TrendCentral: After popularizing the cause-driven, buy-one-give-one consumer product model, TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie's latest endeavor may just do the same for branded volunteer vacations. What started off as an outreach program to help educate and activate consumers (wherein volunteers were invited to help distribute free shoes to children living in some of the world's poorest neighborhoods) has evolved into a full-fledged travel company called TOMS Tours.

Due to instantaneous popularity of the "shoe drops", interested parties must fill out an online application to be considered for one of the 15 volunteer positions. Once selected, participants pay $1800 (plus international airfare) for an otherwise all-inclusive trip, to locations such as Argentina, that combines the village visits (where shoes are distributed) with regional group activities such as hiking, wine tasting, and sightseeing.

TOMS TOURS' SHOE DROP VOLUNTEER VACATION [TrendCentral]

Iconoculture: Who needs a guide book to travel? The Adventurists, a U.K.-based company, challenges folks to live on the edge of adventure and humanitarianism.

First, Adventurists organizes a team, grabs a car or motorbike and hustles sponsorships of at least £1,000 ($1,973) per team. Once this is arranged, they take off on a rally-style tour (think Cannonball Run through some of the world's toughest terrain) to places like Africa, the Himalayas, South America and Mongolia. Most trips have no planned route. It’s all about spontaneity, international adventure and helping out.

Each trip aims to raise money for charities such as Mercy Corps Mongolia. Initially the Adventurists are working toward £1 million ($1.9 million). Once they reach this goal, they’ll shoot for £1 million every year.

Serving meals at the local soup kitchen is great, but where’s the adventure? This group of adventure-seeking Millennials and Gen Xers is about getting their hands dirty … and, at times, broken.

These extreme trips are springing up as a way to live life in the fast lane — conscientiously. Don’t expect Adventurists to buy a $100 ticket to a Heart Awareness gala; they don’t do formal. But they do mean business.

For the Adventurists, “Traveling is for wimps,” volunteering is for sissies! [Iconoculture]

TAG or Turning Actions into Good, is a web-based non-profit charity which revolves around the kindness of strangers. The concept allows anyone to participate in a charity, regardless of financial status.

Here is how the process works: Member's would print off pre-made TAG-cards. Commit an act of kindness. Give the person a TAG-card which asks the stranger to do another act of kindness and go to the website to report about the deed that was done to them. After submitted, viewers can vote for the most touching act of the month. The leading vote getter would receive a prize and a donation towards the charity of their choice.

Turning Actions into Good

Business Opportunities And Ideas: Britain’s personal debt is increasing by a very scary £1 million every 4 minutes. By the end of August 2007 it totalled £1,363 Billion! Amongst those in debt are university graduates, who leave their studies with an average debt of £12,363. However a scheme called Do Good 4 Debt, is launching in January 08 which aims to assist graduates and people in debt to get back into the black by doing some charity work with the homeless, sick or elderly.

It is the brainchild of Ian Wallace, 26, a graduate of Oxford university who, in 2005, found himself with £14k worth of debt, Do Good 4 Debt is working with UK companies to sponsor financially-challenged individuals. The idea is that the sponsorship will pay off a person’s debt in part or full provided that they work for a charity for an agreed length of time, under its own ‘banner’.

Ian is currently on another sponsored placement in Rwanda, Africa, helping a local village tasks such as teaching, water and crop plantations. Upon returning to the UK in November, he hopes to sign up 500 candidates to the Do Good 4 Debt scheme.

Ian comments: "Do Good 4 Debt is an excellent opportunity for graduates as they can have a gap year of sorts, help worthy causes and clear their cumbersome debts at the same time. I believe this is the first scheme of its kind in the UK."

Ian has already signed up 12 charities in the UK and two projects based in Africa, while more than 100 potential candidates have joined Do Good 4 Debt. It costs just £16 to register as a candidate, with all profit going towards marketing the concept in the UK.

Do Good 4 Debt - Graduates Can Get Out of the Red while Helping Charity [Business Opportunities And Ideas]

TechCrunch: Two Rochester Institute of Technology students, Jaimen Brill and Asmah Abushagur, are launching an online clothing site for the blind and visually impaired. The site, White Cane Label, is a non-profit effort to help blind people shop online and easily keep track of their wardrobe without the help of a sighted friend.

The site’s interface will be driven by sound and text instead of images. Customers will receive recommendations based on their answers to a clothing questionnaire that gauges their personal style. The recommendations will consist of detailed descriptions of each item, including styles and price ranges. After ordering an item, they’ll be mailed the outfit with braille tags indicating the designer, clothing type, size, and color for easy reference. A second label will include washing instructions.

They are relying entirely on designer donations to supply their inventory, but will be charging full price in an effort to stop sighted buyers from taking advantage of any deals.

White Cane Label: Trendy Clothing for Blind People [TechCrunch]

TrendCentral: A growing trend in the UK, brides are the latest consumer group to go socially conscious. Many brides-to-be don’t want to shatter their fantasy diamond with the reality that the diamond industry is often linked to funding civil war and child soldiers in African countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone, and Congo. Thus, young couples are opting for ethical “conflict free” rings. UK jewelry company Cred is committed to providing a fair trade alternative for conscious couples. Becoming the ultimate marriage status symbol, the company only works with small scale mining communities like Oro Verde where human rights and fair labor standards are carefully monitored. There is even a rumor that fashion designer Katherine Hamnett is launching an ethical engagement ring.

Conscious Weddings [TrendCentral]

Business 2.0: Airline miles are nice, but wouldn't you feel better about splurging on a new flat-panel TV if you were helping to save endangered species? That's the idea behind Ecomiles, a rewards program where the points translate into charitable donations.

Members simply log on to Ecomiles's e-commerce portal, which links up with Barnes & Noble (Charts), eBay (Charts), Hotwire, and more than 800 other sites that award ecomiles for purchases. The miles are redeemed for dollars, which members can contribute to any of 12 charities, including the World Wildlife Fund and economic development groups such as SOS Children's Villages.

"We essentially wanted to establish a global development currency," says Marcus Courage, Ecomiles's chief marketing officer and the managing director of Africapractice, a corporate citizenship consultancy.
Helping people make a difference

For-profit Ecomiles was founded in 2004 by a South African entrepreneur named Gustav Erlank and the VC firm Madagascar Development Partners. Ecomiles works with the United Nations Development Program to pinpoint charitable groups and projects in need of funding.

Though not yet profitable, the startup generates revenue by taking a small percentage of each transaction and selling advertising on its website.

The company now has nearly 10,000 members, who can distribute their contributions among the different charities however they choose. Ecomiles even sends users regular updates to let them track the progress of their pet projects.

One stop shopping to save the world [Business 2.0]