SlickWear – Buy an Eco-Bag and Support a Cause at Checkout

From Glenn Croston's blog at Ecopreneurist (http://s.tt/13Km7)   One of the great things about green businesses is their commitment to giving back to the world around them, helping both people and planet in many ways. A growing number of businesses support environmental and social causes and groups that deliver solutions. SlickWear gives you a new way to support a cause through their Eco-Bag store, letting you pick a bag, and pick a cause as well when you make a purchase.   Both people running businesses and their customers are hungry to do something meaningful with their lives, to connect with and help the world around us in a way that buying and selling stuff alone doesn’t provide. The rapid growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in businesses large and small shows how powerful this impulse is, even in rough economic times.   For give back programs, businesses sometimes commit a specific percentage of gross revenue or profits to a specific cause, or to give to a third party that then forward the money, like 1% for the Planet. The causes don’t change much, which helps to keep things simple and consistent.   Giving is always good, but SlickWear takes things further. Most give back programs decide for you where the contribution will go. With SlickWear, you get to choose the cause you support at checkout time.   SlickWear was founded in the summer of 2010 by Yash Raval and Pranav Reddy in Boulder, Colorado, and recently added Jake Walker as Operations Manager. The bags they carry on their site are made from eco-friendly materials. Bags from English Retreads, for example, are made from recycled inner tubes and have recycled polyethylene liners inside. Bags from Five Accessories are handmade with fair trade practices and recycled materials. The Messenger Bag or iPad bag are not just hip, but use recycled mosquito netting and are produced with fair trade labor in Cambodia, for example.   Every month one cause is highlighted on the SlickWear site. Their last partnership was with Catalyst Foundation, a non-profit that helps and protects poor children in Vietnam from human trafficking. They also provide education for these kids as a way to move them toward a healthier and happier life. Before this SlickWear partnered with Namaste Wings to Fly America, a group working to help Kani children in India. The Kani live in the southernmost part of India, an area of jungles, with most being very poor and with little food, education, or medical care. Providing an alternative to orphanages, Namaste Wings to Fly America provides family houses in which children can live and receive the care they need to grow and prosper, opening new possibilities in their lives.   SlickWear’s newest partner is www.greenlifestyles.org. The Green Lifestyle Film Festival is a non-profit, grassroots organization with a new vision for films and media. Green Lifestyles invites filmmakers, sponsors, donors, press/media and the public to join their mission to change the modern day pervasive media messages based on fear and violence in films to films that address the reasons behind such distorted images of mankind and our role here.   It’s great to be a part of stories like this, even if our role is small. With time, and with many people choosing to be a part of their work, small contributions can add up to big changes.   What cause will be highlighted by Slickwear next? Stay tuned.   Glenn Croston is the author of “75 Green Businesses”, working to help businesses make money and make a difference. He can be reached at glenn.croston@startingupgreen.com

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