The Knock Foundation runs educational seminars, supports mico-lending projects to developing entrepreneurship programs and is doing great on the ground work in communities abroad.

Link: http://bensonbackpacks.com

Link: http://www.knockfoundation.org

With one of the most influential pieces of modern art in my generation (the Obama ”hope” poster) and one of the most successful guerrilla marketing campaigns  in history, Shepard Fairey has been at the forefront of the street art movement. In 2001, he created the clothing brand OBEY as an extension of his work, to further spread his art and message to the masses. With military style and nods to war propaganda of the past, OBEY clothing has been issuing amazing looking designs, with a bite of thought provoking political satire.

Just another clothing brand, right? …Wrong.

Recently I was shopping for some new clothes, and with my recent addition to EricRulona.com, I was looking to contribute to some brands that were also doing some good in the world. That is why I was pretty surprised when I stumbled across the OBEY Awareness initiative. OBEY Awareness is a program that seeks to educate supporters of their brand and generate funding for important issues that are relevant right now. Each cause has a line of products with an amazing design that has that signature Shepard Fairey style, but the best part is 100% of the profits generated go directly to the cause. Right now, OBEY Awareness has  products for some amazing causes supporting breast cancer, urban farming, and Japan earthquake/tsunami relief.

Check them out here: http://obeyclothing.com/awareness/

And don’t forget to look at the archive and get yourself learned on some other awesome causes.

When I first saw the Help products at a store the other day I was very intrigued. The packaging eludes to generic medicine, but the design gives them a definite flare that makes them stand out. Instead of a proprietary name for branding sake, the labels on the outside explain what problem the contents on the inside will solve. For instance, the “Help I have a Headache” package includes the same pain-reliever that you would get from other popular brands for headache relief. It is simple, minimalist, and effective packaging that hopes to help the consumer simplify the confusing drug names in the cluttered over the counter medicine aisle. But Help’s mission is much bigger than a design and branding technique.

Help’s core mission is Less. That’s right… a drug company that offers, or better yet promises, less out of their products. I know it sounds crazy in a world where we have maximum strength, triple dose, day-time, night-time, and multi-symptom options of most medicines. Help is the exact opposite of the sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head styles of medicine that have made the drug store aisles a complete maze. What if you only have a headache? Do you really need something that also has a cough suppressant, and a nasal decongestant? Help says no. Their promise is less drugs, less dyes, less confusion, less greed, less waste, and less-self-indulgence. It’s this kind of thinking that the world of medicine needs to move away from the profit-centered thinking that distracts from what medicine is supposed to do – help people.

What is even better about Help is the focus that they have as a company on doing greater good. Their bandage product, entitled “Help I’ve Cut Myself and I Want to Save a Life” includes a bone marrow donation registry kit along with their adhesive bandages. All it takes is a few seconds and  a drop of blood (from your already bleeding wound), and your misfortune could be turned into something that saves a strangers life. The kit comes with a swab and a postage paid envelope that sends the sample to the DKMS, the world’s largest bone marrow center.

You can buy the kits and check out everything that help has to offer here.

Link: http://www.helpineedhelp.com/

Also learn more about DKMS and bone marrow registry

Link: http://www.getswabbed.com/

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/