Welcome to the present that is in our hands:
\u201cThere are no impact investors without social enterprises, and there are no social enterprises without conscious consumers.\u201d Today we talk about another type of change agent: the consumer-citizen who chooses a certain product\/service and discards another based on the level of commitment the company marketing it has made to society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Herein lies the most important civic act a citizen can perform: when buying, voting with their money for the type of companies and productive system they want. This was already predicted in 2008 by Professor Carlos Ballesteros in his book: Your purchase is your vote<\/a>. Companies are preparing to adapt to the positioning that the new consumer has decided to adopt in the face of the urgent need to create a fairer, more humane, and sustainable economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the latest study by Marcas con Valores,\u2018Impact of Covid-19 and Conscious Consumption<\/a>\u2019, this pandemic has made us rethink what is truly essential, shaking our values and placing sustainability in a priority position: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe public is now aware of the irreparable damage caused by this cycle of extraction, accumulation and waste. They know that consumerism is suffocating us and suffocating the planet. That is why more thoughtful shopping is becoming the norm, as opposed to excessive consumption or \u201cbuying for the sake of buying\u201d: 85 % of citizens say they only buy when they need something or think carefully about whether they need it.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the Open Value Foundation, we believe that during this consumerist Christmas season, it's possible to demonstrate that immediacy is a thing of the past and that together we can promote more conscious consumption with greater social impact. In this blog, we're sharing ten Spanish social and environmental initiatives that propose new ways to organise more inclusive Christmas events, products with soul that should feature on our Christmas tables, and gifts that are sure to impress, thanks to the stories of those behind their creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Play Go Round: a new way to play<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Why give a toy that children will surely outgrow in a few hours or weeks when you can give them months and months of exciting, sustainable play?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Play Go Round revolutionises the way children play at home, fostering the development of new generations in the most fun, educational, exciting and sustainable way possible. Its circular approach, through gifting a subscription to educational toys, becomes one of the best tools for child development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All you need to do is choose the number of months you want to gift, purchase the card and choose from over 300 toys featured in the catalogue. For the duration of the subscription, they will receive toys, play with them for as long as they want, and exchange them when they lose interest, and so on, as many times as they like.\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/app.play-go-round.com\/es\/product-category\/gift\/ Ecodicta: infinite and circular wardrobe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Making a single pair of jeans requires 7,500 litres of water. Can you imagine what our wardrobes full of clothes cost the planet? Clothes that we often don't even use or get rid of them in a short time to buy new ones. https:\/\/ecodicta.com\/cajas-regalo\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mutitaa: we weave stories that transform lives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The social entrepreneurship project Mutitaa aims for the labour integration of individuals at risk of social exclusion and\/or with disabilities in Battambang (Cambodia), through the creation of its own knitwear brand, aimed at people with a sense of solidarity and concerned with leaving a better world. Mutitaa's goal is to create social capital and raise awareness for its cause, associated with the NGO Sauce, which has been operating in Cambodia for 25 years, thanks to the renowned work of Kike Figaredo, without whom Mutitaa would not exist today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can weave the link that will bring you closer to the people on the other side who made the jumpers, and your purchase will go towards creating social capital that will continue to generate joy in Battambang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/mutitaa.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikarit: cosmetics that empower women\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikarit is a social entrepreneurship project implemented by the NGO OAN International. Its objective is to contribute to the empowerment of women who produce pure shea butter in the commune of Nikki, in northern Benin; a country located in West Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This Christmas, they're offering us a very special gift: the \u2018Limited Edition Christmas Gift\u2019 box, containing pure shea butter, hand cream, and lip balm, and much more. This is a limited edition whose benefits will go towards supporting the women of the 5 cooperatives in Nikki with whom they work, so that they can create vegetable gardens in their villages, diversifying their income streams, providing quality food for their families, and protecting the shea tree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/nikarit.es\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n AMAQTEDU: art that brings life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AMAQTEDU is a 100% social project that runs art courses focused on training and personal development for homeless people and those at risk of social exclusion, with the aim of helping them reintegrate into society and the labour market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This organisation sells \u2018vital canvases\u2019, which are the life stories of people experiencing homelessness who wish for a better future. On each canvas, you'll find an explosion of colours reflecting their enthusiasm for life, their drive to keep going, and teaching that despite adversity, it's always possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/amaqtedu.es\/shop\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Uttopy: collections that make visible and support a cause that helps the world<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Uttopy is a sustainable fashion brand that spreads a positive message in favour of a cause by promoting everyday micro-activism and helping an NGO raise funds to find a solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each garment supports a social organisation working towards its cause by donating a transparent proportion of its price, and comes with awareness-raising materials. The main causes they focus on are gender equality, reducing inequalities and climate change. Furthermore, they use 100% organic cotton, which is locally printed using eco-friendly inks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/uttopy.com\/ Catering Plaza de los Oficios: employability of young people at risk of social exclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Plaza de los Oficios Foundation offers vocational training to boost the employability of young people at risk of social exclusion. For the project to be sustainable, they have a quality catering service for different needs, where students put what they have learned into practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks to varied training in Cooking and Restaurant Management, Cooking and Gastronomy, and different waiting courses, they offer modern, sustainable, and quality cuisine at very competitive prices, guaranteeing the safety and control of all processes as the service is always supervised by the course instructors. Furthermore, the profits generated from the catering service are used to support and fund the training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.plazadelosoficios.org\/servicio-catering\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Catering Embraces a Dish: recipes know no borders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Acoge Un Plato is an initiative by CEAR that works towards the inclusion of refugees through gastronomy, empathy, and sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They address migration and the right to asylum in a positive, everyday and universal way, using gastronomy as a means to give a voice to refugees. Furthermore, they recover the stories and recipes that have accompanied them on their journeys to our country and that allow them to connect with their origins and share their culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.acogeunplato.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n RobinGood: Food with soul\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n RobinGood, a name that honours the vigilante who fought for the disadvantaged, is a social enterprise that, by distributing products made by social businesses, is creating employment opportunities for people at risk of social exclusion in Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The baskets offer high-quality artisan products that carry human stories with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this problem in mind, Ecodicta was born, the circular wardrobe service, which through rentals seeks to extend the lifespan of garments as much as possible to reduce the need to buy and hence rampant production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n