Activism is the new chic.From large companies like Old Navy to smaller organizations like Falling Whistles, everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of shopping for a good cause.”It’s a nice trend,” said Mary Singleton, assistant manager of local conscious boutique Noelie Harmon. “It makes people more aware and gets them out of the little bubble that they can be in.”And with the popularity of brands like TOMS Shoes on campus, students are taking part and lending a hand.The company’s One for One idea states that the company sends a pair to a child in need for every pair purchased. Since its start in May 2006, TOMS has donated over 600,000 pairs of shoes to children in need as of April 2010, according to the company’s website.”They’re incredibly popular,” Singleton said. “But some people don’t know the story, and they’ve just seen other people wear them, so we usually try to educate them on the company’s concept.”Alyssa Rodman said the outcome is always positive, whether people buy the shoes to give back or simply because they think they’re fashionable.”I’d buy them because they’re cute. But the fact that they send another pair overseas is like an added bonus,” said Rodman, a nursing student at Our Lady of the Lake. “It just makes you feel better about your purchase. But I don’t know if I’d necessarily look for stuff like that to buy.”Rodman recently shopped at Old Navy to support the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. From July 1 to July 5, Old Navy partnered with Operation Care and Comfort via The Red Cross to collect supplies for the U.S. troops overseas.”I think it’s a good idea,” Rodman said of the partnership. “I actually dated a guy in the military, so I really support sending stuff over there just to let them know that we’re thinking about them and that we support what they’re doing there.”The collaboration with Operation Care and Comfort was the first for Old Navy, and the venture was a success, according to Dawn Smallwood, operations manager at Old Navy on Siegen Lane.”We have so many different programs. There’s one for breast cancer awareness, one for HIV/AIDS,” she said. “We do different little programs, and I think this one was unique because we’re doing something for the troops.”Smallwood said she attributes part of the success to the price cut incentive for shoppers who help out.”When they give their donations, they also get 10 percent off their purchase,” she said. “So I think more people get involved because [the customers] are benefitting as well as the troops.”But large companies like Old Navy aren’t the only one’s giving back.Noelie Harmon carries lesser-known brands like Falling Whistles, which sells whistles to rescue children and raise money for peace in the Congo, and 1% for the Planet, which is an alliance of companies that donates 1 percent of sales to an environmental organization.”It doesn’t sound huge, but if every company gave away 1 percent of their profits to a cause, that’s huge,” Singleton said. “If someone like Google or Microsoft did it, it would be massive. I know it’s not a whole lot with [our company], but it does help.”
Singleton said she hopes the activism trend becomes a way of life as opposed to a short-lived movement.”I hope it’s not a fad. I think people are just becoming more aware,” she said. “For a long time, we didn’t realize how we were affecting other people. But I think once you’re made aware of that, you can’t go back.”–Contact Annie Hundley at [email protected]