These frames promote a world view but also asks us to look into those opportunities close to us by giving locally, sponsoring youth soccer and always looking for more opportunities to get involved with good causes.

Link: http://www.iwantproof.com

Link: http://www.aravind.org

Link: http://www.plant-trees.org/projects/haiti.htm

Advancement should be the motto of all aspects of life right? Why not advance from the products I used as a 15 year old adolescent. It wasn’t broke, but certainly time to fix it. What surprised me about the Anthony line is its expansive line of  grooming supplies. As a newbie to the world of apothecary ammo, I can certainly step my skin care game up. Anthony has the right tools for the job. Dry skin, Oily skin, Normal skin; you can cleanse, Tone, and Moisturize it all with their lineup.

Of course, what interested me most about Anthony is their dedication to support Prostate Cancer Research. A portion of all proceeds from each product is donated to not for profit public charities dedicated to increasing awareness and supporting the elimination of the notoriously well known health risk. Anthony is also actively involved in the support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, aiding in the annual Light the night walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, which is the New York chapter of the Nationwide cancer awareness event. Over the years, Anthony has raised hundreds and thousands of dollars for cancer research. Recently they launched a new product line by the name of SHAVEWORKS that will donate a portion of sales from each product sold to further assist the Leukemia  & Lymphoma society’s work.

Link: http://www.anthony.com/

Ohhhh so fresh, and so clean……

I thought it was a good idea that if you don’t want to receive a toothbrush you could just donate your’s as well and they will give away two toothbrushes away instead of one. The toothbrushes come in child and adult sizes and are made of 100% Handcrafted Bamboo Handle, 100% Biodegradable / Compostable Packaging, 100% Biodegradable / Compostable Handle, and High Quality DuPont Tynex® Bristles

Link: http://smilesquared.com

No One Without partners with a couple different non-profits and gives 20% of their profits to charity. Some of the orgs you can support with their products are The Chisomo Idea, Children Giving Hope, and Thirst Relief International.

Link: http://no1without.com

The original pieces are transformed into textile prints for men’s and women’s tops. Artists receive fair payment off of items sold. Right now they are working with several artists in Haiti. They create their designs in their home towns but the garments are produced responsibly in Montreal.

Link: http://www.moralfibers.co

The worldwide travels of BNE enabled him to experience the realness of global poverty and social injustice. Although his message had risen to fame, he felt compelled to leverage what the visual equity of  BNE  meant. Further empowering the guerrilla marketing and rogue advertising work he has built by deciding to provide clean water and sanitation solutions to developing countries was a game changer in his artistic process.

In his own words, this is how the journey began:

“I was painting my name on a wall with a can of silver paint when an older woman with only one tooth who spoke decent English came up to me and asked what I was doing. I could see years of hard times in her eyes. I told her that I was painting my name and she said that “it must be nice to be able to just spray money into the air” and went on to say that if she had paint she could make the old fence in front of her shack look brand new. She had a point. I had some more cans so we painted the fence together and when we finished I couldn’t believe how happy she was.

She never asked me for money or anything beyond painting the fence she just wanted to talk. She lived right in front of a filthy brown river full of garbage and eventually the conversation turned towards water. As we talked I learned that people in the neighborhood used to get water from a well but it had been broken for a while. She often had to go without food because she spent most of her money buying water from street sellers. Even with the well, water had to be boiled so residents spent a large chunk of their salaries on kerosene. After our conversation she thanked me for the fence and we parted ways. 

I left Jakarta the next day and started doing a lot of research on water. The more I read I realized that there was nothing more important than water, this is what I really needed to focus on.”

I love the charity product from BNE Water Foundation. To me it speaks to a diverse audience that I find is often untapped or overlooked in the world of philanthropy. Its also really damn cool. A certain global pop icon mascot representing a giant big business conglomerate with a BNE stickie masking the eyes?! Now that’s masterpiece theater.

100% of BNE profits from product sales help fund clean water projects.

Visit http://bnewater.org/

My first introduction to the brand was by way of their Pendleton wool Iwooly Ipad/Iphone/Macbook cases. With Virgin Pendleton wool, vegetable tanned leather tabs, and sustainably harvested Tagua nut buttons, the cases are a nice juxtaposition to the sleek teched – out signature design of Apple’s core products. Cases are available for the Macbook Air, Macbook pro, Ipad2, and Iphone4. The Good Flock also gives you a glimpse at why they are so GOOD by laying out the production process in a neat little infographic for added design extra credit to distinguish what goes into their product versus most alternative brands and cases. I like actually seeing how TGF actually fight the GOOD fight.

(Click to view image)

Other notable products include the Tokyo Messenger bag, pencil case, and my personal favorite – the cozy Papoose wooly for Bugaboo strollers, because your lil babe deserves that level of warmth, and Sustainabilty.

http://www.thegoodflock.com/

With further education I learned Fjallraven carries the same careful construction responsibility ethos throughout the entire business process. They believe overall they are empowered to be “A good step towards real change”. Going the distance with Product responsibility, Environmental responsibility, Responsibility towards animals, Social responsibility, and Responsibility towards their employees. Which are all amazing practices, but even more fascinating are the actionable initiatives like the “Save the Arctic Fox” program, or their committment to climate compensation; a process that works to offset the emissions impacting the environment that are generated by production.

Fjallraven is a cool company.  They make outerwear for cool weather. They do cool stuff for the betterment of the world. And cool gals/guys seem to really like it. Thats cool with me.

http://www.fjallraven.com/

“We’re proud to introduce the XO 3.0 tablet, showcasing the design, durability and performance features that make it a natural successor for our current laptops, which have been distributed to more than 2.4 million children in 42 countries and in 25 languages,” said Ed McNierney, Chief Technology Officer of One Laptop per Child.

The XO 3.0 has an 8-inch, 1024 x 768-resolution PixelQi display, which can be read indoors and out, a Marvell Armada PXA618 processor, 512MB of RAM, and will be loaded with either Android or Sugar operating systems. Sugar is OLPC’s own Linux operating system, which was designed specifically for kids. The device also includes a flexible rubber cover with an option of a solar panel recharger.

These tablets are sold to the countries themselves and are distributed through social  programs in their local areas. So while not available for your kid on amazon there will be kids enjoying these tablets by the end of the year. The original price goal was $100 which OLPC says it will be able to hit however many of the configurations are going to add additional costs. Meaning the $100 version may have a different screen or may not have the solar recharger.

www.olpc.com

Through their facility in Northern Uganda Krochet Kids International has changed the lives of over 100 women and their families through training and employment. The inspiring team has now set their sites on Peru. With over crowding in the capital city many women are desperate need of stable income. Knitting has long been a cultural practice in Peru which just makes this project make sense. Oh, and each hat is signed by the maker for that personal touch.

www.krochetkids.org