EDITOR’S PICK: A Feel Good Purchase

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Each piece of PeaceBOMB jewellery comes with a past and the chance to make a difference to its creator’s future. Online retail with heart.

Have you got those friends that are impossible to buy a present for? The ones that have everything because they can afford to own it? In recent times I have been looking for different ways to give presents to these types of friends. Last year I gave one a goat for her birthday. But she didn’t actually get the goat. Instead it was donated to a family in Mozambique where it could be used for milk, to carry items, or breed. It gives the recipient a little buzz to feel that they are helping out a community on the other side of the world.

More recently I have stumbled across an interesting  site, PeaceBOMB: ’Project peaceBOMB combines human ingenuity and aluminum non-war and war scrap metal to create bracelets that tell a story about their makers and the legacies of our shared history: the Secret War, 1964-1973, during the Vietnam conflict which left Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in history.’

The site appears to have more of a focus on design rather than functionality, but if you manage to give it the time of day and have a browse, it is an elightening experience about the Lao community and the war remains which litter the country. The site sells jewellery made out of bombs by local Lao artisans. Yes, I said bombs. PeaceBOMB is aiming to rid the country of unexploded ordnance (military weapons) due to the fact that 30% of cluster bombs dropped during the War did not detonate and the country is still riddled with them.

The jewellery available on the site is simple and affordably priced, but when you make a purchase it becomes apparent just how much you will be helping the country. The purchase of one plain bracelet is equal to three metres of bomb littered land.

While the site itself may not be the most innovative, it is one that is being used to spread the word about the Laos history and is giving communities a chance of a better life.

I now have a new way of giving a meaningful present to those hard-to-buy-for friends.

Article by Samantha Youl

Sam is a content creator for The Media Pad. She was never sure what type of media job she wanted to settle for after studying media and communications at University, but being a bit of a shopaholic and a mobile phone junkie, The Media Pad seemed to be the perfect fit. When she isn’t watching the online retail space she spends far too much time playing netball and investigating her next trip abroad.

One Comment

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  • Ivan Lim
  • 13th January

  Great article Samantha!

  Ecommerce has fantastic potential for supporting less privileged communities across the world. A lot of communities in areas like south america and south east asia have incredible handicraft skills, producing products that are unique and could sell well online.

  Definitely an area of ecommerce I’d like to see grow in the future.

  Reply