Feel Good Friday - Last Minute Gift Guide

Happy Feel Good Friday! Hanukkah is here, Christmas is coming... if you're like me, you've waited until the last minute to do your shopping. Don't worry, there's an upside!

For today's Feel Good Friday, we're going to take a look back at companies we've profiled in 2014 that have a feel good product to sell. Given how last minute this list is, you may need to make these presents for the new year or save them for someone's birthday in 2015. But hey, now you've got your birthday shopping taken care of too. You're welcome.

Click on the links below to go to the original FGF posts and get all the details!

Guardian Princesses - books about "super heroines who work together to protect the people and the planet."

GoodWeave -  rugs made without child labor by a group that also provides "education and opportunities to rescued and at-risk children."

Thistle Farms - beauty products made and sold by women in Tennessee "who have survived lives of prostitution, trafficking, addiction and life on the streets."

luminAID - a solar-powered, waterproof, inflatable light. When you buy one for yourself, take a moment (and get a discount) to buy one for a person liven in a country without reliable access to electricity.

ChopChop Magazine - a magazine full of recipes to teach kids how to cook real food with their families.

GoldieBlox - engineering toys designed for girls to get them interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Wonderbag - "a non-electric, heat-retention cooker that allows food that has been brought to a boil, to continue cooking after it has been removed from the fuel source." For every Wonderbag you buy, one is sent to a family in Africa!

If you'd rather make a donation to another organization in someone's name or buy a goat for a family in Guatemala, you can scroll through the Feel Good Friday archives to get ideas or just to feel good.

Happy Holidays!

Feel Good Friday - GoodWeave

One of my sources for the Feel Good Friday inspiration is KarmaTube. They send weekly videos to my email (they can send them to yours too) and I wanted to share one I saw recently.

The short video, Stand with Sanju, explains the problem of child labor in the carpet industry and what GoodWeave is doing to stop it. For a more in-depth look at this campaign, read this article from Kristina Bravo at Take Part.

I found the most concise summary of their work on the GoodWeave website. "The handmade carpet industry exploits nearly 250,000 children. GoodWeave is helping to combat this problem and transform the rug industry by certifying child-labor-free rugs and by providing education and opportunities to rescued and at-risk children."

It took a coalition of businesses and NGOs to establish GoodWeave in 1994. The first carpets were exported from India to Germany and now GoodWeave operates in India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Germany, the UK and the USA.

Since those initial shipments, GoodWeave has sold 11 million carpets which has enabled them to free almost 3,600 children from looming rugs and send 11,000 children to school! Their success depends on donations and people purchasing GoodWeave certified rugs. Where can you find them? Check this page for a retailer in your city.

There are plenty more videos you can watch on their YouTube channel. Like their Facebook page  and follow them on Twitter @GoodWeave for updates on the Stand with Sanju campaign.