Give
You know what else money can buy you? A warm, fuzzy, I-done-good feeling—at least when you’re sharing the wealth (and the love). Charitable donations and purchases that empower the little guy have an amazing return on investment, karma-wise.
Go Green Sole Food Street Farms supplies local produce to some of the city’s top restaurants, so when you donate to their eorts (which include providing handson urban farming work experience to high-risk DTES residents), in a roundabout way you’re benefiting your next dining experience. Make a donation, and then really savour that heirloom tomato salad at Savio Volpe, knowing you’ve done some good. solefoodfarms.com
Shopping Spree Holt Renfrew’s special H Project department enlists designers from around the world annually to craft socially responsible fashion and accessories that give back— like Uashmama fauxleather planters made from ultra-sustainable fiber or Guatemalan Mercado clutches, which provide artists in poverty with a livelihood. holtrenfrew.com
Hair Care That Cares AG Hair already is doing good for the earth—the plant-based products are all-natural, which mean no parabens, PABA or diethanolamine are washing down the drain—but founder Lotte Davis (left) is helping out mankind (well, girlkind) in the process, too, with partial proceeds from each bottle sold going toward her South African female education charity, One Girl Can. Products from $17.70, aghair.com
Dress Up A few years back, fashion designer Treana Peake converted her Obakki fashion brand into a purely charitable endeavour—all sales of the essentials line and foundation products benefit the eponymous Obakki Foundation, which empowers communities in South Sudan, Uganda and Cameroon with sustainable development projects. So whether you’re stocking up on her super-soft organic tees or artfully frayed limited-edition Scarves 4 Water, you’re doing good and looking good. Scarves from $39; essentials from $42; obakkifoundation.org