Sita Tamang today
Aveda Gift Set
Did you know that buying Aveda gift sets can transform lives for the better? If that sounds hard to believe, just ask Sita Tamang.
Just four years ago Sita, a Nepalese woman, had a bleak future ahead. Her husband had left her with two children and no job. With few prospects for employment besides working as a house servant, Sita had little chance of supporting her children comfortably, providing them with reliable housing, sending them to school, or even ensuring they got needed nutrition and health care. Then Sita learned of an opportunity made possible to her, thanks to a skin and hair care company whose headquarters are half a world away.
Since 2007, Aveda has wrapped our holiday gifts with beautiful handcrafted paper purchased by The Himalayan Bio-Trade Papermaking Cooperative in Nepal. For years, Aveda has worked closely with the small company to help it produce and manufacture our lokta paper products to comply with international standards and import-export requirements. This partnership has created ongoing job opportunities for thousands of Nepalese people — including Sita. Today, she is able to comfortably support her children and send them to school. The entire family is thriving. An Aveda gift set is perfect for any occasion.
The papermaking cooperative employs more than 5,500 people working in healthy, sustainable conditions. Ninety percent of them are women, crafting the traditional Nepali lokta paper as they have for centuries — pressing, drying, and tinting it by hand using all-natural dyes. The beauty and durability of lokta paper have made it the preferred choice in Nepal since the 12th century for royal decrees, sacred texts and official government records.
Not only that, but the papermaking process benefits the environment. The plants used are sustainably harvested on 34,000 acres of forest — land that’s now protected from harmful development, and serves as the home for animals such as the red panda, the wild yak and the endangered snow leopard. The plants are pruned in a way that helps them grow stronger, and more able to stabilize the soil and protect mountain villages from mudslides.
For these reasons, an Aveda gift set is so much more than what’s inside. Everyone loves the limited-edition and best-selling Aveda products featured in our holiday gift sets. The distinctive green wrapping on each set represents a greater gift, though — that of joy, hope and health for thousands of families.
