Some socially conscious gifts for fair minded folks.

Listed below are some online sites to shop for socially-conscious gifts, including fair-trade chocolate, coffee, household items, and environmental furniture. I'm not just telling you the products here are fabulous. I know. I've bought and enjoyed items from every one of these socially conscious companies. Who doesn't love chocolate or having a gorgeous piece of hand-crafted furniture--all the while knowing you have put food on someone's table with your purchase? Buying fair trade products supports conscientious producers in developing nations all over the world so you can feel good about your purchases. Remember, more than 4 billion people make less than $2 a day. Wow. We can help change that this holiday season. Most or all of the items available on the websites below are certified fair trade. This means that the workers who produced them were paid a living wage in safe working conditions.

Global Exchange Online: http://store.gxonlinestore.org/index.html: Global Exchange, run by my friend Kevin Danaher, an iconoclast to be sure, is an excellent organization, truly committed to helping change the world through its Green Festival and the products it has on the website.

Grounds for Change (coffee and chocolate): www.groundsforchange.com: Yum, fair trade coffee. It's delicious and there's chocolate here too.

Ten Thousand Villages: www.tenthousandvillages.com/home.php: I love this company. They buy potholders, napkins, placemats, hair accessories and beautiful furniture--all made in sustainable ways in developing countries.

Tropical Salvage: www.tropicalsalvage.com: Run by another friend of mine, Tim O'Brian, this Portland, Oregan based sustainable furniture company goes above and beyond conventional environmental practices. Innovative, to be sure, Tropical Salvage actually reclaims and recycles beautiful tropical hardwood by mining them where for centuries caches of large, species-diverse trees have laid buried by volcanic eruptions. They salvage trees felled by floods and landslides caused by Indonesia's annual intense rainy season. Once mined, the beautiful wood, centuries old, is hand-crafted by indigenous craftsman into beautiful wine cabinets, book cases, stools, dining tables, armoires etc. You name it.

Go ahead shop till you drop and maximize generosity.

Jenna