For more info on human trafficking:

www.polarisproject.org
www.ijm.org
www.humantrafficking.org

Coca-Cola has been accused of arming its factories in Columbia with para-military thugs.  Nestle has been accused of mass-marketing an infant formula as a breast-milk substitute to third-world women.  Disney has been accused of maintaining sweatshops in Haiti and Bangladesh, and Gap has been accused of maintaining factories in Cambodia and China.  These are a few of the companies who continually appear as human rights violators documented by corporate watch groups across the globe.  Some, like Gap, have made significant improvements, but usually only after public outcry brought attention to their abuses and they lost lawsuits, like the Saipan case in 2004. -From “The Irresistible Revolution” ~ Shane Claiborne

Great alternatives to the traditional gift can be found at:

kiva.org (give a donation on behalft of a friend)

worldvisiongifts.org (give a goat or pig in someone’s name)

www.nightlightbangkok.com (buy jewelry & fight human trafficking)

www.shethailand.org (foster beauty on the inside & outside)

http://freetheslaves.madebysurvivors.com (check out the cute recycled rice bags)

tomshoes.com (every shoe bought, one is donated to a child)

***also save cereal, stove top, popcorn & other thin cardboard boxes to wrap gifts in.

glossy newspaper ads make great tissue paper as well.

cheers, ML

-A note from Spencer:  I actually support Cambodian clothing as much as possible, as they are one of the few poverty-stricken nations that actually provide a living wage, health benefits, and overtime pay for their needleworkers.  You can listen to a really interesting and informative story on the Cambodian garment industry on This American Life.