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Beyond the big box: Feel-better alternatives for creative holiday gift shopping

If you’re looking to support workers, here’s a good year-round tool: Find products that are union-made in the U.S. And for the holidays, some union-made gift ideas.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing is once again out with its Made in America Holiday Gift Guide, with at least one idea from every state. Check out handmade leather bags and purses from Connecticut, or wooden wobble boards and climbing and balance toys made in Georgia, or beeswax wraps made in Hawai’irecycled and recyclable fort-making kits from a Kansas company, and bath and body products from Virginia.

DoneGood is out with a series of gift guides, including gifts under $50 and gifts for the Earth lover. As always, DoneGood lets you filter for values-driven options like empowering workers, recycled or upcycled, vegan, and more. 

Shopping for a tea-drinker? At Rakkasan Tea, “Unlike most premium loose-leaf tea companies, we import solely from carefully selected estates in post-conflict countries to promote peace and economic development.” Their teas come from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Colombia, and more. Rakkasan was co-founded by Brandon Friedman, a veteran, former Daily Kos diarist, and former Obama administration official. Check out the company’s origin story.

Experience gifts—local tours or museum visits or concert or theater or sports tickets or cooking classes or art classes—are always wonderful, but they’re usually closer to home and I don’t know where you are to recommend the best in your area.

Please add more ideas in the comments!

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