Shop Products for Animal Causes: Retail Therapy Meets Activism
There are some things that just naturally go hand-in-hand: Almond butter and chocolate, peppermint and mocha (vegan, of course), coffee and books, cute baby animals and YouTube, and my new favorite ... online shopping and animal rights activism. What could be better than shopping for a good cause (aside from it also being retail therapy)?
Thankfully there a lot of online shops that empower consumers to be animal rights activists; they either sell products that raise awareness or share their proceeds with animal organizations.
Below are just a few that I came across today. With the holidays upon us, there's no better time to shop for yourself and fellow animal lovers. They make the perfect holiday gifts!
Animals Awareness - They partner with merchants and jewelry artisans from around the world to bring unique merchandise that spark worthy conversations about animal causes. Their online catalog includes t-shirts and hoodies, iPhone cases, and other animal-inspired items. I love their logo, too.
Arm the Animals < Making Activism Fashionable > - They're armed with an inspiring mission and a passion for helping animal welfare organizations, particularly small, "mom-and-pop" animal care organizations struggling to cover expenses. You can shop by collection, design, men and women's apparel as well as accessories.
Greater Good - Perhaps more popularly known for The Animal Rescue Site, Greater Good is a network of websites that was created to turn "a click on a website" into a "force for good". Their sites also include The Rainforest Site (to protect vital wildlife habitats), The Hunger Site (to help feed the hungry around the world), and The Veteran Site (helping to feed veterans in need). With their Click to Give program, each click a day on any of their websites literally counts, and you can see the measurable difference you make.
For example, The Rainforest Site's Click Results show how many people clicked on any given day, month and year, and how many square feet of land, acres and hectares of wildlife habitat were protected and preserved due to funds raised by people's clicks. They reported that in 2014, user clicks generated funds for the protection and preservation of 10,321 acres of habitat (home to tens of thousands animal and plant species). This is made possible through Greater Good's sponsor advertising fees, of which 100% is given to their charitable partners.
Greater Good also offers other ways you can help:
- Shop their online stores (they offer huge selections across their nine websites)
- Sign petitions for various causes (featured on their websites)
- Help them find new "click sponsors" (who fund the proceeds that go to Greater Good's charitable partners simply by advertising on their websites)
- Spread the word about them!
At the very least, each one of us with access to the internet should be setting daily reminders to click the button on each of their nine websites in order to raise funds. There's no cost for us to do it, so there's really no reason we shouldn't.