Shop and Give Back is about both giving and receiving. When you choose to shop here, you and I will be giving back, because 5% of sales go to charity; Currently those charities are 'The Best Friends Animal Society' in Utah, the largest non-kill animal rescue and rehabilitation center in the nation, and 'The Conservation Fund', helping to protect the places where you and your family live, work, and play. Both charities have received top ratings (4 stars) from 'Charity Navigator', the best online resource for finding reputable charities.
Shop and Give Back has a social justice and environmental mission, and that is to offer for sale products produced under fair trade practices in developing countries, American-made/sweat-shop free products from primarily small, ethical American-based companies with a similarly stated commitment to ethical and environmental considerations.I feel it is important to help support and sustain U.S.-based businesses I try to offer environmentally-safe items made with mostly organic and/or recycled and sustainable materials that are gentle to our bodies and the earth, and are well-made. I hope to educate consumers not only about fair trade and sweat-shop-free practices, but to also offer truly ‘natural’ and organic products, and to demonstrate that these items are an affordable option without sacrificing quality by offering them at low, competitive prices.
The environmental and socially responsible considerations Shop and Give Back makes when sourcing products are: 1) Are they made from natural products? (Stone, wood, corn derivatives, recycled paper…), 2) Are the products biodegradable, compostable and/or otherwise environmentally-friendly and free of toxins and carcinogens? 3) Are the ingredients primarily organic and cruelty-free, with known certifications to back up those claims? 4) Do the manufacturers or producers state similar ethical standards to mine? 5) I stay in touch with my suppliers via email or phone at least once a year, and since I try to select companies who treat their workers with respect, dignity, fairness and good wages, companies I purchase from are mostly family-owned and staffed. Many are members of ‘Green America’ which has a strict vetting process regarding which companies may become members.
Labor considerations I make in the sourcing of my products include purchasing from American-based Fair Trade sellers, who are often members of the Fair Trade Federation. They may deal directly with the Fair Trade producer groups, often visiting the countries that they are involved in purchasing from. The conditions in which these products are made are either supervised by producer-groups who work with the fair trade artisans, or by the companies I purchase from. With the non-fair trade products I sell, I research whether, and reject, products that are mass produced, and/or made in sweat shops, if not specified, I ask my sources where their products are made, limiting products made in China or Taiwan.
I try to reflect my commitment to the environment in my daily business operations and personal life by recycling everything possible, from reusing packing materials and boxes to considering the size of the boxes needed when shipping items, repurposing glass vases for my dried flower arrangements and using tiny flower bits and crumbs as filler in those arrangements, composting and using a rain barrel, using 100% recycled copy paper, purchasing other office supplies made from at least partially recycled materials, turning off or powering down electronic equipment, changing over to more earth-friendly lighting, limiting the use and purchase of plastics, changing over to organic and fair trade foods and products, combining errands so as not to waste gasoline, socially responsible investing, and continually educating myself on environmental issues and ethically-run business practices.
If you feel that anything I sell does not meet the goals I have stated, please let me know at susan@shopandgiveback.com.
I am open to all suggestions.
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