Africa, Agriculture, Blog, Charity, Economic Empowerment, featured, Gender Equality, nonprofits, Poverty, Products With a Purpose

Nonprofit Works to Eradicate Poverty Through Business, Not Charity

I have had the pleasure of reporting from low-income countries in east Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean many times and have seen a multitude of poverty eradication efforts from organizations that are created by social entrepreneurs to those that are funded by foundations, corporations and countries’ developmental aid. No matter the organizations’ efforts, there are key poverty eradication tenets they all subscribe to: community buy-in (financial inclusion), women-based business opportunities, educational programs, and increased access to food, clean water and quality health care. When all of these aspects are combined they tend to gradually reduce community and familial poverty.

Jennifer JamesNovember 15, 2022November 16, 2022Leave a comment

Blog, Empowerment, featured, Products With a Purpose, SDGs, Women, Women's Rights

3 Teas and Coffee Brands That Support Women

With all that is going on in the world, helping women through our everyday consumer actions is a way we can make a difference in their lives. While we can’t all take to the streets in protest or write impassioned letters to our senators or even donate to a cause every month, we can divert the money we spend to companies that support the causes we care most about. It’s called conscious consumerism and it’s on the rise. Consumers are increasingly voting with their dollars on products that make a social, economic, and environmental impact. Two of the most consumed products in the United States are tea and coffee giving consumers a real opportunity to make a difference based on where they buy. In fact, Americans drank a whopping 89 billion servings of tea in 2021, and on average Americans consume two to three cups of coffee per day. Sixty-six percent of Americans are coffee drinkers.

I was recently sent two tea brands and a coffee brand to try and all three support women which I am exceptionally happy about. Here’s what they’re all about.

Jennifer JamesAugust 18, 2022Leave a comment

Blog, featured, Products With a Purpose

From Boots to Baby Brands: 7 Gifts That Give Back With Every Purchase

There is never a bad time to give gifts especially when those gifts give back with every purchase. Here are seven products from boots to baby and kids’ brands and more that have an added component of social good. These companies give back to nonprofits that help kids and even honeybees.

ROMA BOOTS

Price: $12.99-$118

ROMA Boots was founded on fashion and philanthropy to give back to children in need. For every pair of boots sold, a new pair is donated to a child in need. Their mission is to bring impoverished children hope, love, and lasting change throughout the world through aid and education. Their next mission is to donate 100,000 boots to Ukrainian refugees in 2022 as part of their humanitarian initiative. Their next mission is to donate 100,000 boots to Ukrainian refugees in 2022 as part of their humanitarian initiative. Combining cutting-edge design to create durable rain boots, retail fashion merged with humanitarian efforts to build a charity-based brand that gives back. Available in men’s, women’s, and children’s sizes, they range from various styles and fun patterns fit for everyone. Let’s empower impoverished children worldwide to break out of the cycle of poverty and contribute their gifts and talents to society.

Social Good Moms ContributorMarch 23, 2022Leave a comment

Blog, Products With a Purpose

Products with a Purpose: Vegan Brands That Give Back

Every so often I like to feature products for good and brands that give back. It is important for me to not only use such products but share their work with others. These products with a purpose are all about vegan skincare. I use them daily. Most of these products I get from Whole Foods Market, Ulta, or respective sites.

Jennifer JamesMarch 16, 2022March 16, 2022Leave a comment

Products With a Purpose, Reproductive Health, Sustainability, Women and Girls

Company Launches Kickstarter to Reduce Feminine Hygiene Waste

Did you know that 19 billion single-use feminine hygiene products will be thrown out this year in the United States alone? Most will end up in our oceans and landfills. We can definitely do something about this. A Danish company, LastObject, is launching a Kickstarter tomorrow September 1 to help fund a brand-new reusable pad that will contribute to a more waste-free world. Funders will … Continue reading Company Launches Kickstarter to Reduce Feminine Hygiene Waste

Jennifer JamesAugust 31, 2021September 1, 20212 Comments

Blog, Products With a Purpose

Built on Kindness a New Online Eco-Friendly Marketplace Launches For #SocialGood

This year has sure been a doozy with challenges across not only our country, but around the world. Despite a year filled with a pandemic and the repercussions and reverberations of it, many people have stepped up to help others. Stories have caught waves all over the news and social media from food banks helping families survive to people banding together to save beloved local … Continue reading Built on Kindness a New Online Eco-Friendly Marketplace Launches For #SocialGood

Jennifer JamesNovember 25, 2020November 25, 2020Leave a comment

Blog, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

[Review] Be More Green With Sustainable, Reusable Water Bottles and Coffee Cups

I am trying to do my part to live a greener life. I am in no way an expert in living a more sustainable lifestyle, but I am doing little things that make a difference. I am already a stickler when it comes to recycling. My family and I no longer buy water in plastic bottles. Instead we filter our tap water and when we go out we take filtered water in glass containers. And we have nearly cut all meat out of our diets.

One of the things I have wanted to do for awhile now is use more sustainable containers for my tea and coffee because that is one area that I am not working hard enough to change until now.

I received two Fressko products to use and review and I love them! One is a flask that can be used to infuse tea or you can use it to make fruit water and smoothies. So far, it’s been great for tea. The other is a reusable coffee cup.

FRESSKO TOUR FLASK ($34.95)

The Fressko Tour is a 13 oz, BPA-free glass canister. It has double walled glass and a leak-proof bamboo lid. It also has a food grade stainless steel influser for tea. The Tour stays cold for six hours and hot for four hours.

Jennifer JamesJanuary 24, 2020January 23, 2020Leave a comment

Blog, Charity, conservation, Environment and Climate, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

Jewelry That Gives Back to Oceans

I have been a bit obsessed lately with two Instagram accounts that I absolutely love: @paulnicklen and @Mitty. Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier respectively are prolific underwater photographers and founders of Seal Legacy, an organization committed to creating healthy and abundant oceans for us and the planet.

It’s funny: As much as I love the oceans I don’t really visit them often. Sure, I fly over them often and at long stretches and I take photos of the ocean from a distance like the one above that I took in the Philippines, but I never get up close and personal to the ocean. I would like to change that one day. In the meantime, I live vicariously through Nicklen and Mittermeier. Also, as I sat looking at their work I wondered how I can help the oceans in my own little way and you can, too. Here are jewelry companies that have beautiful bling while also giving back to oceans, ocean clean-ups, reefs, and ocean life.

Jennifer JamesJanuary 19, 2020September 25, 20222 Comments

Blog, Products With a Purpose

Subscription Boxes That Give Back

As the holiday season is quickly approaching many of us are thinking about gifts that give back. Here are five subscription boxes that provide fun products for kids and adults, but also donate to a variety of charities.

Karma Candle Club donates to Mercy for Animals, No Kids Hungry as well as The Life You Can Save.

Earthlove gives back to truly eco-friendly brands and partner with environmental non-profits each season who help heal our ecosystems.

Give the gift of creativity with Green Kid Crafts! Each box is 100% recycled. They also give back. They are carbon neutral and at least 1% of sales are donated to environmental organizations through their membership in 1% for the Planet.

Jennifer JamesNovember 5, 2019November 6, 2019Leave a comment

Blog, Environment and Climate, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

5 Shoe Brands That Help Save the Environment

It’s nice to live in an era when innovations that help save our planet are rolling out faster than ever. We are able to pick and choose the best products that ring true to our thoughts and ideas about the issues we care most about. That includes having more consumer options even down to the shoes on our feet.

Here are five forward-thinking shoe brands that give back to the environment while still designing hip footwear for the masses. Do you know of others?

All Birds creates footwear with Trino (their proprietary blend of ZQ Merino wool and eucalyptus tree fiber. They also use materials including recycled cardboard and plastic bottles as well as castor bean oil. www.allbirds.com

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Jennifer JamesSeptember 20, 2019January 23, 2020Leave a comment

Blog, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

5 Wines That Give Back to the Environment #EarthMonth

Through the end of the month products with a purpose will be highlighted that give back to the environment from the oceans to the forests to the wetlands. If you are a wine drinker, here are five wine companies whose charitable giving goes to bettering the earth and help you drink for great causes.

Continue reading “5 Wines That Give Back to the Environment #EarthMonth”

Jennifer JamesApril 20, 2019April 20, 2019Leave a comment

Africa, Asia, Blog, Europe, featured, Products With a Purpose, South America, Women

Coca-Cola Celebrates Mother’s Day With Women Artisans #5by20

Last year I was happy to see women in Nepal benefitting from Coca-Cola’s 5by20 program. By 2020 Coca-Cola has pledged to help five million women entrepreneurs around the globe by allowing them to earn money through its value chain. That could mean teaching women valuable business skills as I saw in Kathmandu to providing women with opportunities to support their families through creating products with Coca-Cola products and packaging to helping women start their own small businesses.

For Mother’s Day, I was delighted to receive this tulip from Coca-Cola made by artisans who work for Mitz, a Mexican nonprofit where women devote 8 to 30 hours a week to create handmade products. Mitz creates jobs for women, funds kids’ scholarships and reduces waste.

Continue reading “Coca-Cola Celebrates Mother’s Day With Women Artisans #5by20”

Jennifer JamesMay 12, 2017April 20, 2019Leave a comment

Africa, Blog, Children, Fair Trade, Fairtrade, featured, Food, Human Rights, Products With a Purpose

Dutch Company Now Offers Slave-Free Chocolate Bars in the US

I love all kinds of chocolate. I love dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate with caramel, chocolate with nuts, you make it and I’ll eat it. This company, Tony’s Chocolonely, however, has decided to make the delicious desert the right way. Until yesterday I had no idea there was still slavery in the world, and I definitely didn’t know slaves harvested cocoa beans in Ghana and the Ivory Coast to provide me with the sweet treat that I love so much. And to make it worse the slaves harvesting these cocoa beans are children! Can you believe that? It is 2017 and there are still people in the world who are treated like dirt so we can enjoy a small bar of chocolate that only provides a short period of happiness.

SONY DSC — Six Flavors of Delectable Chocolate

That’s why this new chocolate company I’ve discovered is so important. Teun van de Keuken, a Dutch journalist, discovered that large companies in the chocolate industry were buying cocoa from plantations that had child slavery which is unacceptable! He ate twelve chocolate bars and then decided to turn his back on the tainted sweets and created his own chocolate company to combat the cocoa slave industry. So Tony’s Chocolonely was born.

Continue reading “Dutch Company Now Offers Slave-Free Chocolate Bars in the US”

Annlyel JamesMay 5, 2017February 7, 20221 Comment

Blog, Clean Water and Sanitation, featured, Products With a Purpose, Water

Another Easy Way to Give Water for Good

Water issues continue to be front and center of global health and development goals. In fact, 783 million people today do not have sustainable access to clean, safe water. While there have been notable strides in providing access to water to regions in need around the world, that need is still astronomical.

Many NGOs and companies are on the frontlines of working towards ensuring communities have access to water. One such company is GIVN.

GIVN, a certified B-Corporation based in Chicago, provides water to communities in need through its three key partners: Water.org, Water is Basic, and UNICEF’s Tap Project. For every bottle of GIVN water you buy, one person will receive a full day of water. To date, GIVN’s sales have provided 800,000 days of clean water to communities in need.

Continue reading “Another Easy Way to Give Water for Good”

Jennifer JamesMarch 20, 2017April 20, 2019Leave a comment

Africa, Blog, featured, Products With a Purpose, Reproductive Health, Sustainability, United States, Women and Girls, Women's Rights

8 Simple Ways to Provide Free Menstrual Products to Girls and Women in Need (Updated)

Every 28 days, millions of girls and women in developing countries miss school or work – up to 50 days per year – because they lack access to affordable menstrual products. And, it’s not just a problem in poor countries. Right here in the United States, women and girls who lack means often need both menstrual health education and reusable menstrual products.

The eight companies and organizations provide menstrual products in the United States and in Africa. Here are ways you can help them on their missions to provide women and girls with products that simply make their lives easier.

Continue reading “8 Simple Ways to Provide Free Menstrual Products to Girls and Women in Need (Updated)”