Buy One Give One Companies March 25 2013, 0 Comments

A friend of mine recently purchased a pair of TOMS wedges and called it the most guilt free purchase she'd ever made. She said that even though she spent a little more than usual (on a pair of shoes she really liked), she drove away knowing a child would get a pair of shoes.

Since TOMS pioneered the buy one, give one industry (they even trademarked the phrase One for One), many other companies have launched with the specific intention to give back with each purchase. The next time you make a purchase for yourself or as a gift, be sure to check these social enterprises so that your purchases are leveraged even further!

• Baby clothes and gear: Baby Teresa
• Bags (give meals): FEED Projects
• Backpacks: OAK Lifestyle
• Blankets, comforters and sheets: Blanket America
• Comforters: The Company Store
• Dog/Pet items: Baxter & Birdie collars/leashes (buy one, feed one) and AlphaPooch beds
• Glasses (optical and sunglasses): Warby Parker
• Granola bars: Two Degrees (give a meal) and Kutoa (give a nutrition pack)
• Knit caps, scarves: Twice as Warm
• Rain boots: ROMA Boots
• Shoes and Sunglasses: TOMS
• Soap: Hand in Hand and Soap Box Soaps
• Soccer Ball: One World Futbol
• Socks: Mitscoots and Skyline Socks
• Stuffed animals, blankets and other child items: Everything Happy
• Ties (give back a school uniform): FIGS
• Toothbrushes: Smile Squared and Bogobrush
• T-shirts: Out of Print (book cover t-shirts give back a book) and You and Who
• Watches (plant a tree with each purchased): WeWOOD

Please continue to let us know of additional buy one, give one companies to add to the list! We will also be adding photos of the products to our Buy One, Give One pinterest board.

Updated: Holiday Shopping that Gives Back November 23 2012, 1 Comment

As you shop for the holidays, we highly recommend you look for buy one, give one companies, fair trade, and other companies whose mission is to give back through their products, while not causing harm to anyone in the process. Below is a list of a number of socially conscious brands that are spreading kindness through their businesses. Please share this with your contacts, and show your support for fashionable brands that are giving back.

Austin favorites:

• Good and Fair Clothing: scarves, panties, boxers and t-shirts
• Hill Country Hill Tribers: jewelry, scarves, bags
• Noonday Collection: jewelry and accessories
• OAK Lifestyle: canvas backpacks for men, women & students
• Purse and Clutch: purses, clutches and scarves
• Mitscoots: socks
• Radiant Cosmetics: makeup
• Raven + Lily: jewelry and accessories
• SOCO Hammocks: hammocks
• The Open Arms Shop: skirts and scarves
• Ten Thousand Villages: art and jewelry (and stores are across the U.S.)
• Be the Joy: jewelry (beads)

Additional companies:

• One Mango Tree: women's clothing and accessories
• Sari Bari: linens (home and baby), bags and scarves
• No One Without: men and women's clothing
• Krochet Kids: hand-knitted hats, scarves and more
• Hello Somebody and Flex Watches: women's watches
• fashionABLE: scarves
• Project 7: gum, mints, and more (stocking stuffers!)
• Everything Happy: baby and toddler items
• Roma Provisions: rain boots
• Warby Parker: eyeglasses (gift cards)
• Global Girlfriend: women's apparel, accessories and bath/body
• 31 Bits and iSanctuary: jewelry
• Got Your Back Movement and Sevenly: t-shirts (many of the above companies sell t-shirts, but here are a couple who focus solely on them)
• Kammock and Yellow Leaf: hammocks
• LSTN Headphones: headphones
• Slate & Stylus: iPhone and iPad cove
• TOMS: shoes, sunglasses
• FEED projects: bags/purses

Online ethical shopping markets:

• DesignedGood.com
• EthicalOcean.com
• Roozt.com
• GivenGoods.com
• SOCOMarketplace.com

When you purchase from socially conscious companies, you are truly taking your dollar further.

--Jessica

Give Back Companies Take Your Dollar Further November 12 2012, 0 Comments

Each year as the holidays approach, many of us start thinking about how fortunate we are. We look for ways to give back like:

• "Adopting" a child or family
• Participating in a coat, bike or toy drive
• Volunteering at a donation center or soup kitchen
• Donating to a charity on someone's behalf

All of that is great, and there are many other ideas for ordinary acts of kindness this season (and throughout the year!). This year, however, I encourage you to consider supporting cause-brands and/or fair trade when you shop. Granted, I realize this sounds self-serving, but I say this as a consumer myself!

The rise of companies that give back is no accident. 83% of Americans want brands to support causes!¹ That's one of the reasons we started this company. We all want our money to go further than just into the hands of company owners/shareholders - we want it to have a positive impact on the world. We want kindnesss and generosity to be at the heart of our motives.

Several years ago, this was difficult. We may have had to settle for lower quality products, or choose from just a handful of companies. But, companies have come a long way! From head to toe, and into your hobbies, home, and more, you can buy from socially conscious companies.

I love incorporating this new way to "give" into my conversation with my children. It certainly doesn't replace the other holiday serving/giving opportunities -- it simply serves as an extension of the conversation. They love hearing the stories of how each gift that we are giving impacts people in our community and beyond.

If you find a great company that gives back, share it with your friends, and be sure to share it with us. We'd love to promote social enterprises that are making high quality products, and spreading kindness through their giving. Here's another tip - if you register your credit card with Pure Charity, you can also give a portion to your favorite cause simply by shopping with their partners - many of which are your favorite big box brands.

See our Guide for Holiday Shopping that Gives Back. | Start your giving on #GivingTuesday

--Jessica

Guide for Holiday Shopping That Gives Back October 04 2012, 0 Comments

This year, I'm hearing many people starting to think about the holidays already. I used to hate thinking about it before Halloween or Thanksgiving, but for budgeting purposes, it does help to start now, so I've started my planning. Last year, I tried to switch all of my shopping to socially conscious brands, because I was tired of buying gifts from big box stores that do little to impact the world around us. It took a little research, and I had to plan extra time for shipping, etc., but I felt so much better about my unique and positive purchases.

Since I know so many people would prefer to shop with meaning, I wanted to share a list of brands that we have come across that are all trying to spread kindness through their businesses. Please share this with your contacts, demonstrating that customers would prefer to support fashionable brands that are giving back. I've tried to highlight the products that they sell to save you a little clicking time, but I invite you to look at their website to read about each company's specific mission and offerings.

Austin favorites:

• Good and Fair Clothing: scarves, panties, boxers and t-shirts
• Hill Country Hill Tribers: jewelry, scarves, bags
• Noonday Collection: jewelry and accessories
• OAK Lifestyle: canvas backpacks for men, women & students
• Purse and Clutch: purses, clutches and scarves
• Radiant Cosmetics: makeup
• Raven + Lily: jewelry and accessories
• SOCO Hammocks: hammocks
• The Open Arms Shop: skirts and scarves
• Ten Thousand Villages: art and jewelry (and stores are across the U.S.)

Additional companies:

• One Mango Tree: women's clothing and accessories
• Sari Bari: linens (home and baby), bags and scarves
• No One Without: men and women's clothing
• Krochet Kids: hand-knitted hats, scarves and more
• Hello Somebody and Flex Watches: women's watches
• fashionABLE: scarves
• Project 7: gum, mints, and more (stocking stuffers!)
• Everything Happy: baby and toddler items
• Roma Provisions: rain boots
• Global Girlfriend: women's apparel, accessories and bath/body
• 31 Bits, Be the Joy and iSanctuary: jewelry
• Got Your Back Movement and Sevenly: t-shirts (many of the above companies sell t-shirts, but here are a couple who focus solely on them)
• Kammock and Yellow Leaf: hammocks
• LSTN Headphones: headphones
• TOMS: shoes, sunglasses
• FEED projects: bags/purses

The more people support brands such as these, the more we can send a message to retailers, suppliers and manufacturers that there is a demand for socially conscious products.

I know for a fact that this list isn't comprehensive, so please let me know what great companies I'm missing! (And, this doesn't even touch the eco-friendly companies!)

--Jessica

Kindness is Spreading September 20 2012, 0 Comments

One of the greatest things about OAK is the conversations it gets started about kindness. Over the past couple of months, I have had many friends and acquaintances (those who have and haven't bought any products) talking to me about "OAKs". They share Ordinary Acts of Kindness that they've seen, give me ideas about OAKs that they thought of, and tell me about kind acts that they (and their children) have done, or plan to do.

Recently I was at a party and someone was standing alone, and a friend of mine pulled me over to talk to her, "C'mon! Ordinary acts of kindness!" This is when it all comes together for me, and I get so excited! We didn't start this business to sell backpacks (don't get me wrong, I love our backpacks!). We all came together because we knew that by performing ordinary acts of kindness, it would inspire others to do the same. Keep those ideas coming, because we want to share them!

--Jessica

Countdown to Launch July 25 2012, 0 Comments

We are counting down the days until OAK Lifestyle officially launches!

Austin is such a hotbed of socially conscious citizens. In addition to being tied for the highest nonprofits per capita in the southwestern U.S., many entrepreneurs in our community are putting the needs of the world ahead of their profits. We have been inspired by those seeking to:

• Improve and maintain our environment through sustainable and conscientous products
• Create jobs for the disadvantaged across the world to reduce poverty
• Eliminate slavery through fair trade products
• Give back by donating portions of their profits to the community and abroad

As we sought to form a company, we wanted kindness and giving to be central to our focus. We believe that the world can be changed through small, ordinary actions, and we didn't want to make this an add-on to what we do, we wanted it to be the reason our company exists!

It seems like forever ago when we spent countless hours designing our first backpack and specifying the features we wanted, We were so excited the day we got our first backpack prototype, even though it was far from perfect. After a number of revisions and tweaks, we are thrilled to present our first product line - the Ordinary Backpack.

When you purchase this backpack, you will be giving a backpack + school supplies to a child in need. What an easy way to give back in your ordinary life!

Look for more updates from our founders as OAK Lifestyle gets underway.

--Jessica