Ethical Shopping - building up a feel good list for Christmas

IMF bailout, prebudget gloom, crisis and all can't hide the fact that we are only a month away from Christmas (yay!). We might be about the enter the most austere four years in the recent history of the country but Christmas is still on, right?

If you haven't done your shopping or even given it a thought yet, here's a thought: why not turn your gifts into something special and meaningful that could touch more than just those you are giving them to?

I have been meaning to build an ethicla guide to Christmas (and general) gift shopping for a while and here's what I've found so far. I'll keep adding to it in the coming days, feel free to add and suggest ideas:

FOR A GOOD CAUSE:

-Irish Horse Welfare Trust http://www.ihwt.ie/

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust (IHWT) does an amazing job rescuing and retraining abandoned horses and ex-race horses from across Ireland.

The charity, which is based in a farm in Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow, has launched a gift brochure which includes clothing (fleeces, t-shirts), Christmas cards, a designer bag (Hazel bag by Louloubelle), stock fillers such as pens and key rings, as well as presents for your horse (if you have one). The gifts are available to purchase online from the IHWT website.

-Irish Seal Sanctuary

http://www.irishsealsanctuary.ie/ in Courtown, Gorey, Co. Wexford, sells cuddly toys of all sizes, as well as other merchandise such as t-shirts, hoodies and caps and hats. As far as I know the charity doesn't have an online shop yet but it might come soon. In the meantime, if you happen to visit their rescue centre in Courtown, have a look at their shop.

FAIR TRADE

-Oxfam Fair Trade shop (also online at www.oxfamireland.org/fairtrade-shop/)

The Oxfaf Fair Trade shop in South King Street (Dublin) - also in Galway, Belfast and Cork- is always a good source of original gift ideas with the fair trade stamp. It is particularly useful when buying for home (decoration items and all sorts of nice things, such as tea sets, photo frames, cushions...) and also friends with new babies (fairly priced organic cotton clothes and toys), but they also have music, bags and some selection of edible treats.

- www.faireeire.ie

Good source of knitwear, jewellery and other general gift ideas such as purses and bags for the ladies. A few items made of recycled materials too (tick the green credentials box too!)

GREEN

www.leafliving.ie

Go to the Gift Guide section and click By Department. Select Best sellers and you'll find a pretty interesting mix of green trinkets and gadgets (the solar powered ipod dock is a pretty cool one). The option to search by price is very handy. There is also a clothes section and fair trade.

Science Gallery

The Science Gallery in Pearse Street has some cool eco gadgets for sale at their gallery shop (online store at www.sciencegallery.com/shop) , including the super useful sports bottle with water filter. The solar powered disco ball could make some people very happy this Christmas...

Cultivate

The Cultivate Centre in Temple Bar usually has a good selection of gift ideas, although its site http://www.cultivate.ie/ only has a very limited online store which is not representative of the fantastic stuff you might find at the actual shop.

FASHION

So charity shops used to be in but after years of struggling to find decent clothes suitable to my age! I have almost given up (at least on the small town ones)- swap shops and vintage specialists are a much better alternative.

For brand new stuff, here are some links to ethical fashion shops and brands (thanks Claire for most of the names!).

A very comprehensive list of retailers selling some ethical ranges or focusing entirely on sustainable fashion can be found at http://www.re-dress.ie/retail.html.

http://www.harvestmoonglobal.ie/ Irish alternative clothing online shop.

http://www.seasaltcornwall.co.uk/ has nice organic cotton clothing and facilities to buy online (it is also stocked by Contra Clothing in Gorey, Co. Wexford, if you are ever around this neck of the woods).

www.continentalclothing.com/ and http://www.earthpositive.com/

www.belleetik.com/

www.fromsomewhere.co.uk/ and Irish http://www.unicorndesign.net/ for designer-y clothes

www.peopletree.co.uk/ (stocked at Arnotts in Dublin)

www.kuyichi.com/ (they have a store at Opera lane in Cork city)

www.izzylane.com/