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GIFT IDEAS FOR THE VEGAN IN YOUR LIFE I’M LOOKING FOR COOL HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS FOR A STRIDENT VEGAN WHO WON’T TOLERATE ITEMS THAT MAKE USE OF ANIMALS OR ANIMAL PRODUCTS. ANY IDEAS? favorite vegan restaurant or natural foods store? Or how about a subscription to Vegan Cuts’ monthly “Vegan
Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss EarthTalk
Well…an Omaha Steaks gift box is definitely off the table as an idea, but there are plenty of great gift options for the vegans or even just the animal-friendly among us. Food-wise, how about a gift certificate to the recipient’s
Snack Box” containing chips, cookies, sodas, teas and other vegan goodies, delivered right to the doorstep ($222/annual or $22.95/ month)? Kids (and their vegan parents) might like Vegan Cuts’ No Whey! Christmas Extravaganza! Gift Box ($35.50) containing an assortment of vegan candies including whey-free chocolate. Yet another option is Vegan Store’s Care Package Basket ($54.95), containing vegan versions of mac’n’cheese, jerky, parmesan, cookies, taco filling, chocolate bars and even "chicken" noodle soup. Personal care products are another retail segment where vegan products are starting to flood the marketplace. Lush Cosmetics, Mineral Fusion and Andalou are just a few of hundreds of U.S. based firms now selling
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vegan-friendly make-up, moisturizer, soap, shampoo and other health and beauty products. To find more, check out the Environmental Working Group (EWG) free “Skin Deep” cosmetics database.
OlsenHaus, which crafts stylish women’s footwear from renewable plant-based materials and man-made materials—but no animal products despite the fact that their shoes often look like real leather or suede.
DIY-types might want to consider making their own vegan health and beauty products to give to that finicky vegan you love. Earth911 has collected and linked out to a list of some 50 “recipes” you can use to make your own peppermint sugar scrub bars, calendula lavender salves or coconut mocha face masks.
Vegans who like to wear their lifestyle choice on their sleeve might like a t-shirt or bracelet from the online store of leading vegan blogger Vegan Zombie. Screen-printed designs look hip and feature pro-vegan messaging. And warm up that chilly vegan with Save the Duck’s Hooded Puffer Jacket featuring Plumtech down-replacement vegan insulation. For a wealth of additional ideas for gifts for vegans with a flair for clothing, check out the non-profit Farm Sanctuary’s Vegan Fashion Shopping List which links out to dozens of animal-friendly, cruelty-free clothing and footwear lines.
And remember: Being vegan is about much more than what you put in or slather on your body. If that special vegan someone needs new kicks, check out Merrell’s line of vegan-friendly shoes and sandals, featuring a wide range of casual and technical footwear options for men and women. Some other manufacturers of vegan-friendly active footwear lines include Garmont, Brooks, Wills, Lowa, Treksta, Keen and Zamberlan. Meanwhile, the vegan glamour girl on your list might like a new pair of heels from
Of course, non-vegans would love receiving any of these gifts as well, giving the giver the satisfaction of doing the right thing by animals and the environment whether or not the recipient appreciates it.
Merrell's line of vegan-friendly shoes, including the Agility Peak Flex pictured here, are made without any animal products yet perform as well as their conventional counterparts. Photo Credit: Merrell
If you’ve only got a short way to go, your good old bike might work just fine. But if you need to get further than you’re comfortable riding under your own power, why not upgrade to something with battery assistance? You can retrofit your current conventional bike with a batterypowered rear wheel, such as Superpedestrian’s Copenhagen Wheel ($1,499), lovingly referred to as the “Two-Wheeled Tesla,” given its sleek design, Bluetooth connectivity and biometric monitoring. Or DIYers might prefer to spend their weekend tinkering with Aosom’s batterypowered rear-wheel replacement kit ($219) instead. If you’re ready to buy a new electric-assist bike, there’s a lot to choose from. Some top choices include Stromer’s ST2 ($6,500), Elby’s 9-Speed ($3,700), the Espin Sport 350W ($2,000) or Raleigh’s Superbe iE ($1,700). City slickers might prefer Brooklyness’ CMYK 5.0 Folding Electric Bike ($999), which pedalassists for 50 miles per charge and can fold up
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Another way technology is facilitating bicycle commuting is through the release of various apps to help riders optimize their routing. For instance, Lanespotter aims to be the Waze of cycling by providing riders with real-time data to find bike lanes and trails nearby, filtering mapping options based on other cyclists’ routing choices and safety recommendations. If you live in Atlanta, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, St. Louis or Washington DC, you can download and start using Lanespotter (free) today. And then there’s bike sharing, a growing phenomenon from coast-to-coast whereby riders can pick up a bike in one part of town and drop it off in another to speed up their commute. New York-based Motivate has designed and implemented bike share networks in nine U.S. cities to date, with the largest in New York (10,000 bikes) and San Francisco (7,000 bikes). A typical ride on one of Motivate’s bikes costs $3, and many of the systems are integrated with larger transit networks. For instance, Bay Area riders can pay for their “GoBike” using the same refillable Clipper card that gets them onto BART trains and MUNI buses.
EL LU N ES 1 8 DE DIC I E M B R E 7 .. 3 0 PM Todo lo que tienes que hacer para recibir tus boletos es visitar www.sonyscreenings.com/Redeem y poner el código JUMANJIOBSERVADOR para descargar tus boletos. Hasta agotar existencias. Se distribuirán los boletos por orden de llegada. No hay obligación de compra. Cada boleto admite el ingreso de dos personas. Los empleados de todos los socios de esta promoción y sus agencias no podrán participar. Esta película no está clasificada.
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One of the best things we can do as individuals to fight climate change is to reduce the number of miles we drive in our fossil-fuel powered cars. But replacing those car rides with more fuel-efficient options isn’t so easy, especially if you don’t live near a transit hub. Given all the new bike lane infrastructure across the country and the availability of battery-assisted bicycles to help you around, there’s never been a better time to ditch the car in favor of pedal power.
into a neat little 25-pound bundle when you get there. Brooklyness is also getting ready to release the first production models of its new helmet design, the Classon, which has sensors built in to detect cars approaching your blind spots, motion-activated brake and turn signals to keep drivers and pedestrians in the know about where you’re going, and a video camera to document your adventures.
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Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss EarthTalk
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WHAT ARE SOME WAYS WE CAN ENCOURAGE MORE COMMUTERS TO DITCH THEIR CARS IN FAVOR OF BIKES?
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NOVEMBER 29, 2017 11:39 AM Jumanji_San Jose_ElObservador