The “buy one, donate one” initiatives are coming fast and furious. Hard on the heels of our stories about two such efforts targeting children—namely, Happy Blankie and Whitten Grey's Project Little Grey Dress—comes news of one designed to help homeless pets.

Launched this spring, the Plus One Movement from Canadian pet food maker Darford International aims to provide fresh, quality food to abandoned dogs awaiting new homes. How it works: Attached to every Darford box of treats and food is an extra meal of the company's Zero/G dog food intended specifically for donation to a dog in need. Specially designed collection hampers have been placed in-store at the roughly 3,000 US and Canadian retailers that carry the Darford brand. Consumers can simply drop their donation meals into those hampers, and participating animal shelters will pick up and use the donated food for local homeless dogs. The video below explains the project:

Some 4 million dogs are euthanized each year in the US and Canada alone, primarily for lack of room and food, Darford notes. Other pet-friendly brands and retailers: time to step up and do your own generous part...?

Website: www.ilovealldogs.org
Contact: info@ilovealldogs.org

Spotted by: Peter von Hahn

“Buy one, give one” initiatives are increasingly common forms of corporate generosity, but it wasn't until recently that we began seeing them involving children. Much the way Happy Blankie lets recipients of its animal blankets help decide where the donated ones get sent, so Texas-based clothing maker Whitten Grey aims to let the girls who wear its dresses participate in donating similar ones to girls in far-off lands.

Through Whitten Grey's Project Little Grey Dress, buyers of any eco-friendly dress from the company receive a unique code along with their purchase. When they enter that code online, they can then choose what country they'd like to donate a dress to—currently, the choices are Liberia, Guatemala, Malawi and Zimbabwe. After choosing the colour of the dress they'd like to send, girls can then enter a message they'd like to include for the girl who receives it.

Generosity has become increasingly important to the Generation G masses, so it stands to reason they'd want their children to learn that virtue too. Purveyors of other kids' products, large and small: time to bring some charity-minded capabilities to your own pint-sized patrons...? (Related: Buy a onesie, donate one to a baby in need.)

Website: www.whittengrey.com/give/
Contact: give@whittengrey.com

Spotted by: Inhabitots via Judy McRae

Fashionistas love exclusivity, but usually it's all about who you know, or how much you're willing to spend. Creating a twist on limited editions is The Red Rail, a new Dutch fashion label that's only available to blood donors.

The first Red Rail collection was presented at the Amsterdam Fashion Week last Friday, and consists of 20 unique outfits by 18 up-and-coming designers. Since the number of items is limited, The Red Rail will use a lottery to pick 20 winners. Over the next six months, people can select their favourite outfit, donate blood, and then send an email to theredrail@stichtingnobel.nl, listing their donor ID and the item they'd like to win. The lottery will take place in January 2011.

Initiated by the Nobel Foundation and sponsored by the DOEN Foundation, the project was developed to enlist a new (younger) generation of blood donors, and to heighten awareness of the need to donate blood. According to Nivel, a Dutch research institute for health care, it's likely that the Netherlands will be facing a shortage of blood donors within three years. The Red Rail hopes to convey the message that a blood donation is a personal, altruistic gift, and one worth giving.

Website: www.theredrail.com
Contact: theredrail@stichtingnobel.nl

Spotted by: Yu-Lan van Alphen and Nicole Rietvelt

Stuffed animals and security blankets tend to be favourite sleeping companions among young children, but the Happy Blankie—one of the cutest innovations we've seen in some time—combines both into one. Not only that, but for each Happy Blankie sold another is donated, resulting in not just double but quadruple the comfort and quadruple the fun.

Ohio-based Happy Blankie offers a line of four animal blankets made of luxurious plush “minky" fabric and silky charmeuse satin. Available in puppy, pig, frog and teddy bear versions, all feature an embroidered cheek-to-cheek smile and a plush embossed ribbon nose. Pricing ranges from USD 29 for an 18-by-18-inch size to USD 99 for a 48-by-56-inch version; personalization with a child's name is also available. Best of all, however, is that for every Happy Blankie sold, the company will donate another to a child in a hospital or orphanage. It even lets the buyer of the first blanket choose where the second one is given by following the instructions on the blanket's "giving is cool" tag.

Who says there's no more room for innovation in the world of children's blankets and toys? Throw in a dash of buy-one/give-one generosity, and there will surely be sweet dreams all around! ;-) (Related: Personalized baby blankets, reborn — Bespoke baby blankets — Personalized books starring a child's favourite toy — Buy a onesie, donate one to a baby in need.)

Website: www.happyblankie.com
Contact: support@happyblankie.com

Spotted by: Sara Al Mulla

Launched at this year's Future Everything digital arts festival in Manchester, RememberMe is a collaborative project between TOTeM (Tales of Things and Electronic Memory) and Oxfam which infused personal history into donated items by enabling people to attach stories to them using RFID tags.

People donating items at an Oxfam store in Manchester were asked to tell a story about the object into a microphone, including when and where they acquired it and any personal stories associated with it. The audio clips were linked to an RFID tag and QR code and items tagged with a story were added to the shop's stock as part of the in-store exhibition. Visitors to the shop used their own smart phone or a bespoke RFID reader to listen to the stories through speakers in the shop, and were invited to purchase the story-tagged objects.

Beyond the Oxfam project, TOTeM’s free iPhone app gives purchasers anytime access to attached stories, and can also be used to scan, comment and add location to things in the wild. Consumers can also tag their own items at the TOTeM website, linking any object to a snippet of video, audio or text describing its history via printable QR code tags.

The concept steers people away from thinking of an item's value as purely financial, encouraging them to realize the sentimental value of objects and (maybe) think twice before throwing things away. It's also a retail concept that would no doubt appeal to authenticity-seeking consumers everywhere—one to implement on a permanent basis? (Related: Secondhand store in Tokyo showcases previous owners — App lets users attach digital content to any barcode.)

Website: www.talesofthings.com
Contact: info@talesofthings.com

Spotted by:  Jane Macdonald