One of my missions with the knack is to find companies that are doing extraordinary things. Ones that you might not know about because they are a smaller company or don’t have ads in InStyle magazine.

Here is a small selection of products that I have recently come across where the company’s philosophies are as wonderful as what they make.

Enjoy!

Stephanie Dickison
Editor & Publisher of the knack

Better Living By Giving

The philosophy behind Brent and Linda’s cards is this:

“The beauty of giving a GIVING card is that feeling of making someone happy goes a step further. We are committed to helping people live a better quality of life. So if a child needs school supplies or a neighbor needs a wheelchair, it’s our goal to help. Happiness really does come full circle by GIVING.”

The “what’s inside matters” philosophy not only extends from these two lovely people but the inside of their cards are so beautiful, so unexpected that when I opened the first card, I actually gasped.

When you go to their website, you’ll see what I mean. It’s like they have totally reversed the way I think about cards now - the good stuff IS on the inside!

I just love what their doing, both with their cards and in the community. I think you will too.

Grassroots

The push to be more green is on, and your best one-stop eco shop in Toronto is Grassroots, where you can find everything from bed and bath items and stationery/office supplies to solar ovens and a travel mug made from corn!

I am picking up some of those mugs for my neighbours, Best Friend Salve to protect my lovely dog’s paws (and people can use it too!) and some arm and leg warmers for the upcoming cool weather.

I love their bamboo and salvaged wood products for the kitchen and living room and for our dear friends who are moving this month, I’m thinking wool place mats, “a greeting that grows” and perhaps some organic cotton towels.

So whether you want to pick up some natural cleaners and water filters or do some early Christmas shopping (don’t laugh – it’s only about 4 months away!), you can find everything you need at one of their many locations in the city or shop online.

I’m doing my Christmas shopping early this year. Wanna come?

The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company Limited

I know. It’s quite the name. But you’ll change your mind about elephant poo after this – really!

The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company Limited makes journals, noteboxes and greeting cards. They are 100% recycled and ODOURLESS paper products, all made from elephant poo!

When you purchase an elephant poo product, a little booklet will be attached with lots of information about elephants and you will see that they are truly one of the earth’s loveliest creatures and deserve to be saved and treated well.

Your purchase helps elephant welfare efforts and provides jobs and opportunities along the way.

And if you’re wondering about how elephant poo became a part of the equation, here’s a little background from their website to help fill in the blanks:

“Basically, our sustainable cycle works like this: as with all creatures on our planet, elephants need a clean environment and a good diet. With these needs met an elephant produces a lot of dung, which we collect and use to make our products. We work with various conservation parks (and mahouts) to gather the dung (which is full of fibrous material and makes great paper). We then process the dung into paper sheets from which our products are made. The more we sell to customers like you and to stores across the country and around the world…the more we can contribute as a percentage of the profits from each item you buy is contributed to elephant welfare and conservation programs!”

See? I told you you’d see elephant poo in a whole different light!

I am using my beautiful, thick, sand and cherry-popsicle-pink covered journal to keep all of my goals close by.

I just recently added “Contribute to elephant welfare and conservation programs.”

I hope you’ll support them too.