Your Guide to Ethical Shopping this Christmas
PUBLISHED November 28th, 2014 11:03 am | UPDATED July 23rd, 2024 12:30 am
As most people in the US officially kick-start the holiday season with the shopping-centric Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend, we’re thinking about how we can give back to others and/or shop ethically in light of all the consumerism going on (even in Singapore).
So we’ve put together a short list of places where you can shop for those mandatory Christmas pressies, guilt-free. In fact, you might even feel pretty good about yourself when you tell your family and friends the story behind their gifts at the opening ceremony on Christmas Day.
Chillax Market
Singapore’s first permanent lifestyle market at The Grandstand is home to quite a few home accessory brands with social and ethical backstories. For instance, the Fair Trade certified ceramics at Bowerbird are handcrafted and hand painted by Vietnamese artisans while Live Love Africa stocks various handmade home accessories, like Wola Nani paper mache products that support women with HIV/AIDS. Those into headgear can only check out Artesano for handmade hats from the rural, artisanal weaving communities in Ecuador.
Chillax Market is located at The Grandstand, 200 Turf Club Road #03-07, Singapore 287994. Open 9am-7pm daily.
The Fashion Benefit
Committed to equipping children in less developed countries with essential survival skills and livelihood education, the people at The Fashion Benefit raise funds by donating US$5 from every purchase to their non-profit partners. Their cause of the moment is Project Battambang, which runs a scholarship programme with 27 kids in the Cambodian district of Poipet with a missionary school. With other socially conscious brands like local label aijek, British designer bling Edge of Ember, and eco-friendly 4 All Humanity, this is a great place to shop for the go-getter woman in your life.
Shop The Fashion Benefit online or check out their showroom at 115 Amoy Street, open Mon-Fri 11am-3pm.
Italic & Bold
The folks at Italic & Bold are dedicated to seeking out products that are well designed, well made, and well-priced (yeah, really). We like the colourful and quirky (and unisex) Q&Q solar powered watches from Japan – a part of the proceeds from the sale of every watch will be donated to Table for Two, a non-profit that delivers school meals to kids in Asia and Africa. They also carry cool, minimalist Poquito wallets made from sustainably harvested wood in the US and Canada.
Shop Italic & Bold online.
So Khmer
Started by Nor Eddie Salleh in 2011 in a bid to merge his passion for fashion and his desire to continue supporting the people of Cambodia after his overseas volunteering stint there, the costume jewellery, accessories, and stationary are stocked by So Khmer are made by 2 NGOs in Phnom Penh. We personally like the beaded cuff bracelets and purses. Best part? There’s nothing over $40 and most, if not all, are made from upcycling paper products so you’re saving the environment too!
Shop So Khmer online.
Saught
Creating beautiful handcrafted jewellery from landmines and unexploded ordnance to support sustainability in post-conflict countries (predominantly Cambodia) is what they do at Saught. On top of providing their artisans a safe working environment with insurance, fair pay, and skill training opportunities, their long-term goal is to support more budding talents by offering scholarships to attend silversmithing school.
Shop Saught online.
MATTER
Focusing on affordable luxury and thoughtful design, MATTER’s mission is to encourage us consumers to value provenance – where and why something is made – and to champion alternative, sustainable production models for rural textile artisans. Made of Tussar silk cotton and handloomed cotton, their pants are jazzed up versions of age-old styles like the Indian dhoti, harem pants, and the Vietnamese ao dai. The gorgeous heritage patterns prints are produced via block-printing, an ancient technique used to record history and legacy.
Shop MATTER online.
Alfie de Meow
Most cat lovers we know aren’t shy when it comes to wearing their love for their feline friends, so anything from Alfie de Meow would be perfect for that crazy cat lady friend you have. While their range of accessories (think rings, brooches, and necklaces) would please the ladies very much, guys would welcome their camera straps, cushions, and pillows. This year, they’ve pledged their love – 10% of total sales – to the Love Kuching Project, a cat rescue group that promotes cat adoption, rescues cats in need and conducts sterilisation of community cats in Singapore.
Shop Alfie de Meow’s Etsy Store online.
Top Image: MATTER
Written by Emily S
