These Favorites from Fellow B Corps Make Great Gifts—and Support Companies That Care About Their Impact
Now is the perfect time to remind ourselves how much voting power we hold in our wallets. The dollars we spend allow us to Vote Every Day for companies that align with our values. Those companies we collectively support and vote for through our purchases are the ones that grow and prosper.
In our first-ever Keap Gift Guide, we’re excited to share items — from notebooks to chocolate truffles — produced by fellow Certified B Corporations that you can vote for to create a brighter future. These are all companies we at Keap know and vouch for personally, and we often recommend them to our friends and family.
You have voice and power beyond the ballot box. By buying from, working for and doing business with B Corps, you vote for what you believe in. Every day is election day — Vote Every Day. Vote B Corp.
Without further ado:
For the Caring Creative: Public — Supply
The What
Our Brooklyn neighbors Public — Supply make stunning notebooks. Working with artists, unusual materials and a gracefully modern aesthetic, the company creates noteworthy items that encourage creative pursuits and personal rituals.
The Why
Public — Supply does all this in support of the arts in public schools. The B Corp wishes to see more students able to engage in creative pursuits — from writing and painting to singing and dancing — because creativity creates more engaged classrooms and students. To this end, Public — Supply channels 25% of the profits from every sale to a teacher in a high-need classroom who will use the money for a project that drives creativity.
The Gift
We love the soft-to-touch velvet notebook collection. Its sleek and textured appearance makes the notebook not only standout in a crowd but also feel fittingly festive at this warm and cozy time of year. It’s a great gift for someone with pent-up creative flair who also needs a warm hug.
For the Thoughtfully Indulgent: Alter Eco
The What
Alter Eco make deliriously delicious chocolates. Just thinking about the soft, melt-in-the-middle truffles triggers an almost Pavlovian response to buy them. You have been warned.
The Why
Alter Eco exist to create a full-circle approach to eating, farming, and doing business. In addition to making mouthwatering chocolate, the B Corp invests in better working conditions for its farmers, caring for the land and eliminating waste. In 2013, Alter Eco became the first candy company to use compostable wrappers to wrap its truffles. Click here to learn more about the B Corp’s full-circle approach to sustainability.
The Gift
You can’t really go wrong with Alter Eco’s products, but we have a particular soft spot for the soft-centered truffles, and the extra dark ones at that. The satisfying crack of the exterior, followed by the smooth, soft center that melts with a cool effect on the tongue — few things are more festive than indulging in a box or two of these delights.
For the Caffeinated Wanderer: Klean Kanteen
The What
Klean Kanteen specializes in rugged yet stylish reusable containers — think a sleek stainless steel water bottle or colorful coffee mug. The B Corp’s containers can keep any hot or cold drink at exactly the temperature you like.
The Why
Klean Kanteen was started in 2004 with a clear mission to find a safe and sustainable alternative to single-use plastic bottles. Today, it offers an ever-expanding assortment of products designed to reduce single-use waste of all kinds.
The Gift
If you know someone who is always on the go (often with a coffee cup or water bottle in hand), then a Klean Kanteen will be their new best friend. We love Klean Kanteen’s stainless steel Reflect bottle: It was intentionally made without any plastics or paint, formed instead of just steel and bamboo. It both looks magnificent and keeps your drinks hot or cold all day. What more could you ask for?
For the Waste-Free Home: Full Circle Home
The What
Full Circle specializes in beautiful and functional products to take care of your home, from cleaning and drying to composting and storing. The B Corp turns items that every home needs into design pieces everyone wants.
The Why
Full Circle wants to ensure you can safely take care of your home while also taking care of the planet. Its products are designed to preserve resources and reduce waste while offering durable, safe materials.
The Gift
The B Corp offers so many brilliant products, but we particularly love the bubble-up soap dispenser as an elegant and eco-efficient gift option. A bamboo brush sits snugly inside a soap-dispensing ceramic base that creates lush suds and stores neatly on the counter. Sink nirvana!
For Cleansing the Body and Nourishing the Soul: Dr. Bronner’s
The What
Dr. Bronner’s is certainly the largest and best-known business in this list. The company has been purveying its natural soaps since 1948! You have likely seen the colorful and iconic bottles in the cleaning aisle of your local health-focused grocery store.
The Why
Dr. Bronner’s does business in a radically inclusive manner, summed up well by its motto, “We are All-One or None!” The B Corp treats its staff, customers, suppliers and the environment with equal respect. We particularly love that it owns and operates its own organic and fair trade certified coconut and palm farms. This ensures that the oils used in its soaps help create healthier natural ecosystems instead of deforestation.
The Gift
We suggest sticking with the classic Pure Castile Soap. It comes in unscented as well as a variety of scents (all derived from essential oils). My co-founder Harry swears by the Lavender — and you could say he’s pretty picky on his Lavender! If you can’t decide on a scent, Dr. Bronner’s recently created a Mini Castile Gift Set with four favorite scents.
Happy gifting and happy holidays, from the Keap team!
Stephen Tracy is co-founder of Keap, a Brooklyn-based Certified B Corporation.
B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
The Keap Candles 2019 B Corp Holiday Gift Guide was originally published in B the Change on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
