The best buys
Our annual guide to gifts for good causes.

By Jodi Levin

PROGRESSIVES, LAY down your rants. Let the holiday spirit bring you the pleasure of shopping without the anger and frustration. Rediscover the fundamental joys of consumption that have been stolen by corporations intent on destroying good people looking to make an honest wage. Allay your fears of planet Earth's impending doom, or at least quell your anxiety about the ozone layer. For herewith is a selective list of gifts for good causes, an array of things – nice things, even – that may indeed help save the world if you purchase them.

Fair trade goods can be found even in Starbucks these days, thanks in part to Global Exchange and its groundbreaking work. But we're not suggesting to look to the coffee chain for your holiday gifts. G.X.'s two local fair trade stores opened more than a decade ago and present an incredible selection of goods from around the world that are produced fairly and with minimum impact on the environment. Buy chocolate here and avoid the taint of child slave labor – G.X. offers sweets from six fair trade manufacturers. For the traveler, consider the Nepalese travel sewing kit ($14) or a hemp messenger bag ($43). For the music-minded, check out the Jamtown Junior Pak with drum, shaker, and claves ($49), the bamboo temple wind chimes ($21), or some Tibetan singing bowls ($28). Better yet, just go to one of Global Exchange's stores and amaze yourself with how gorgeous do-good gifts can be. San Francisco: Mon.-Fri. and Sun., 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.-7 p.m., 4018 24th St. (415) 648-8068. Berkeley: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m., 2840 College. (510) 548-0370, store.globalexchange.org/index.html.

Another resource for fair trade artisan goods is the Borneo Project, an online store that assists the island's indigenous peoples in their struggle to regain control of their ancestral lands. One-of-a-kind beaded panels ($75 to $95), museum-quality beaded bags ($75 to $300), woven mats ($125 to $200), baskets ($25 to $30), and more are on offer; proceeds are funneled back to the artists and their communities. www.earthisland.org/borneo/crafts.html.

Julia Butterfly Hill lived up in a tree named Luna for more than two years to prevent it and other old-growth redwoods from being logged. Hill, who went on to start an organization called Circle of Life, might have found a supper kit useful while living in Luna; so, too, will anyone who makes his or her own way through the jungle of the urban lunch. The Circle of Life supper kit ($15) includes a stainless steel food container, a hemp napkin, and a clip-together utensil set. Upgrade to a One Makes the Difference kit ($33 to $53) and you'll get a Circle of Life shopping bag and your choice of mugs. Or thrill your recycling-crazed giftee with 100 percent postconsumer reused notebooks: the cover is cut from a cereal box, the pages are blank on the front and used on the back. It's only $5, and proceeds benefit Circle of Life's work of forest defense and worldwide environmental activism. www.circleoflife.org/store/col_store.htm.

Draw Bridge, an arts program for homeless children, brings arts activities into shelters and in so doing provides not only a way for anxious kids to communicate their stress and hope but also a relief for busy parents. The program raises money through the sale of cards, tote bags, posters, and T-shirts adorned with pictures painted by children in Draw Bridge's workshops. The artwork is impressive – colorful and sophisticated. Cards ($11) come in sets of eight and cover traditional holiday themes (peace, love, winter scenes, Hanukkah) as well as other occasions (birthday, missing you, etc.). Tote bags ($24) and T-shirts ($15) feature bright designs on purple or black backgrounds. store.yahoo.com/drawbridge-store/cards.html (cards) and store.yahoo.com/drawbridge-store/giftitems.html (tote bags, T-shirts, and posters).

Stores participating in Working Assets' Shop for Change donate 3 to 5 percent of your purchase price to the progressive causes on Working Assets' annual ballot, many of which are local nonprofits (Global Exchange, Ruckus Society, National Radio Project, Rainforest Action Network, etc.). Click through to sites for Patagonia, Proflowers, Powell's Books, and more. www.workingforchange.com/shop/index.cfm.

A new organization based in the Bay Area and Ecuador, Kuri Ashpa works to preserve indigenous culture in the Amazon region of Ecuador, much of which is under threat of extinction. Kuri Ashpa recently printed its first book, Kuntur kuyashkamanta/El cóndor enamorado/The Condor Who Fell in Love, a trilingual retelling of an Andean legend. The book's story and illustrations proffer an ugly suitor who deceives and kidnaps – an unusually complicated tale that's a panacea to treacly children's books. The Condor ($14) is only available at Gathering Tribes South in Albany. Mon.-Wed. and Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thurs.-Fri., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m., 1564 Solano, Albany. (510) 526-7003.

More than 40 AIDS-related organizations benefit from sales at Under One Roof, which becomes a one-stop-shopping mecca during the holidays. Look here for ornaments (a Polonaise Santa on a Harley Davidson, anyone?), tchotchkes, and gag gifts. For this alone, we are grateful, never mind the more than $9.4 million Under One Roof has given to AIDS service organizations. You'll find bar towels printed with sayings like Do Not Mistake Endurance for Hospitality ($9), jeweled glass perfume bottles ($28), and Thymes body care products. And Under One Roof's ability to appeal to both the goose and the gander is mirrored by a certain theological tolerance as well: delights such as Zen Judaism: For You, a Little Enlightenment ($11.95) and menorahs ($20) sit across the aisle from the aforementioned Santas, and there's also a large section of Buddhism-inspired goods. Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-7 p.m., 549 Castro, S.F. www.underoneroof.org/shop.html.

The weekly Mission Village Market is just like any other flea market, if every flea market were organized by CELLspace. Pedal Revolution's Bike Kitchen sells refurbished bikes and teaches repair skills while a range of vendors sell everything from handmade art to fishing poles to off-brand games like Zobmondo Lite ("That Crazy 'Would You Rather' Game"), all next to CELLspace's huge warehouse of giant puppets and theatrical props. Sat., 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (best to come early), 2050 Bryant, S.F. (415) 648-7562, www.cellspace.org.

On Valencia Street you'll find "San Francisco's only independent pirate store" and all things a buccaneer could ever desire. At 826 Valencia there are pirate flags ($11 to $22), a compass in the shape of a ship's wheel ($10), treasure boxes ($7.25 to $40), and cute Karl T-shirts that work even if you or your recipient didn't know Karl before his demise. Message bottles filled with slips of paper ("It was hard to love such a clumsy man") are whimsical and only $4. For the grown-ups, a 50-year circular calendar is small but of impressive heft and sells for $20, as do glass eyeballs. Everything purchased at the pirate store benefits 826 Valencia Writing Center and its writing workshops, tutoring, and field trips for students ages 8 to 18. Tues.-Sun., noon-6 p.m., 826 Valencia, S.F. www.826valencia.org/store.

Hop a bit north, cross Valencia, and you'll be at Community Thrift, which donates its profits to many, many local nonprofit organizations. Folks drop off their quality stuff and designate a nonprofit to receive the proceeds. Here you'll find treasures of the non-piratical sort; definitely check out the huge and well-selected book section. Remember Community Thrift when you're getting rid of your unwanted gifts after the holidays, too. Just be prepared: it's pickier than Buffalo Exchange. Daily, 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m., 623 Valencia, S.F. (415) 681-4910.

Berkeley's Ecology Center is a general store and more: find post-consumer recycled papers, nontoxic gardening supplies, books on sustainable living, ecology, and more for kids and adults, and a nice supply of hemp wear. Purchasing here supports the planet and also the Ecology Center's programs, which include the Berkeley farmers market and curbside recycling program. Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m., 2530 San Pablo, Berk. (510) 548-2220.

Deck the walls

Buying artwork for other people can get tricky, but some truly beautiful prints and posters are out there. And if you know your recipients' tastes well enough, you might just make their day.

Inkworks Press (inkworks.igc.org/sell.html) has been illustrating the peace movement for close to 30 years. The worker-managed shop offers a selection of its posters for $15 each, including Doug Minkler's Art Is a Hammer lithograph and Lincoln Cushing's End Apartheid.

The goal of Fifty Crows Foundation is to effect positive social change through documentary photography. The foundation runs the yearly International Fund for Documentary Photography competition, has a SoMa gallery space, and holds photography workshops. Support its work by purchasing one of many arresting prints ($150 to $2,200), including Paul Fusco's 25th Anniversary of Woodstock ($500) and Todd Hido's Levittown, New York, 2000 ($400). Wed.-Fri., noon-6 p.m., and by appointment, 1074 Folsom, S.F. (415) 551-0091.

If you're looking for a less expensive way to adorn the walls, consider the funny Evolution of a Diver poster ($13), a pen-and-ink drawing of people's evolution from the water and back, available at the Web site of the Coral Reef Alliance (www.coralreefalliance.org/store). Proceeds from poster sales benefit the alliance's efforts to save coral reefs worldwide. The Western Native Trout Campaign of the Center for Biological Diversity (www.endangeredearth.org/store/index.htm) focuses on protecting the trout's habitat, and to raise awareness of the campaign, the center has printed Native Trout of the West, a poster illustrated by Joseph Tomerelli. As captured by Tomerelli in an Audubon-like style, trout gain a beauty and rarity unknown to those gazing down on the frying pan. Best yet – the poster is free. Just add $3.50 for shipping and handling. And the Surfrider Foundation (www.surfrider.org), which works to preserve oceans and beaches, offers a Monopoly Surfing Edition ($35.95), T-shirts ($18), and surfer playing cards ($3.95). Be sure to order soon. You may have to pay for express shipping, but Monopoly Surfing is hella.

Museum shopping

Museums and galleries raise significant income from their stores. Running out of time and can't get to a museum? Memberships serve just as well or better and can be ordered over the phone or online.

Fort Mason Center (Marina at Laguna, S.F. www.fortmason.org) hosts the Mexican Museum (415-202-9700), MuseoItaloAmericano (415-673-2200), the Museum of Craft and Folk Art (415-775-0991), and the San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society (415-441-0640). And over at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (34th Avenue and Clement, S.F. 415-863-3330, www.thinker.org/legion/index.asp), you'll find posters, notebooks, ties, socks, and more emblazoned with artwork selected to signify the museum. The Asian Art Museum (200 Larkin, S.F. 415-581-3500, www.asianart.org) has exquisite and high-end gifts at its store.

The artwork at Galería de la Raza (2857 24th St., S.F. 415-826-8009, www.galeriadelaraza.org) is a feast for the eyes, but people with a penchant for Chicano kitsch or traditional – and gorgeous – Latin American art will be especially pleased with a gift from this Inner Mission gallery.

For kids' gifts, of course, there's the Exploratorium (3601 Lyon, S.F. 415-EXP-LORE, www.exploratorium.edu), Lawrence Hall of Science (Centennial Drive, Berk. 510-642-5132, www.lhs.berkeley.edu), the Bay Area Discovery Museum (557 McReynolds, East Fort Baker, Sausalito. 415-339-3900, www.baykidsmuseum.org), and Habitot (2065 Kittredge, Berk. 510-647-1111, www.habitot.org). The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (151 Third St., S.F. 415-357-4000, www.sfmoma.org) also has a great kids section, as does the Oakland Museum of California (1000 Oak, Oakl. 510-238-2200, www.museumca.org), both of which also have a large array of innovative gifts for adults.

For older kids, try the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association (Polk and Beach, S.F. 415-561-6662, www.maritime.org) and its collection of games, books, and WWII novelties. The San Francisco Cable Car Museum (1201 Mason, S.F. 415-929-1887, www.cablecarmuseum.com) is sure to have something for your history or transportation enthusiast, and anything from the San Francisco Fire Museum (655 Presidio, S.F. 415-563-4630, www.sffiremuseum.org) will likely delight most 4-year-olds and many 60-something-year-olds.

Jody Levin is a grant writer and former Bay Guardian editor who loves shopping without guilt.