Here's what I came up with.
(Please note that, though all points can be applied to wherever in the world, it is generally focused on living in Japan)
1. Lather yourself in Body Shop goodness
A dream for most beautiholic shoppers like me, surely.
I have always been a fan of British brand The Body Shop, but it is only recently that I have really noticed their values. Slogan-ing "cruelty free beauty", they have been campaigning against animal testing for 20 years, and have successfully helped in the EU ban on animal testing on cosmetics from March 11th 2013. Still, it's not completely banned in the rest of the world; thus their campaigning continues.
Not only do they fight against animal testing, they, in their words, support community fair trade & ethical trade, activate self esteem, defend human rights, protect the planet and undergo a variety of projects through their foundation. Think about it. You buy, for example, one bottle of luscious musk-scented body cream, perhaps a little pricer than your regular one from the local market, yet you help out in about 4 divisions of charity work. Of course, I can not make a stand on how the money you spend there is used exactly, but they do state on their website that money made from their products are put towards their projects, plus ingredients in your product are likely to be from fair trade resources and it won't have been tested on animals.
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| Some of my faves: hair protector & paddle brush |
2. Go hit Starbucks
To the cafe queens like I; let us rejoice in squeals of delight! If you're in Japan you'll have no trouble finding one in any city, nor are you likely to have trouble asking a Japanese friend to go for a coffee there with you. Starbucks have been keen, especially in the UK it seems, in promoting their usage of Fair Trade coffee beans. They take on the approach of "C.A.F.E." - Coffee and Farmer Equity, and, in their words, through purchasing third-party certified or verified coffee they help protect the environment and the livelihood of farmers in coffee-growing regions. This may only refer to some Starbucks stores in Japan, but every 20th of the month is "Fair Trade Day", where if you buy a regular (blended drip) coffee, hot or cold, you can buy another one for an extra 20yen! The best thing about this is that it can be also be bought at a different Starbucks at a later time, so long as it's on the same day of your first purchase, and you keep the receipt. (On other days aside from Fair Trade Day, if you buy a regular coffee, you can buy another for 100yen).
Now, I am aware of all the Starbuck-haters out there; I'm no coffee snob so their black coffees, occasional soy lattes and once-in-a-while mochas as a treat are fine for me, but I know it's not for everyone.
In that case, go to other cafes or restaurants which serve fair trade coffees/teas - most places will probably advertise it in their menus. Look out for the Fair Trade sign! The best way to know for sure is to look for the list of places on the Fair Trade Japan website here, where you can search by regions.
Now, I am aware of all the Starbuck-haters out there; I'm no coffee snob so their black coffees, occasional soy lattes and once-in-a-while mochas as a treat are fine for me, but I know it's not for everyone.
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| Fair Trade coffee (for home) by COCOs restaurant |
COCOs, a family restaurant in my area which I also often go to and have mentioned in previous posts serve some fair trade teas and coffees too.
3. Eat chocolate. Yes.
Could this list be more heavenly? This option is linked with the previous one, as this is again in terms of supporting Fair Trade. Not only is a large amount of coffee beans fair trade, but many cocoa beans are too, meaning...chocolate! I know fellow Britons will be happy (I saw a Japanese TV programme where the U.K. was ranked as 3rd in the world as the country who eats the most chocolate. Germany was 2nd, Romania was 1st, fyi). It appears that most of the fair trade chocolate sold in Japan are originally of companies abroad so they may only be available in some stores (such as Cadbury's), but there are a few Japanese ones too such as Aeon supermarket brand chocolate and Mujirishi chocolate. You can view the full list of fair trade chocolate at the Fair trade website here.
Not a fan of chocolate? Fair trade doesn't stop at beans - there are a variety of fair trade foods such as wine, spices, fruit and more. See the site for details, and, as with the cafes, keep your eyes peeled for that trusty sign. Next time you are in need of one of those products, deciding to choose the Fair Trade variation could make such a big difference.
4. Make Aeon your weekly grocery stop
As mentioned in option 3 Aeon supermarket supports Fair Trade, but they also appear to support a number of charity and environment work. For example, last month, from March 9th to the 11th, they held what was called 'The Yellow Receipt of Happiness' campaign, where all receipts were printed on yellow paper. If you placed your yellow receipt in their collection box, 1% of the total of your shopping was used as donation towards the Tohoku restoration. They do this Yellow Receipt of Happiness campaign every 11th of the month, and you are able to choose which donation box you wish to place your receipt in depending on the charity you would like to support. They also have a 'Clean and Green' environment support project, a plastic bottle cap collection project where if you donate your bottle caps donations are given towards children in third world countries and a bunch of other things. You can read more in their Enviroment and Social reports which they provide in English.
Therefore, at every shopping stop you can donate your receipts, bottle caps or simply support them by doing your shopping there.
Aeon supermarkets are located all over Japan, and some areas provide online shopping and delivery too.
5. Be a Santa Claus
I realise I began this saying that these options are preferable for busy bees who can slot these within their lifestyles, but if you can spare one day of the year, what better day to do charity work than Christmas Eve? For the British, Christmas season is especially Charity season, and as I wanted to do something last year I did some research and came across 'Charity Santa'. To put it simply, volunteers dress up as a Santa Claus and pretend to be the jolly, white-bearded loved father of the season and give presents to children. Parents will contact the Charity Santa and ask for "a Santa" to visit their home, school or somewhere they are holding a Christmas party and give the presents, which they have already prepared to their children. As a payment for doing a good deed, the parents donate money to the charity, who use the funds for children in third world countries. What I especially like about the charity is that the organisers who work in the charity, and do the work on Christmas Eve also actually go to the countries themselves to give the donations and help out there. It might help if you are able to communicate in Japanese at a basic level, but language shouldn't be stopping you - if anything, if you are Caucasian you would fit the role perfectly! (Some kids have their doubts when they meet Santa and ask why he can't speak English, etc). Unfortunately, most Santas are male roles, however, fear not if you are female - you can still help by being one of "Santa's little helpers", by guiding the Santa to the address of the child's house, keeping in contact with the parents to let them know you are on your way, etc.
The charity has groups that work all over the country, so you can check the website to see if there's a Charity Santa group near you.
Too busy with a date (a la Japanese style), don't have a Charity Santa near you or you're not keen on taking part? Then donate! Donations are collected throughout the whole year, but maybe if you sent some money in December, you can think of it as another good deed you did for Christmas.
6. Drop some change in that little pot
Though we may be running around in our own little worlds, there are people out there who make the time to actually go and do the practical charity work, whether that be to go to the areas that need help, or hold events to raise money. The least we can do is spare a few minutes by stopping on the street, taking a look at the group of students holding signs and calling in the street, see what it's about and to drop a few coins in their box (of course, if you agree with or would like to help with their work). This may be because I live up north, and things may be different in bigger cities like Tokyo, but I feel that there isn't a lot of charity work or people collecting for charity in Japan compared to the U.K. Therefore, when I do see people collecting, they stand out to me. I've noticed quite a few groups calling out in the streets of Sapporo these past 2 months; chuugaku students raising money for the Tohoku restoration, groups raising money for training guide dogs for those with disabilities (of which they let me pet the lovely Labrador in training) and raising money for groups who are caring for and trying to find new homes for pets and animals who were affected by the Tohoku disaster.
There is of course, the fact that you can donate or make monthly donations to big charities such as the Red Cross, but I personally prefer donating to the smaller charities, as I know most of the people I meet who collect the money are the ones that are making a difference.
Unless you are dashing to catch the last train, please don't saunter by without a thought when you see a group on the street. Give them a little of your time, then decide if you'll give them your support, too.
If any of the points above interest you and you would like to know more about them but are limited in your Japanese, I would be very happy to help! Simply leave a comment on this post or e-mail me :)
I hope to update this post as I find more methods of helping out, so stay tuned, folks ;)
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