Buy Handmade - Make Your Pledge To Buy Handmade Goods.

Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving.

The giver of a handmade gift has avoided the parking lots and long lines of the big chain stores in favor of something more meaningful. If the giver has purchased the gift, s/he feels the satisfaction of supporting an artist or crafter directly. The recipient of the handmade gift receives something that is one-of-a-kind, and made with care and attention that can
be seen and touched. It is the result of skill and craftsmanship that is absent in the world of large-scale manufacturing.

Buying handmade is better for people.

The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. We are encouraged to be consumers, not producers, of our own culture. Our ties to the local and human sources of our goods have been lost. Buying handmade helps us reconnect.

Buying handmade is better for the environment.

The accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production.

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The Handmade Pledge collected over ten thousand signatures in its 2 short months of existence this holiday season. That's ten thousand people who stayed out of the malls and gave meaningful, one-of-a-kind, handmade gifts to thier friends and families. And that's countless thousands more who were lucky enough to receive those gifts!

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Etsy's online magazine, The Storque, is making a video documentary in conjunction with the Handmade Pledge. Your videos are welcome! Read all about it here.

Some folks pledge for political and environmental reasons, and some pledge because handmade gifts are just more satisfying to the senses. We've compiled some resources here for a variety of pledgers!

Wikipedia's definition of Craftivism

Third Wave Craftivism?
DIY panel explores relationship between feminism, crafting

Craftivism: Is Crafting the New Activism?
From the Columbia Chronicle.

Whipup
Whipup's goal is to "create a community of artists, crafters and makers and share ideas in a central space."

Hand Made Theory
Interesting blog about contemporary craft, physical making, and their relationship with culture, technology and design.

Extreme Craft

Sew Green
Multi-authored blog on crafting and the environment

The Eco-Fashion Revolution
On Alternet: You Are What You Wear

Stich Links
A global friendship network researching the therapeutic benefits of knitting and stitching.

The Etsy Labs Library
All kinds of crafting resources.

Craft Revolution
Great blog with resources for crafters as small business owners/operators

Consumer Consequences
An interactive game designed to illustrate the impact of our lifestyles on the Earth.

Why Consumption Matters
By David Tilford of The Sierra Club.

Conscientious Consuming
On the process of evaluating the conduct and activities of product manufacturers when purchasing consumer products.

Behind the Label
A multimedia news web site covering stories of people fighting for human and labor rights against the global clothing industry.

Corporate Critic
Indexes and rates the Corporate Social Responsibility records of over 50,000 companies.

The Sustainability Dictionary
An open dictionary focusing on how sustainability concepts are creating new understandings in business, government, and society.

The Consumerist
News blog for conscious consumers, with a sense of humor.

Coop America
A not-for-profit harnessing the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace to create a just and environmentally sustainable society.

sweatfree.org
A network For local action against sweatshops.

The Institute For Local Self-Reliance
Provides the conceptual framework, strategies and information to aid the creation of ecologically sound and economically equitable communities.

Open Directory Project: Allegedy Unethical Firms: WalMart
See what Walmart is up to in your community.

New Rules
Dedicated to changing laws and policies affecting small-scale businesses.

Reclaim Democracy
Cataloging Resources for people interested in fighting the big-box stores.

Big Box Reuse
Ways that communities have re-purposed former Big-Box stores.

Big Box Toolkit
A project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This site is a resource for communities looking to defeat big-boxes and support local business.

WalMart Watch
A nationwide public education campaign to challenge the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, to become a better employer, neighbor, and corporate citizen.

Sprawl Busters
An international clearinghouse on Big Box anti-sprawl information.

The American Independant Business Alliance

Indie Craft Documentary

HandMade Nation

"What Would Jesus Buy?"