Tooth Tunes Musical Toothbrush
Hygiene

Hasbro’s new toothbrush plays a song clip for two minutes, the amount of time dentists recommend you spend brushing your teeth. The song vibrates from the brush, through your teeth, and into your ears, with surprising sonic clarity. You can choose tunes by a wide range of artists, from Kiss to Kelly Clarkson. Dental hygiene has never sounded so good.

$10, hasbro.com/toothtunes/

Libraries
Bookshelf

Candida Höfer’s book is a collection of images of grand libraries across the world. From France’s Bibliothèque Nationale to the Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura in Brazil—and everywhere in between—Höfer captures splendidly designed libraries with such a loving eye that it makes you feel a little dirty for enjoying it so much.

$85, thameshudson.co.uk

T-Post T-shirts
Fashion

Swedish T-shirt-design company T-Post has found an easy way for you to draw public attention to important current events. Subscribe to their new service and every six weeks you’ll receive a new American Apparel T-shirt upon which the latest news has been graphically depicted (don’t worry, explanatory text is on the inside). As countless curious passersby ask what your shirt means, you’ll be raising awareness every time you leave your house. The price is steep, but consider the alternative: newspaper clothing would be neither practical nor comfortable.

$32/t-shirt, t-post.se

Heifer International
Livestock

The standby of charitable-minded gift-giving grandmothers everywhere, Heifer International gives you the opportunity to provide poor families around the world with helpful livestock, from a cow to honeybees. The animals help families with their agriculture needs and may eventually become a meal. Warning: children expecting a toy may not be immediately receptive to the idea that their gift is actually a cow for a family far away.

From $10, heifer.org

Magnamagic magnetic chalkboard paint
Hardware

This special paint turns any wall into a chalkboard, all in a few strokes. Apply with standard brushes and rollers for a chalk-ready wall that is easily erasable. Better yet, invisible ironparticles in the paint make it magnet friendly. Sticking report cards on the fridge is so
last week.

$25/quart, magnamagic.com

Sling and Stones jeans
Fashion

Made from organic free-trade materials, these jeans leave no ethical or ecological stone unturned; they’re even washed using a special environmentally friendly process. To add a bit of high-end class, all the hardware is plated with 24-karat gold. Even the thread is gold. Buying these jeans also aligns you with an almost absurd panoply of world wide causes: preventing Japanese suicide, caring for Indian orphans, supplying hydroelectric power and immunization in Peru, and training young adults in humanitarian relief. Give yourself a gold star.

$350, slingandstones.com

reiter8 bags
Portage
These tote bags emblazoned with bold numbers and symbols are made from reclaimed canvas sails. If the canvas can power a boat, it’s sturdy enough to hold your stuff.

$65, reiter8.com