2018 Local Laundry Gift Guide - Gifts That Give

2018 Local Laundry Gift Guide - Gifts That Give

The Holiday season is upon us and while there are a tonne of gift ideas and guides out there, we wanted to focus on the ones that actually build community, through supporting awesome local companies and businesses that want to make a different with their products, give back and make a positive impact in their own community and abroad. 

So this is our Guide to Local Gifts That Give - here are a few of our favourites

 

    Milk jar is a small Calgary company with influences from the West Coast of Vancouver Island to the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. Great care is taken in developing signature scents and hand pouring each and every candle. Milk jar candles are hand poured in small batches using a soy vegetable blend wax, fragrance oils or essential oils, and natural wood wicks.

    Their passion is in their product, but their vision is in the community. They aim to provide an affordable, clean burning candle to the public while supporting special needs programs for youth in Calgary.

    How They Give Back

    $1 from the sale of every scented soy candle is donated to special needs programs for youth in Calgary, AB. Current Milk Jar donations support Between Friends, a registered charity offering social and recreational programs in Calgary and the surrounding area for over 30 years.

    Between Friends is an inclusive community where people with disabilities reach their individual potential and are recognized as valued citizens. Their mission is to provide quality social, recreation, and development opportunities so that people with disabilities can connect, grow, and belong.

    Their goal is to raise $6000 to help send kids to summer camp!

    Also - check out the collaboration we did with Milk Jar in creating a candle perfect for weather that needs a cozy sweater

     

    Playfield was established in July 2016 by co-founders Diego Arenas and Andy Nguyen. Their aim was to create an accessories brand that not only offered quality and affordable jewellery but also to embody a business model that gives back to the community - specifically supporting youth and children. Their purpose and drive to make an impact and support kids are rooted in their own personal stories.

    All of their materials such as their natural stone and re-purposed wood beads are sourced from different parts of Southeast Asia and then are proudly handmade here in Calgary, Alberta. Because Playfield bracelets are personally made by them, they are able to maintain consistent quality control throughout their design and production processes.

    How They Give Back

    Not only do they offer quality and affordable jewelry but they also proudly embody a business model that gives back to the community - specifically supporting youth and children. With every bracelet purchase, one lunch is provided to a local child in school led by a non-profit called Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids. Their goal and long-term vision is to impact 1 million kids worldwide.

    Through jewellery sales alone, over 6000+ meals have been provided to local children in schools led by Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids. 

    Heartprint Threads (HpT) is a passion project. Born out of a love for travel, design and helping others. Travel unveils another layer of human interaction that you simply can’t get out of staying in your comfort zone. This is where the ideas and concepts that makeup HpT were crafted. When you encounter some of the life situations that people endure around the world, it always makes you reflect on how much you really have back home. Gratitude in abundance.

    They sell many different handcrafted artisanal blankets, scarves, accessories and bags. 

    How They Give Back

    For every blanket they sell, they make sure one gets donated to a local charity. They work with amazing organizations like the Calgary Drop-In Centre, Mamas for Mamas in BC, and Boyle Street Community Services in Edmonton. A portion of proceeds from all of their bags also goes towards raising awareness for youth hunger in our communities and create sustainable systems for child nutrition through MealShare!

     

    Cedar and Sage Farm is a lifestyle brand encouraging you to live your best everyday life at home and on the go. Sharing farmhouse living through an array of farm-made and hand chosen curated goods for you and your home. Where slow living meets modern trends.

    Their farm is nestled quite comfortably in the Foothills of Alberta and they couldn’t think of a better place to share their brand from.

    How They Give Back 


    Cedar & Sage Farm's Copper Water Bottles give to Water.org as well as help families of artisans who craft the water bottles for Cedar & Sage Farm in India. These stunning Copper Water Bottles are a sustainable and pretty solution to replace plastic or aluminum bottles. 
    With the purchase of each bottle Cedar and Sage Farm is supporting Water.org to provide access to safe water and sanitation for people in the developing world.


    For each bottle sold, Cedar and Sage Farm will donate $5 to support Water.org to change lives with safe water. Each one is hand hammered by skilled artisans using traditional methods carried down through the generations using a single sheet of copper and then capped with a leak-proof top.

     

    • Local Laundry - @locallaundry

    We hope it's ok to talk a little bit about ourselves and some of the giving back we get up to. 

    We've always given back 10% to local charities that our customers help choose, but since we made the transition to Made in Canada last spring, we wanted to kick it up a notch.

    A great gift is our Giving Toque, a Made in Canada toque that for everyone that we sell, we donate to a homeless organization across Canada. Last year we were able to donate over 550 toques to organizations in Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa. 

    The success of this led us to come out with the Giving Socks, a Made in Canada sock that we will donate one for everyone that we sell to a homeless organization as well! Keep an eye out in the very near future for them.

    Finally, our Unisex Local Crew Sweater has teamed up with KidSport Calgary, that if you use to code "GIFTOFSPORT" you get one for 10% off and we will donate $5 to KidSport for now until the end of the holidays!

     

    Do you know other local companies that give back that would be great to feature on a list of gifts that give? Comment below or mention it on our IG @locallaundry :)