sundance

5 perfect gifts for your “I’ve already seen that on the Internet” friend

I know for a fact that most of you have not finished (or even started) your holiday shopping due to that deadly virus known as procrastination. Well I’m here with a few unique gift suggestions for your impossible-to-shop-for loved ones.

1. For your “foodie” chef who is also obsessed with designers’ trendy incorporation of brass knuckles, I recommend this brass knuckle shaped meat pounder.

2. One of my favorite online memes to emerge has been the Sad Keanu Reeves meme, and if you’re shopping for a “Redditor” or someone who hasn’t met a meme they didn’t like (hint: me), then this toy model of Sad Keanu Reeves is perfect.

A shopper’s guide to crappy 9/11 products

The 10th anniversary of September 11th is a time for reflection, family, and apparently, shopping. From commemorative iPhone speakers to decorative dinner napkins, it seems consumerism will truly triumph over all – including good taste and common sense. Here, a list of the best (worst) crap available to gear up for the big day.

This is art: color-coded grocery shopping

I love Marco Ugolini’s photo series “Per Color” (in collaboration with Pedro Motto) that highlights color-coded grocery shopping at a local supermarket in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The artist explains: I see the supermarket space as a space of manipulation. The attempt, in this action, is to subvert this structure of power…None of the products have [...]

Green shopping: genuine change, or just another search for status?

So, do you look for labels such as “recycled,” “organic,” or “biodegradable” when you shop? Many of us do… but debates still rage over the overall impact of promoting green shopping as a means to lighten our collective footprint. Some argue we should meet people where they are… and that means addressing our self-image as consumers. Others counter that such tactics only maintain a status quo based on unsustainable resource inputs, and that we should be pushing for less consumption… particularly in the developed world. Such approaches may not only improve environmental quality, but also make us happier, as we’re not consumed by the need to get and spend.

Shopping last minute? Check out companies’ climate scores before buying

With Christmas just a few days away, you may be rushing out to buy those last-minute gifts for friends and loved ones. If you’re concerned about the climate impact of the companies from which you buy, Climate Counts’ third annual ratings of corporations’ efforts to fight global warming will take one stresser out of the equation.

Yellowstone hotel gift shop educates shoppers on global warming, product footprints

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel gift shop

Think of a hotel or tourist destination gift shop as a place full of cheap crap likely made by underpaid workers in the developing world? In most cases, you’re spot on. At Yellowstone National Park’s Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, though, concessionaire Xanterra Parks & Resorts is aiming for a very different kind of gift shop experience: one that educates shoppers on the effects of global warming, and the lifecycle of the gifts they purchase.