Vegan Gift Guide , Projects & Charities We Support

2015 Vegan Gift Guide!

These are things that I use or really like. None of these companies or authors are paying me anything except good cheer. Happy Holidays!!

Let me know if you have some favorite gifts that I can add to this list. 

Brush with Bamboo

The earlier iteration of their toothbrushes had everything plant based except the bristles which were nylon. But the new brushes use bristles that are plant based too! The entire toothbrush is plant based including the packaging. 

• Soft bristles are made from a base of 62% castor bean oil (bio-based and recyclable, but not biodegradable). Bristles made in USA.
• The handle is made from 100% bamboo (organic and wild – no pesticides or fertilizers).
• The wrapper around the toothbrush is plant-based and commercially compostable.
• USDA Certified Biobased. Green American Certified. Vegan. BPA-Free. Natural and Non-toxic.

Over 4.7 billion plastic toothbrushes that will never biodegrade are dumped in landfills and oceans every year worldwide. Chuck the plastic toothbrushes and get these!

Get 10% off on your order with code “veganricha” on Brush with Bamboo. 

Other Hair and body Care:

Finding items used in the home which are not tested on animals and do not contain animal ingredients has been an ongoing journey. Some things are easily replaced while some things need many trails of many brands.

Brands we use for Hair and Body Care: Giovanni, Dessert Essence, Yarok, and Auromere. 

Some of the brands Hubbs currently uses are Dr Bronners Shaving Gel, Bull Dog Shaving and After Shave line. 

Cheeses

More and more options for vegan cheeses are now appearing in the market. Miyoko makes great cheeses and also donates a portion to animal charities! Get your Cheese Game on at Miyoko’s Kitchen.

Kite hill has been surprising me with the amazing stuff they keep coming out with. The cheeses, yogurts are just fabulous, the pumpkin pie cheesecake so good!

Cookware and Appliances

I currently love these Green gourmet pfoa pfoe free skillets, this mini kitchenaid food processor – so much easier to work and clean up, my Blendtec high powered blender, and Pressure cooker – Instant Pot , and Hawkins Classic Pressure Cooker. Most of these have 30 to 40% off right now!

Clothing, Accessories and misc

Photos from Herbivore clothing. 

I love clothing and accessories with fun messages on them. Get your fix at Vegan street clothing. Tons more accessories and options at Herbivore clothing. I wanted to print up my own tees, but seem to run into a wall when trying to find non toxic inks and of course not enough time to follow up. :).

Mercy for animals collection and The Tree Kisser, Stuff on Etsy

Shoes – Moo Shoes.

Photography: Food photography is costly. Its a great time to shop for Cameras and lenses with the heavy discounts. Refurbished camera body is a great option to start with. 

What does my dog eat. Chewie Approved!.

Other Countries:

If you are in Canada, check out Eat Grain for local, sustainable organic grains, beans and quinoa. 

In India, see Krya.in for their natural, sustainable approach to home care, hair care, skin care products. All their products are organic, bio degradable, recyclable, non toxic. Preethi and Srinivas, the people behind Krya are amazing and their products are fabulous. 

Books 

As a blogger sometimes it gets hard to cook through the many cookbooks I have as i am constantly cooking new stuff for the blog. These are the books I have used to some extent this past year. If you see the pattern, I am all for spices, heat and tons of flavor in my food. 

Vegan Richa’s Indian kitchen obviously. I cooked a lot earlier this year from the book and then there was a lull through the summer. Now when everytime hubbs cooks from the book, he mentions how we should cook more from it, usually accompanied with exclamation of how good it was. And I just give him a look that says- yeah “you” should cook more 😉 . We are donating 40% of my book proceeds from this year. Scroll below to read about some of the projects that we are supporting.

Teff Love: Adventures in Vegan Ethiopian Cooking : Ethiopian food is as spiced, flavorful and pleasing as Indian food. Kittee worked hard on this book and it shows with the authentic flavors and amazing food that comes out of it. Authentic Ethiopian cooking needs some planning, but once you get in the flow it gets easier. 

Vegan Tacos: Authentic and Inspired Recipes for Mexico’s Favorite Street Food: Vegan Tacos has been a favorite of hubbs to look through to make something (because it makes great party or weekend food). Though often he omits a lot of the stuff that he doesn’t have and makes a mix of a bunch of recipes. I think once he starts shopping at Mexican groceries we will see more traditional tacos being cooked up by him.

The books that are helping me step out of my comfort zone  

Vegan Eats World: 300 International Recipes for Savoring the Planet. This book is an amazing collection of recipes from all over the world. 

Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. Everyday Recipes that are great for transitioning to a vegan diet. 

Robin Robertson’s Vegan Without Borders: Easy Everyday Meals from Around the World: Robins book is the easier version of Vegan eats world, if you want to try out some cuisines and cooking styles.

There are many many vegan cookbooks out there for everyone. Use Amazon previews and reviews to find the one that would interest the person you are gifting one to!

Other books I want to read that also make great gifts. 
Persimmon Takes On Humanity (The Enlightenment Adventures: Book One)

Ruby Roth’s Books for Children

Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer, and Feeling Better Every Day

 

Sanctuaries, Animal charities, Projects:

Below are few of the projects and sanctuaries we are supporting this year with my book sales and blog income. Most of the rescues/charities were started by vegans. Join me in supporting these cute faces.

The problems in India have complex solutions as they affect both animals and humans. When People are struggling and suffering for every single need, to just survive, one cannot ignore them and just provide for the suffering animals. These animal charities work to come up solutions that work for everyone, non human animals and humans. These sanctuaries deal with 1000s and 1000s of animals compared to 100s in sanctuaries in the US. 

 

Sanctuaries and charities supported VSPCA, Karuna society via Help Animals India, many other projects are also supported via Help animals India, Wildlife SOS India, Animal Aid unlimited Udaipur, Old Dog Haven(Seattle). 

Some Projects:

• Karuna society’s Wildlife Rehab Center made over a dense forest. The mission of this center is rescue, medical care and rehab of wildlife, reducing hunting and poaching with help of villagers, reducing human animal conflict. Read more about it and the current plan here
• Earthquake help in Nepal. The grants from HAI supported Project Humane Nepal, Community Dog Welfare – and a special vegan food program for people in Nepal.
• Thousands of street dogs rescued, sterilized, and vaccinated in Visakhapatnam (VSPCA), Bangalore (CUPA), Sarnath (Sarnath Animal Welfare), Assam (Just Be Friendly), Puttapathi (Karuna Society) and Varanasi.
• Street dog and cat feeding/protection for the entire city of Visakhapatnam (VSPCA).
• TWO new cat centers at HOPE & Animal Trust and People for Animals, Dehradoon.
• Saving a temple elephant, Aneesha. Aneesha was a timber logging elephant in a small town in interior Tamil Nadu, where she lived, in isolation and neglect. She was emaciated, arthritic, constantly abused and injured. She was rescued this year and now resides in WRRC sanctuary.
• Humane education in schools and orphanages in Nepal, teaching children to be kind to street dogs.
• Cow spays, so that new calves aren’t born in sanctuaries.
• Self sustainable Cow/Buffalo sanctuaries supported by Biogas using cow dung and urine distillation.
• Plastic Cow Project, surgically removing street plastic trash from cows’ stomachs. Hundreds of cows rescued from dire conditions who are destined to be slaughtered with rusty chain saws. Most of these cows can still die unless they have surgical procedures to remove plastic bags they consume when left on the street. 
• Healthy Vegan meals for homeless/abandoned people and their companion street dogs through VSPCA, also supported by Phil Wollen’s kindness trust
• Disaster flooding relief for the animals in the neglected N.E. state of Assam.

To know more about each of these projects, sign up for email updates from Help Animals India here.

Wildlife SOS continue to rescue captive elephants used for performance. And many other projects for tribal rehab, man animal conflict solutions, habitat conservation. each of those elephants have a heart wrenching story of decades of abuse, torture, multiple ownership, malnourishment. Get the updates on Wildlife SOS Facebook page to see tears and the happy stories.

In the US, I usually donate to smaller organizations like Old Dog Haven that provides final refuge homes for senior dogs. Other orgs that we donate to on occasion include Mercy for Animals and Pigs Peace Sanctuary.  

Images courtesy Help Animals India and Karuna Society. 

*Some of the links are amazon affiliate links, so I will make a small portion if you use them to buy something. Most of it goes to maintain the blog and to support these fabulous charities.