Giving Compass' Take:

•  Caitlin Copple Masingill, writing for B the Change, offers a 2018 conscience shopping gift guide that provides suggestions ranging from donating to disaster relief to donating to a company that removes ocean trash. 

• In what other ways can you be an ethical shopper? 

• Here's a list of five traits that describe truly sustainable and ethical brands.

Gifts that give back are at the heart of this guide, but in particular, we’ve selected a few options that provide life-changing resources with each purchase, including clean water, a healthy meal and warm, dry socks.

  • LifeStraw — After the recent floods in Austin, Texas, everyone in the city had to boil their water. As extreme weather caused by climate change increases, more cities will find themselves in similar predicaments. At LifeStraw, each product sold brings a child in Africa safe water for an entire school year.
  • Bombas Socks — Did you know socks are the most-requested clothing item at homeless shelters? Bombas is a Certified B Corporation that donates a pair to those in need each time you shop.
  • Happy Day Brands — The quality of the company’s chocolate, coffee, tea and superfood oatmeal products is matched only by its founding couple’s big hearts. Recently, they donated 100,000 servings of oatmeal to hungry Idaho schoolchildren and their families, and for every product sold, all year round, the company donates a meal to a hungry person in need.
  • United by Blue — This sustainable, responsible outerwear and durable goods maker removes one pound of ocean trash for each product sold and is a B Corp.

Read the full article about shopping with a conscience by Caitlin Copple Masingill at B the Change