Veganism is a lifestyle that strays away from all animal products, it’s not just a diet choice. This means that sometimes you have to reconsider everyday objects, and research if they are appropriate gifts for a vegan friend. We know it’s hard to be on top of everything, so here are a few things that you might want to avoid when you’re buying presents for your vegan loved ones: 

Clothing & jewelry

Leather

This one should be obvious, but it’s important to remember that leather isn’t just used in jackets and bags – it can also be found in shoes, wallets, belts, and basically anywhere else you would expect to see fabric. So before getting that fancy jacket for your vegan friend this holiday season, check the material!

TIP: If you’re buying jeans or pants, always check that they don’t have a leather patch on the back with their brand name. It’s really unfortunate that some manufacturers like Levi’s or Wrangler decide to make jeans —a fully vegan piece of clothing, made of cotton— unavailable for vegans because of the patches they add. 

Silk

It’s no secret that silk comes from silkworm larvae. However, what most people don’t know is that the worms die after they have finished making your favorite piece of clothing. Their cocoons are removed, boiled, and used to create silk fibers. 

Wool 

One of the biggest misconceptions about wool is that it can actually be harvested without harming sheep. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as sheep are some of the most abused animals in food production (second only to chickens). Because they are typically bred for their wool, they are often subjected to mutilation and fleece-pulling. 

TIP: Cashmere also comes from animals (goats instead of sheep), so it is not a vegan alternative. Try to find options made of cotton!

Pearls

Did you know that pearls are not vegan? It’s true! Natural and cultured pearls are both taken from oyster shells.

Animal Glue

Shoes are a little bit of a gray area because, aside from knowing if they’re made of leather or not, it’s a little hard to know if they are vegan. The main problem with shoes is… glue. Believe it or not, the glue used to stick shoe soles is many times derived from animals.

TIP: World of Vegan has a whole guide on shoes and where to get them. 

Bedding 

Giving a vegan friend down pillows and comforters can seem like a great idea, but 

it’s not. Sure, geese aren’t actually killed in the process of obtaining their feathers, but it is never cruelty-free. In order to get the best quality down you can imagine, they are plucked and suffer through the entire process.  

TIP: Synthetic bedding can be even more comfortable than down bedding, and in most cases, it’s cheaper! Many companies have eco-friendly options that don’t harm the environment. 

Beauty products 

Many types of beauty products contain animal products. If you’re buying makeup or skincare for a vegan friend, make sure you check the label and look for both “vegan” and “cruelty-free”, or search for the brand name on PETA’s database.

TIP: Brands can sometimes sneak animal products into their formulas! You can use this handy list that we compiled to double-check the ingredients on the back of the packaging. 

Wine

You might think that wines are a safe gift, especially if you’re going over for dinner or drinks. However, some wines and beers are clarified with fish bladders, bone marrow, casein, and gelatin! 

TIP: You can search this database to check if the wine you want to buy is vegan-friendly. 

Remember, this is by no means an exhaustive list of vegan-unfriendly clothing products. Rather, this is meant as a guide to help you be a responsible and compassionate gift-giver. The good thing is that at Ntdf.* we offer curated products that are all ethical and vegan! You can shop for your vegan friends with peace of mind 🌿

If you are a vegan traveler, you know how hard it can be to find products, restaurants, and shops that fit your lifestyle. It becomes even harder if you travel with people who aren’t vegan! We have gathered 5 tips that will make your travels easier and far less stressful. 

1. One of the most challenging things about being a vegan on the go is finding places to eat. This can be especially difficult when you’re in an unfamiliar part of the world, and don’t speak the language! Even if you’re in an otherwise vegan-friendly city, you may find yourself in an area with few options. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to plan for this and find food wherever you go: 

• HappyCow is a community-driven app that allows users to search for vegan-friendly restaurants in their area. The app includes more than 60,000 restaurants worldwide and is accessible in 21 languages. With HappyCow, you can also rate and review places you’ve visited, so others may benefit from your experience.

• Allmenus is another helpful way to find local restaurants with vegan options. Allmenus allows users to search for restaurants by cuisine and location, as well as by dietary preferences.
  

• If all else fails, pack your own food! Especially when it comes to snacks, you can just take your favorite vegan cookies with you. It’s better to be safe than sorry!
  

2. Always carry your own toiletries, just in case you’re not in an area where you can get things easily. The good thing is that vegan options tend to be better for travel, especially shampoo and conditioner bars. We have a special travel kit so you don’t have to worry about container sizes, and they include all of our favorite products! 

3. Remember to do your research! A great thing to do before you travel anywhere is googling “vegan” and the name of the place you’re going to: “vegan [insert city or country name here]”. This can lead you to blogs and message boards where people have posted about their experiences in that destination.
   
   You can also read about vegan restaurants, shops, and grocery stores, so you know what’s available when you arrive. It’s great to go to other places and learn more about local vegan products and shops. You might learn new things and try new food!

4. Try to find accommodation with kitchens so you can cook your own food. This allows you to control what you eat and also saves money on eating out all the time. The easiest option is to stay in an Airbnb apartment, but you can also stay at a hostel with a communal kitchen! Just make sure that you wash up after yourself and choose hostels with good ratings when it comes to facilities and cleanliness.
   
5. Always call your airline 72hs earlier to ask for vegan meals. Some airlines have the option of selecting special meals on their websites, which you can do by logging in. Just remember not to leave it till the last minute! 

If you’re reading this, you’re probably either planning a trip or have just arrived in a different country for your own vacation. We want to wish you a happy and safe trip, and we hope these tips were useful! If you want to find ethically sourced vegan products, our website is dedicated to making veganism easier and giving you access to all the lifestyle products you might need. Check out our shop, and especially our traveler bundles!

The key difference between ethical vegans and people on plant-based diets is the ideology behind it. While vegans avoid using animal products in every aspect of their lives, those who carry out plant-based diets usually just focus on the food aspect. 

People have different aims when they switch to plant-based diets; for health reasons, environmental, spirituality, making a stance against animal cruelty, among others. Let’s explore the three main reasons why someone would eliminate meat and animal by-products from their diets.  

Plant-Based Diets

The Healthy Vegan 

The fact that a vegan diet improves overall health is not a new fact. Many people who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, heart disease, high cholesterol, and several other ailments might transition to a plant-based diet for its health benefits. 

Apart from trying to fix a problem, many people will switch diets to prevent future health problems. A vegan diet has been proven to reduce the risk of some types of cancer, Alzheimer’s, and type 2 diabetes. 

Some people who are focusing on weight loss might try out a vegan diet, although it’s important to clarify that a plant-based diet does not equal a low-calorie intake. Just because something is vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthy! You can still eat vegan cookies, chips, and other vegan junk food, which can be high in calories and low in nutrients.

The Environmental Vegan 

If you haven’t watched documentaries like “Cowspiracy” or done research on greenhouse gas emissions, you might not be aware of just how damaging cattle is to the environment. 

Because cattle are ruminants, they produce methane when they process food. Methane is a greenhouse gas roughly 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and it’s released via cow belches and flatulence. These emissions absorb radiation from the sun and can trap heat in the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

Another big problem that comes with livestock production is habitat loss. In the Amazon, 80% of deforestation comes from cattle ranches. 

And, of course, it goes without saying that there is an artificial increase in animals that results in higher water waste. Not only does livestock need water to survive, but water is also used to grow their food source. “Raising animals for food introduces a major extra step of waste relative to the efficiency of us just eating the plant foods directly,” says David L. Katz, co-author of How to Eat. “If you just eat the plants, you cut out the middleman.”

The Spiritual Vegan 

When we think about the benefits of a vegan diet, we often connect these to the health of our bodies. However, many people are certain that veganism also has benefits for our mind and soul.

These views go way back! Many Eastern cultural and religious practices, such as Hinduism, promote a vegetarian lifestyle. Nowadays, there are contemporary Western views that have taken these principles and adapted them, but they also consider a plant-based diet as a holistic lifestyle. 

According to spiritual vegans, this diet is the most compassionate one and it’s consistent with leading a life of nonviolence, which gives you good karma. A plant-based diet is not only concerned with animal welfare, health, and environmental benefits but also reduced aggression and spiritual benefits.

The Ethical Vegan 

Veganism is defined as a way of living that attempts to exclude —as far as is possible and practicable— all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty from their lifestyle. It goes much deeper than just the food you eat or a desire to help the environment: it looks at the relationship between humans and other animals and tries to stop any sort of harm that can come to them. 

This, of course, encompasses a larger number of issues that go far beyond just diet. Some of the other aspects that ethical vegans take into account are:

• Avoiding animal skins, such as leather, in clothing. 
• Fighting against vivisection and animal experimentation in cosmetic product development. 
• Stopping animal cruelty in sports, including dogfighting and cockfighting, hunting and fishing, bullfighting, rodeos, and dog and horse races. 
• Avoiding any animal by-products used in cosmetic products, such as beeswax or lanolin.

It’s very likely that a lot of the people going plant-based for health or environmental reasons care about animals, but they differ from ethical vegans because they don’t necessarily cut out animal products from their diets. Some people even argue that Ethical Vegans should be the only ones who can call themselves “vegan”, but that is a question of semantics and usually causes more division than actual good. 

If you want to learn more about veganism and how you can start transitioning into a plant-based diet (we know it can be very overwhelming!) you can check out our vegan resources. To find curated vegan & cruelty-free lifestyle items (and avoid spending time reading labels) browse our Not to Die For marketplace!

We love encouraging people to change their habits and to start paying attention to the ingredients and certifications certain brands may or may not have. The terms “Vegan” and “Cruelty-Free” might seem interchangeable, but they actually mean two different things, even if both of them are related to the protection of animals. 

The lines between both terms can be a little blurred, especially since there is no official FDA regulation for either of them. This can also lead to false claims and misleading marketing, which is why we need to be as knowledgeable as possible to avoid misinformation! 

• Cruelty-free means that the products (and the ingredients that were used in the product) were not tested on animals at any stage during their development. 

• Vegan means that the products contain no animal ingredients or animal by-products. It’s common to find animal derived components like beeswax, squalene (shark liver oil) or lanolin (wool wax) in cosmetics. 

The Criteria

While Vegan products are easier to sort (they either include animal by-products or not), Cruelty-Free products are a little bit trickier, especially because there are many steps in the process of manufacturing a product. 

According to Cruelty-Free Kitty, a database of Cruelty-Free brands, these are the criteria to be considered for certification: 

• Finished Products: their finished products are not tested on animals by the company or any other company.
• Ingredients: their ingredients are not tested on animals by the company or any other company.
• Suppliers: their suppliers do not test ingredients, raw materials, or finished products on animals.
• Third Parties: no third party is testing the finished products or ingredients on their behalf.

If you’re in doubt, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has a very simple and searchable database! You can type in the name of a brand to double-check if they’re actually cruelty-free.

But how can we make sure that they aren’t lying? 

You should be careful when it comes to Cruelty-Free claims. Since there is no FDA regulation, brands can trick customers into thinking their products are Cruelty-Free when they aren’t. Many fake logos have been making rounds lately! It’s important to know which are the official certifications (via Ethical Pixie). The following logos are credible and backed up by large organizations that protect animals: 

Cassandra Bankson, medical aesthetician and vegan advocate, constantly talks about the concept of “Turning and Learning”. This means that we need to know what the ingredient list actually includes, instead of blindly trusting claims and labels.

Even when a product claims to be vegan, it’s very easy to just turn the product around and double-check that. PETA has an article that lists all the ingredients that are derived from animals. Some of them might even surprise you! Did you know that most red dyes used in makeup are usually derived from crushed beetles? 

At Ntdf.* we strive to make vegan and cruelty-free products accessible to everyone who wants to improve their lifestyle. Check out our shop and purchase with peace of mind.