Announcement: Gift It Up!

Gift it Up!
We are sorry to report that we are unable to hold our alternative gift fair, Gift it Up!, this year. Although our website is still up, it is disabled at this point. We are hoping to get back on track next year, so that we can continue to raise thousands of dollars for small non-profits, and spread the idea of alternative gifting, conscious consumerism, and sustainability.

Alternative Gifting
Even though we are not offering Gift it Up!, you can still give alternative gifts. Check out our blog on Alternative Gifts for the Holidays at http://blogspot.consciousconsuming.com for a great list, and please email us or post a comment about other ideas you may like to add. You can also visit Alternative Gifts International at http://www.altgifts.org to make a web donation to a non-profit in a loved one's name. If you'd like to attend a physical event, visit The Center for a New American Dream's registry of alternative gift fairs at http://www.newdream.org/holiday/altgift.php

Last Day to Donate!!!

Today is the last day to donate at Gift It Up! to ensure that your gift cards arrive by December 24th. You can still donate after today, but we can't guarantee the gift cards will get to you on time.

Donations to non-profits in a loved one's name is a great addition to, or substitution for, material gifts this holiday season. Donations show that you care about their values and that you're willing to give who they are, not what they want.

Start a new tradition of caring this year! Donate at www.giftitup.org today!

Nonprofit Highlight: EarthWorks Boston

One thing I like best about working with Gift It Up! is learning about all the great organizations that are working in my backyard. One of these is EarthWorks Boston, which is working to bring nature to the urban community. It does this through three main ways:

1. Planting fruit trees in open spaces, in conjunction with local neighborhood groups, to revive neglected spaces and share fruit with the community.
2. Bringing environment to 1,000 kids in the Boston schools through science-based programs in their own schoolyard.
3. Restoring Boston's own Urban Wilds areas, a total of 250 acres scattered throughout the city.

Donors can give tangible gifts such as dedicating a tree in an underforested area of Boston or giving an hour of environmental education lessons to Boston schoolchildren.

Local organizations like EarthWorks are crucial in making our city a real community. I hope you can join us in supporting them!

Nonprofit Highlight: Free Wheelchair Mission

Free Wheelchair Mission makes an amazing difference in the lives of people with physical mobility issues in the developing world. For under $50, you can buy and ship a wheelchair to someone who might have been bedridden, or might be shunned in their community due to their lack of mobility. These wheelchairs are made with mountain bike tires and backyard lawn chairs. They are low-cost, durable, lightweight, and get the job done. You can visit Free Wheelchair Mission to see a video about the enormous difference a wheelchair can make in a person's life.

There are 100 million people worldwide who need wheelchairs, and Free Wheelchair Mission's goal is to get 20 million wheelchairs out into communities. They have distributed 285,000 wheelchairs to date. Conscious Consuming is proud to have Free Wheelchair Mission participate in Gift it Up! 2007, and we hope you consider this alternative gift opportunity. You can donate at http://www.giftitup.org/, or email your friends and family a Christmas link about Free Wheelchair Mission.

Gift It Up! on the Tuber Report!

The Tuber Report was awesome enough to take the day off for Gift It Up! Check it out:

Nonprofit Highlight: African Health Foundation

Here's the bad news:
An estimated 12 million children have become orphans due to AIDS in Africa. As you can imagine, this dramatic reduction in adults and parental care has devastating effects on the social stability of these communities.

Over 2 million children in Africa are living with HIV. One of the greatest threats to their health is malaria, which kills 3,000 children every day. A cheap and easy way of preventing malaria is providing $5 bed nets that will keep away infected mosquitoes as the children sleep.

Here's the good news:
Non-profits like African Health Foundation are working everyday to build infrastructure and bring social stability and hope to these communities. Clean water and food are just the beginning, supported by counseling and sports activities for kids that upkeep the mental health of the community. African Health Foundation also brings needed supplies, like those mosquito nets, to the areas of the most need.

You can help. Visit www.giftitup.org to give to African Health Foundation and many other worthy non-profit organizations.

5 Green Christmas Tips >> EasterKiwi

Gift It Up! got a mention on 5 Green Christmas Tips on EasterKiwi's blog, next to bunch of other great ideas on keeping your Christmas more environmentally-friendly. Thanks, J!

Bakers, Volunteers and Emailers needed for tomorrow 12/1!!!

Gift it Up! is tomorrow and we need some more help to make sure it's a big success.

Can you bake something? We have a bakesale to offset our costs and make sure the groups get all the money raised at the fair. We would love for you to bring something for the bakesale.

Can you come volunteer? Even if it's only for one or two hours, it would make a difference helping spread the word to people.

Can you spread the word? Please email friends, family and coworkers about Gift it Up! If they are local, encourage them to come. If they aren't, or can't make it, encourage them to visit us on the web. Our general message about the fair is below. Thanks for helping out!

Please visit our website at http://www.giftitup.org/ and consider make an honorary gift to your choice of nonprofits in a loved one's name.

Instead of the newest incarnation of something you probably already have, won't you consider giving a gift to change the world? If you live in the Boston area, come to Gift it Up! If you can't make it to the event, participate online at http://www.giftitup.org/.

Conscious Consuming gathers 14 non-profits on Saturday, December 1, at the River of Life Church in Jamaica Plain. "Shoppers" will get to talk with representatives from each of the nonprofits, browse their programs, choose a gift to fit any budget, and receive a Gift it Up! card announcing the gift. The event is to be held: Saturday, December 1 12noon – 4pm River of Life Church 440 Center Street Jamaica Plain, MA

Alternative gifting is a growing trend; it was even featured in the funny 2007 indie film "Year of the Dog." If you are unable to attend the fair, you can visit the Gift it Up! website at http://www.giftitup.org/ to learn more about it, to see the list of participating non-profits, and to purchase gifts securely on line.

Conscious Consuming is an all-volunteer non-profit, holding this event to reduce consumption and help other nonprofits. Please forward this info widely!

Tis the Season to Gift It Up!

It's that time of the year again, when Conscious Consuming proudly presents Gift it Up! Please visit our website at www.giftitup.org and consider making a donation to your choice of nonprofits in a loved one's name.

According to the Consumer's Union, children in our country are sent 30,000 TV ads per year to get their parents to buy them stuff. And yet you know that there also are millions of children around the world who wish every day they had enough food or a safe place to sleep. American's produce 4-5 pounds of trash per person, per day, while children in many parts of the world labor to make us these cheap, "throwaway" goods. Instead of the newest incarnation of something you probably already have, won't you consider giving a gift to change the world?

If you live in the Boston area, come to Gift it Up! If you can't make it to the event, participate online at www.giftitup.org. Conscious Consuming gathers 14 non-profits on Saturday, December 1, at the River of Life Church in Jamaica Plain. "Shoppers" will get to talk with representatives from each of the nonprofits, browse their programs, choose a gift to fit any budget, and receive a Gift it Up! card announcing the gift. The event is to be held:

Saturday, December 1
12noon – 4pm
River of Life Church
440 Center Street
Jamaica Plain, MA

Alternative gifting is a growing trend; it was even featured in the funny 2007 indie film "Year of the Dog." If you are unable to attend the fair, you can visit the Gift it Up! website at www.giftitup.org to learn more about it, to see the list of participating non-profits, and to purchase gifts securely on line.

Conscious Consuming is an all-volunteer non-profit, holding this event to reduce consumption and help other nonprofits. Please forward this info widely!

Enjoy the peace and good will of the holiday season,

The Team at Conscious Consuming

Gift it Up! 2006 comes to You Tube

Gift it Up! 2006 raised over $8,000 for 14 Boston area non-profits. Please check out our You Tube video to see our successful event for yourself!

Conscious Consuming Events in December 2007

Gift it Up! - Boston's Fifth Annual Alternative Gift Fair offers a great way to honor friends and family with a meaningful gift full of holiday spirit and free of clutter!

Fifteen local, national and international non-profits will be gathered together offering a variety of donation levels. Donors will receive a custom card, certificate, and a tax deduction. In 2006, the Conscious Consuming community raised over $8,000 for participating non-profits.

Volunteers are welcome and needed for both planning and for the day of the event! Email volunteer@consciousconsuming.org if you can help.

Check out www.giftitup.org for more information or to donate on-line during the month of December.