Buy a Bauble for Charity

If you love accessories-- and who doesn't?-- then why not indulge your jones for shiny things while helping the planet and other people? While it's usually once in a blue moon when we buy diamonds, if you're in the market for a sparkler, then there is an ethical option to those "blood diamonds" harvested by unethical means in war-torn countries. The Web site BrilliantEarth.com offers consumers diamond jewelry that is certified conflict-free. If you'd like to help charities more directly, then there are many organizations that offer beautiful fair-trade jewelry. You can find many organizations that actually put poverty-stricken people in other countries to work making jewelry and other goods, paying them a fair wage and ensuring their quality of life increases. Globalexchangestore.org is such an organization, and you can even search goods by the country in which they're made - the United States is even included. And many charities offer jewelry and other accessories for which a portion is donated to charity.