Print Magazine is currently running a project called “Carry Hope” where selected artists have designed tote bags and 100% of the profits will go to charity. They are now opening up the competition to the public and they will be featuring some of the design submissions in the magazine in addition to printing one of the designs from the public.
More info here. If you do participate, care to share a link to the design in a comment below?
Nina pointed me to Crisis Commons, an organization that brings together professionals to create useful tools in times of need. They have been conducting something called CrisisCamp where people get together on a specific day to work on projects.
In their words:
“Crisis Camp is a gathering of technologists who come together to build platforms to assist with the releif efforts in Haiti.”
“We are an international network of professionals drawn together by a call to service. We are developers, specialists, communicators, first responders, project managers, and people who just want to help!”
More here: http://crisiscommons.org/
Check on their site, top right corner, for upcoming CrisisCamp meet-ups in London, New York, Boston, Boulder/Devner, Los Angeles, Miami, Portland, Sillicon Valley and Washington DC.
Today begins Authentic Job’s annual New Year’s Promotion, but this year is different. They’re calling it the Twenty Ten promotion. It works like this: Post a listing between now and January 22 and you’ll receive 20% off your listing. More importantly, 10% of your purchase will be donated to Charity:Water to help bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
I am part of Authentic Jobs (see listings on the left side of my blog), so you can use the swissmiss promo code SWISSTEN.
You may also join in and donate to the Authentic Job campaign independent of posting a listing. They are hoping to raise $5,000, which is enough to fund the development of a freshwater well in one village.
Here’s to a fantastic (and cleaner) 2010.
(Coincidentally, Charity:Water is seeking a Web Designer / Front-end Developer in New York City.)
Anna Corpron and Sean Auyeung of Sub-Studio launched a new site this morning called the Working Proof. It is an online print gallery and shop with the mission of promoting both art and social responsibility through a series of limited-edition prints.
Prints are affordable (always under $100), and each print is paired by the artist with a charity to which they will donate 15% of each sale – creating what they believe to be a product with not just aesthetic, but social value. Their charities support a wide range of causes including humanitarian outreach, animal rights, environment, and research.
Their first print, Burden by Samantha Hahn, is simply lovely.
Four friends had an idea to collect gift cards and give them to people in need. They went to a gathering and asked 8 people how much money in unused Gift Cards they had in their wallets and walked away with $50 in Gift Cards to help people in need. GiftCardGiver.com was born.
What about you? Do you have any unused GiftCards? (I do!) It is very simple to get involved:
STEP 1: Use as much of your card as you want (or send a full card).
STEP 2: Write how much is left on your card using a permanent marker.
STEP 3: Place the card in an envelope and send it to the guys of GiftCardGiver.com at:
Gift Card Giver
490 East Side Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30316
They then collect and distribute the cards to appropriate Non-Profit Organizations that can use those cards to help others. This is a grass roots campaign that has created a new form of giving and you are an important piece to the idea coming to life.
Or here’s a cool idea: Throw a party and ‘card’ people at the door:
Big Belly Trash Compactors could make a huge impact in today’s garbage and recycling in big cities, like New York. The coolest part: It has a wireless notification system that will tell a control center when it needs to be picked up. Geeky stuff. Love it!
Does your t-shirt lower your carbon footprint and improve air quality and reduce your utility bill? This t-shirt does. This shirt is part of the Holiday Matinee Artist Series, which means they donate 100% of proceeds from every t-shirt sold to Plant-It 2020. That means every time you buy a shirt you plant, maintain, and protect twenty trees. It’s that simple, plus all shirts are tag-free and 100% organic. How’s that for a designy do-good-feel-good gift?
About the artist: Nikki Farquharson is a left-handed designer living in London, England. She’s obsessed with letters, lines, patterns, shapes and colors. For this project, Nikki wrote a poem where every word ends in the same sound of Holiday Matinee.
Hope Phones takes recycled phones and puts them to work on the front lines of global health. Donate yours to a medical clinic in a developing country today. If you’re in NYC, come and drop by your old phone at my studio as I ordered the shipping material for up to 50 phones. Or, get your own collection materials to start a collection campaign!
