Thrifty’s Top 5 Fair Trade Gift Ideas

The good news is that you’ve fallen in love. The bad news is that her birthday is on Tuesday.

What can you get someone that you’ve only known for two weeks? Before you buy her the ubiquitous gift certificate, check out Ten Thousand Villages.

Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade store that has unique gifts from around the world. Employees work directly with artisans, encouraging local arts traditions and paying fair wages. Not only can you find your love interest a great gift, you can support the ideals of fair trade and local economic sustainability! And economic sustainability is sexy – a lot sexier than a gift certificate.

Here are five gifts ideas for under 35$:

1. Kisii Stone sculpture from Kenya (32-50$). Caressing Kisii stone is a magnificent sensory experience – it feels tremendously smooth and sensual. Being “the guy who gave me Kisii stone” will do great things for your romantic life.

2. Natural Woven Shopping Bag from Thailand. (21$) Your love interest has 700 Sobey’s bags stuffed in a kitchen drawer, where they are taking up valuable Mr. Noodle’s space. This bag will allow her to stop accumulating plastic.

3. Divine Fair Trade chocolate (1 – 4$). Tastes like justice – chocolaty justice.

4. Daisy Chain Bracelet from South Africa (9$). Because there’s no such thing as too much jewelry.

5. Onyx Candleholder from Pakistan (10-24$). Onyx is a beautiful marbled stone that comes in a variety of colours and patterns. You will never find a candleholder this cool at Wal-Mart.

For more ideas, visit www.tenthousandvillages.com or visit the store at 80 King Street South.