Thursday, July 22, 2010

Dressed to Give Feature




Our founder, Christine Hutchison, was recently interviewed by Stephanie Hackman of Dressed to Give at CaseFoundation.org. Stephanie actively seeks to write about businesses that give back. Here is a quote from her:

Dressed to Give readers know I love highlighting businesses that are giving back in style. I've blogged about shoe companies and boutiques that have made giving back a part of their business model, and I've been thrilled to see an upsurge in fashion-focused entrepreneurial ventures lately that have a strong commitment to philanthropy.

We really appreciate her article and her support. In case you would like to read it, we thought we'd post a link to it:

http://www.casefoundation.org/blog/dressed-give-five-accessories

Monday, July 19, 2010

Upcoming Chicago Shopping Events

The following list is a our upcoming Chicago shopping events schedule that five ACCESSORIES will be attending in case any of you are in or near the Chicago area:



Chicago Gift & Market
Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday-Tuesday
July 23rd-27th
Merchandise Mart, 8th floor
Elmhurst Green Festival
Saturday/Sunday
July 31st
and August 1st
8:30 to 3:30
Halsted Days
Saturday/Sunday
August 7th and 8th
Chicago, IL



Renegade Craft Fair
Friday/Saturday/Sunday September 10th,11th and 12th
9:30am to 7:00 pm
Division St. between Damen and Paulina
Lincoln Park Art Faire
Saturday/Sunday Sept. 11th and 12th
9:30am to 6:30 pm
2045 Lincoln Park West

Thursday, July 15, 2010

five ACCESSORIES in the News

Special thanks to TCW Mag (Today's Chicago Woman Magazine) for this recent news feature about five ACCESSORIES and our StreetWise Vendors:

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Things You May Have Not Known You Could Recycle

In 2007 Green America had a great article about 21 things you probably did not realize you could recycle. They featured it again in one of their newsletters. Here is a partial list, to read the full list follow the link at the bottom of this post:

1. Appliances:
Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.

2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.

3. Cardboard boxes: Contact local nonprofits and women’s shelters to see if they Boxcan use them. Or, offer up used cardboard boxes at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org for others who may need them for moving or storage. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.

4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they’ll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com.

5. Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. ShirtsDonate wearable women’s business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, and save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes.

6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com.

7. Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won’t be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com.

8. Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible recyclers, local and national, at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html.

9. Exercise videos: Swap them with others at www.videofitness.com.

10. Eyeglasses: Your local Lion’s Club or eye care chain may collect these. Lenses Glassesare reground and given to people in need.



(To download Green America's entire recycling issue of the Quarterly, visit their archives page.)


Resource Article:

http://www.greenamericatoday.org/pubs/greenamerican/articles/21Things.cfm

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

What is Fair Trade?


We just sent out the newest addition of our newsletter today, but if you missed it or are not signed up, we mentioned the meaning of Fair Trade.

Perhaps you have heard the term. Fair Trade is a business model centered around providing a living wage for producers, safe and empowering working conditions, and environmentally friendly practices. Fair Trade companies help individuals in Third World Countries or Developing Areas to lift themselves out of poverty, invest in their communities, protect the environment, and develop skills necessary to compete in a global environment.

If you would like to learn more about Fair Trade please visit the Fair Trade Federation or Chicago Fair Trade.Or if you would like to stay informed about our upcoming events, current promotions and receive special discount offers, please consider signing up for our newsletter at www.fiveACCESSORIES.com

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Nadya - Our Newly Sponsored Child

Kichen, our Balinese Business Partner, just emailed us a photo and a bit of info about our newly sponsored child, Nadya:
I am sending you the latest picture of Nadya, the girl we are sponsoring. The picture was taken in front of her new school. She got into one of the most favorite senior high schools in Denpasar after going thru severe tests. Today I handed $240 to her to pay for her school fees for the period of July-December 2010. She is so grateful to you for the great help and attention.

This is what five's mission statement is all about!
Our mission is to create income generating programs for individuals, donate a large portion of our sales to worthy charitable causes and foster the use of sustainable material in fashion.
For more information about how we give back to charity, please visit our Giving Back page of our website.