| TARGET DATE: December 2003 |
PROGRESS: Achieved. |
DESCRIPTION: An anti-gift-shopping-from-nasty-corporations kit is a list of goods and retail outlets people may choose to use if they wish to give gifts without giving away their ethics. The list in no way implies a guarantee or unqualified endorsement of the product. It is designed to provide suggestions for potential shoppers and givers to give thought to the potential for their gifts to benefit more than the giver and receiver. This list was compiled by Alison Clarke with help from Gemma Pinnell of the Yarra Greens, Melbourne.
YARRA GREENS ANTI-GIFT-SHOPPING-FROM-NASTY-CORPORATIONS VIRTUAL KIT
Alison Clarke of the Yarra Greens has compiled a great list of ways to give gifts without giving away your ethics.
The Yarra Greens Anti-Gift-Shopping-From-Nasty-Corporations Kit is a compilation of a list of places where you might find gifts of interest. Please note that inclusion in the list does not constitute an endorsement of any kind - buyer beware. If you are ordering over the internet, please check delivery dates.
Alison has included some street addresses, mainly in case you plan to shop in the Melbourne CBD or surrounds, where a DIY walking, cycling or public transport shopping tour is very do-able (love that free city circle tram).
I hope the list helps you find the kind of gifts you are looking for, or inspires you to give well-targeted donations instead. Thanks to Gemma Pinnell and Co. at the NTEU, who updated/researched some information for their own newsletter.
If the list ends up being so useful that you are determined to make a donation to our upcoming campaign in the Federal seat of Melbourne (the original motivation for the kit), cheques can be made out to 'Greens Vic Inc. - Inner Melb Regional Group' and sent to the Yarra Greens, PO Box 2782, Fitzroy Mail Centre, Gore St, Fitzroy 3068. Please feel free to circulate this list to anyone you like, as long as you include the stuff about no guarantees, no endorsement, buyer beware etc.
Alison Clarke on behalf of the Yarra Greens
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YARRA GREENS ANTI-GIFT-SHOPPING-FROM-NASTY-CORPORATIONS VIRTUAL KIT
• ABC shops, www.abcshop.com.au to shop online or for shop locations (the CBD one is upstairs on the corner of Elizabeth and Bourke). Bananas, footy franks, Kath and Kim magnets, things that wiggle, etc. Support your dear old Auntie.
• Alternative Technology Assoc., www.ata.org.au, 8 Lee St East Brunswick (at CERES). Products to help you make your home a planet-saving experience.
• Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org.au/shop, 14 Risley St, Richmond, Ph: 9427 7055. Supporting political prisoners everywhere, Amnesty stocks bodycare, gourmet foods, ideas for the kitchen, dining and outdoor living, cards, educational toys, games and T-shirts.
• Animal Liberation Victoria Shop, http://www.alv.org.au/shop.asp, enquiries@alv.org.au, 394 Russell Street, Melbourne 3000 (near Trades Hall) Ph 9639 3993.
• APHEDA - Union Aid Abroad, www.apheda.org.au/merchandise.htm. The ACTU’s humanitarian aid agency has a range of T-shirts, caps, cups, cards, tea towels and pens.
• Asthma Victoria, http://www.asthma.org.au/about-products.htm, 9 Flemington Road, North Melbourne, Ph 1800 645 130. Lapel pins, Christmas cards and asthma-friendly bedding.
• Australia Tibet Council, www.atc.org.au/merchandise. Campaigning for the rights of the Tibetan people, the ATC sells a range of books, clothing, postcards, stickers, flags and mugs.
• Australian Conservation Foundation, www.acfonline.org.au, 60L Green Building, 60 Leicester St Carlton. Diaries, calendars and donation envelopes (you donate to them on someone else’s behalf).
• Australian Geographic Society, www.australiangeographic.com, for locations or to shop online. Educational toys and kits, books, CDs, videos, household items, lifestyle goods, camping and bushwalking products etc.
• The Cancer Council, www.shop.cancervic.org.au, shop@cancervic.org.au, 1 Rathdowne St Carlton 3053 or Shop B101, Chadstone Shopping Centre. Sells beach/pool/sun gear, sunglasses (including very funny baby banz), hats, cards, wrapping paper etc.
• CERES, www.ceres.org.au, 8 Lee Street, East Brunswick. Nursery specialises in permaculture and bushfoods, Saturday market 9 am - 1 pm sells all sorts of good stuff.
• Choose Cruelty Free, http://www.choosecrueltyfree.org.au/, PO Box 12005, A'Beckett Street, Melbourne 3000, Ph 9328 1377, has a list of products (hair, skin etc.) produced without cruelty to animals.
• Ecotourism Australia, www.ecotourism.org.au, allows you to search for eco-friendly tours and accommodation.
• Eden Seeds and books, www.edenseeds.com.au, MS 905 Lower Beechmont Qld 4211, has mail-order gardening books and non-hybrid open pollinated seeds with no chemical treatment or genetic engineering.
• Enviromower, www.enviromower.com.au, info@enviromower.com.au, 555-557 Gilbert Rd Preston 3072, 180 468 476, sells the Eco-500 cordless electric battery rechargeable lawnmower - Greens members get a discount ($580 instead of $649 was the figure I was quoted).
• Environmental Education in Early Childhood, http://home.vicnet.net.au/~eeec/, PO Box 814 Moonee Ponds 3039 or contact Tracey Young, Child Care Studies Department, Swinburne Uni, Prahran, tryoung@swin.edu.au, Ph: 9214 6854 (W) or 9587 4369 (H). Quality toys and books for tiny tots.
• Fairwear's website reports that only four companies are accredited to use the No Sweatshop label, two of which make uniforms for NSW school kids and the army, leaving two for ordinary shoppers to support: Qualitops make T-shirts and similar clothing: http://www.qualitops.com.au/homepage.htm, 466 Smith St Collingwood 3066, Ph 9417 7288. Hunter Gatherer is a brand of the Brotherhood of St Lawrence, with shops at 274 Brunswick St, Fitzroy and 82a Acland St, St Kilda.
• Friends of the Earth's shop is at 312 Smith St, Collingwood, and sells books, clothing, candles, incense, soap and stacks of other possible gifts.
• Going Solar, www.goingsolar.com.au, retail@goingsolar.com.au, The Green Building, 60 Leicester St Carlton 3053, Ph (03) 9348 1000, sells and promotes renewable energy and sustainable living products, from soap to subscriptions to solar panels.
• Green Hemp Australia, www.greenhemp.com, greenhemp@bigpond.com, Box 107 St Andrews Vic 3761, Ph (03) 9710 1644, has hemp skin and hair care products, clothing and accessories.
• Greens Tarkine campaign Christmas cards featuring views of the Tarkine, 100% recycled paper cost $5.00 for a pack of 6. Free delivery in the Melb. Metro area, add postage for regional areas. Order on 96021141 or email geoffwarren@tpg.com.au.
• http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/342 is a US website with '25 great, consumer-less gift ideas'.
• The Mirabel Foundation, www.mirabelfoundation.com, helps the kids of illicit drug users, and is selling a cookbook ‘Rock Chefs for Mirabel.’
• New International Bookshop, www.nibs.org.au, Trades Hall, Victoria St Carlton (corner of Lygon St), stocks a wide range of books for people who would like to see a fairer society.
• Organic grocery stores by the dozen are listed in the Yellow Pages, and sell jams, chutneys etc. which make delicious gifts that are good for the planet.
• Oxfam/Community Aid Abroad, www.oxfamtrading.org.au/online, 338 Chapel St Prahran (Ph 9529 4633), Shop 5 & 6 Camberwell Arcade, 600/606 Burke Rd Camberwell (Ph 9882 9599), Shop 45, Walk Arcade, Bourke St Mall Melbourne (Ph 9650 6060), sells fair-trade handcrafts, books, calendars, wine, world music CDs etc.
• Recycled Recreation, www.recycled-recreation.com.au, smithstreet@recycled-recreation.com.au or blackburn@recycled-recreation.com.au, 110 Smith St Collingwood 3066 (Ph 9416 4066) or 99 Whitehorse Rd Blackburn 3130 (Ph 9894 4755), sells recycled adventure gear.
• TEAR Australia, www.tear.org.au, usefulgift@tear.org.au, 1/4 Solwood Lane (PO Box 164) Blackburn 3130, Ph 1800 244 986, has the 'arguably the world's most useful gift catalogue' which lets you donate things like seedlings, mosquito nets, literacy classes, toilets and doctors to poor communities on behalf of friends or family members (they get cards telling them about the donation). Signatory to the ACFOA Code of Conduct.
• The Royal Children's Hospital shop is in the hospital foyer on Flemington Rd, and sells a large range of toys and other stuff. Other hospitals also often have shops or stalls in the foyer.
• The RSPCA, http://www.rspcavic.org/shop_rspca/shop_retail.htm, rspca@vicrspca.aust.com, has an online shop that currently seems to be out of action, but the physical one seems to be (website not 100% clear on this) at the corner of Middleborough Rd and Burwood Highway, Burwood East 9224 2288.
• The Tithing Tree, www.thetithingtree.org.au, is website set up by Melbourne volunteers, with links to dozens of organisations you can send donations, in lieu of buying gifts, and ideas about how to make your brother feel glad you've bought him a half-share in a goat for a family in Bhutan this Christmas.
• The Trading Circle fairtrade shop, 261 Victoria St Abbotsford 3067, (03) 9421 6874, www.thetradingcircle.com.au. Open Wed to
Sat 10am to 4pm. Their leaflet says "the trading circle helps empower women to earn the money they and their families need to survive and live with dignity."
• The Wilderness Society, www.wildshop.com.au, ‘Wild online’ stocks toys, body products, food, books, clothing, homewares, music, garden products, candles, calendars and diaries. TWS Melbourne is in Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Ph 1800 030 641.
• The Yarra City Council sells East Timorese coffee, with proceeds to the Friends of Baucau. Ph 9205 5555 or visit the Richmond or Collingwood Town Halls/Leisure Centres, or Fitzroy Pool.
• The Yarra Greens are selling a great-value organic wine - 2001 Temple Bruer Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec Petit Verdot. $120 per dozen. Contact Alison Clarke on 9489 7573 or aalisonclarke@rocketmail.com for more information, or to place your order.
