Here at Ethical Ocean, we have a lot to be thankful for.

First, we’re thankful for you: our fans and shoppers. Between Facebook, Twitter, and our email list, our community is now more than 20,000 people strong. That’s 20,000 cool people who believe in making a positive impact on the world through their decisions and actions. We made the choice to be sustainable consumers ourselves, so we know how tough that can be.

We also know how much easier it gets when you can dialogue with others making the same effort. And so we’re thankful, too, for the dedication all of you bring to this cause. When you comment on articles we write, suggest new products for us to sell, and use our Holiday Helper Elf to help you find holiday gifts on Ethical Ocean.com, it gives us great strength. It inspires us to do more.

Next, we’re thankful for the incredible group of 300 sellers that have joined us this year. Everything starts with these business pioneers: men and women making a profit from products that benefit humanity, animals, and the environment. From Matt & Natt’s amazing vegan bags, to Oliberte’s stylish African-made shoes, to Level Ground’s exquisite fair-trade coffee beans, our range of beautiful—and ethical—products just keeps growing.

Of course, we’re thankful for our partners too. Ethical Ocean works closely with these groups, all of them helping people develop lifelong commitments to social change. These partners include Grist and Girlie Girl Army, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Care2. We admire their approach to change and we enjoy working along side them.

Finally, we’re thankful for our tight-knit team. Ethical Ocean is powered by a small team of six, but we consistently make a big splash relative to the resources we have! We’re all thankful, as individuals, for this opportunity to work on such a great cause, to spend lots of time together, and to have friends and families and investors who believe in and support us. We work hard, we learn from each other, and we have a lot of fun building Ethical Ocean.

What ultimately connects our shoppers, our sellers, our partners and our team is that we all genuinely care about making a positive impact on the world—and we all know that the decisions we make, as individual consumers, are the surest way to do it. That we’ve learned this lesson, and have the opportunity to apply it, every day, is one more reason to give thanks.