsakes out of olive wood. Purchases from this ethical trade guide have helped CRS renovate 18 workshops there, which were poorly ventilated and hurting workers and the environment.Every gift in this guide is tagged with a location and community that produced it, which shortens that gap between us as consumers and the people whose hands and labor produced it. That connection allows us to make an impact in the lives of people in need as well as in the lives of our loved ones.

Creators:
Grotto Shares
Published:
December 22, 2023
November 23, 2018
On a related note...
4 Surprising Life Lessons I Learned at a Monastery

4 Surprising Life Lessons I Learned at a Monastery

Jessica Mannen Kimmet

What To Read, Watch, and Listen to This Month

What To Read, Watch, and Listen to This Month

Grotto

Using Portraiture to Highlight Immigrant Stories in the UK

Using Portraiture to Highlight Immigrant Stories in the UK

Grotto

Raising Awareness to Prevent Drowning

Raising Awareness to Prevent Drowning

Grotto

"Valley Flowers"

"Valley Flowers"

Giovanna Maiello

St. Rose of Lima Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

St. Rose of Lima Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

Grotto

Hammered Dulcimer: Giving New Life to an Ancient Instrument

Hammered Dulcimer: Giving New Life to an Ancient Instrument

Grotto

Are You Building Your Life Around the Wrong Expectations?

Are You Building Your Life Around the Wrong Expectations?

Julia Hogan-Werner

"Examination"

"Examination"

Lesley Clinton

Pope Francis is Calling Us to Dream Together

Pope Francis is Calling Us to Dream Together

Arlene F. Montevecchio

"Living Water"

"Living Water"

Judith Sornberger

“A Great Guiding Light”

“A Great Guiding Light”

Nicole Stallworth

Food Activist Finds Beauty in Building a Better Future

Food Activist Finds Beauty in Building a Better Future

Grotto

Music Therapist Changes Lives with Tireless Work

Music Therapist Changes Lives with Tireless Work

Grotto

Opening Up the STEM World to Girls of Color

Opening Up the STEM World to Girls of Color

Grotto

3 Lessons from Two Saints Being Canonized Today

3 Lessons from Two Saints Being Canonized Today

Mike Jordan Laskey

5 Hobbies You Can Take on Solo

5 Hobbies You Can Take on Solo

Marye Colleen Larme

"Room with No View"

"Room with No View"

Mary Grace Mangano

Fun and Affordable Date Ideas for Summer

Fun and Affordable Date Ideas for Summer

Josh Flynt

Empowering Women Rescued From Sex Trafficking

Empowering Women Rescued From Sex Trafficking

Grotto

newsletter

We’d love to be pals.

Sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll meet you in your inbox each week.