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If you're buying gifts for colleagues, clients, or friends and family who already have everything, ethical giving is the way forward.
It's becoming more common to buy ethical presents instead of forking out for the usual junk and/or alcohol every year. Especially where corporate giving is concerned, when it's more of a PR exercise than about making it personal.
So... when it comes to ethical gift ideas - the quirkier the present, the better! Go ahead and surprise everyone with something different whatever the occasion - a birthday, anniversary or wedding. Finding an ethical angle, as well as an usual one, is pretty straightforward these days - many charities are offering well thought-out gift solutions that will make a real difference wherever they end up.
Ethical giving doesn't just have to mean buying a goat, or tree, although this is a fantastic way to support sustainable living in the developing world. These charitable initiatives, which have been in operation for a number of years now, are becoming more and more popular as people discover they are a great way to give something meaningful. Ethical gift ideas also tend to be a lot more interesting than the usual bottle of brandy...
Effectively, ethical giving enables the consumer to help out directly with charitable and environmental causes worldwide. The gifts are part of world wide and in-place development programmes - so you'll be adding to a well grounded scheme that is already effective - contributing to projects that really benefit from your help, and can implement it quickly.
Other ways to donate to charity through ethical giving include adopting animals, sponsoring a child, and a mass of ethical gift ideas at the Oxfam Unwrapped website. From condoms to counselling sessions - every single one of them is more worthwhile than 99% of the rif-raf we buy when we're desperate for something to buy.
The following companies have some wonderful ideas for ethical giving...
