Tag: Vegan Décor

Vegan Décor

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Vegan Home – Making Sure Your Home Is Entirely Vegan

Vegan Home – Around 50% of couples move in together within a year of starting dating. As vegans, you’ll need to be careful as things such as paint aren’t always cruelty-free. Here’s how to ensure your new home together is completely vegan. 

Vegan Home

Sustainable furniture 

Synthetic leather couches are commonly chosen by vegans. But, did you know that the synthetic materials they’re made of add to the world’s microplastic pollution problem? A better vegan and sustainable couch option is one that’s made from fruit waste. The skins of apples, pineapples, and mangoes are now being used to create stylish, vegan couches that will look great in you and your partner’s new home together. Another option is to stick to all wooden pieces of furniture as they’re completely vegan, sustainable, and natural.

Vegan Home – Household maintenance 

An annual household maintenance routine is recommended by the U.S. Department of Home & Urban Development. As a couple, compile a list together and take responsibility for certain tasks each. You’ll need to make sure you maintain your property with vegan-friendly materials. For example, instead of using beeswax to make your wooden furniture shine, make your own polish with olive oil and lemon juice. You also need to think about pest control, particularly if you live in Florida, Louisiana, or Texas as they have the worst pest infestations, according to studies. Stick to vegan-friendly practices at all times, such as catch and release methods, and minimize entry points to your home. As a committed couple, you’re likely to prefer spending quality time together than dealing with pests and maintenance problems. Moving into a Homeowner’s Association (HOA), may be a good choice for you as they’ll deal with these issues for a small annual fee. Just make sure you tell the HOA that you want vegan products and methods to be used.

Household accessories 

Candles are associated with romance, so you’re sure to want to include them in your and your partner’s abode. Candles are typically made from stearic acid or beeswax which aren’t suitable for vegans. You haven’t got to miss out on the warmth or romance though as candles made from soy, coconut, or rapeseed wax are available. If you’re thinking of getting a large print of you and your partner put up on the wall to mark this big step in your relationship, carefully think about your options. Photographic film contains gelatin so isn’t vegan. Some paints and paper also contain animal products. Stick to images made with graphite, charcoal, or Conte crayon on Yupo paper or raw fabric and you’ll have a unique piece of artwork that’s entirely vegan.

You and your partner are sure to enjoy your new vegan home together as long as you make an effort to make it completely vegan. Vegan living is known for being calm, inviting, and stress-free which is crucial for a long-lasting, successful relationship.

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Vegan Cleaning – The Eco-Friendly Way

Vegan cleaning is a reality! Read on for a list of 100% cruelty-free brands, eco-friendly cleaning and how to make vegan cleaning a habit.

Vegan Cleaning - Couple together

Embracing Eco-Friendly Vegan Cleaning Alongside Your Partner

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned: the air quality in many American homes is two to five times more polluted than the air outside – a statistic that is surprising to many couples who prioritize health and wellness. The culprits are often surprising and hidden. They include indoor volatile organic compounds or VOCS hailing from furnishings, consumer products, and harsh cleaning products. Just a few ingredients that can harm human health include bleach and ammonia. Bleach, for instance, can cause irritation to the lungs, as well as the skin, eyes and mouth. If you or your partner have asthma, then you should be particularly keen to make the switch to a greener way of keeping your home spick and span. Rest assured that there are a plethora of vegan green products on the market as well, made by companies committed to not testing on animals.

Making A Commitment As A Couple

In order to improve your indoor air quality, you and your partner need to be equally committed to making key changes so your cleaning routine becomes greener. It is of little use to your health if one of you makes the switch to green cleaning products but the other continues to buy commercial cleaners and degreasers. Ingredients like bleach are, indeed, highly efficient at killing germs and whitening garments, yet by researching together, you can find replacements for commercial products. For instance, instead of using a chemical floor cleaner, you can decide to lay away a little money every month to invest in a good steam cleaner. This will kill germs, and does not require any chemicals at all. You can also make smaller changes – including the purchase of green, vegan cleaning products made with therapeutic grade essential oil blends. Thieves is a popular cleaner that contains essential oils such as clove bud, lemon, cinnamon bark, rosemary, and eucalyptus.

Backing Vegan Cleaning Companies

If you aren’t into DIY and you simply wish to buy eco-friendly products, just a few brands that are 100% cruelty-free include Seventh Generation, Citra Solv, and Mrs. Meyer’s. The latter, for instance, is known for its multi-surface cleaner, which works particularly well on glass and mirrored surfaces. What these and many more vegan cleaning product manufacturers have in common are plant-based formulae made with ingredients like essential oils, corn-derived ethanol, and plant-based fragrances.

Setting (And Sticking To) A Cleaning Schedule

The switch to greener cleaning methods may mean that you and your partner have to change up your regular cleaning routine. For instance, if you have bought a vacuum cleaner for the first time, the machine manufacturer may recommend that you vacuum your home at least once a week. This is, in fact, the frequency recommended by experts in hygiene, since long gaps between vacuuming can lead to the build-up of bacteria such as staphylococcus, which are brought into your home by shoes, and can cause digestive upsets and pneumonia. As a couple, you may decide that one of you prefers washing up while the other prefers to vacuum. The key is to ensure that all vital tasks are completed regularly without stress or tension hampering the quality of your relationship.

Embarking On DIY Projects Together

If you and your partner enjoy getting creative, why not make your own cleaning products together? For instance, to remove mold naturally, all you need is a paste made of water and baking soda. Just use a toothbrush to apply it to areas like your bathroom tiles, and after a few hours, scrub the mold off. To improve the scent in your home, boil leftover apple skins, and add cinnamon sticks and cloves into the pan: your home will instantly smell like Christmas. To make your own laundry detergents, mix natural Borax substitute, soda crystals, baking soda, soap bars, and a few drops of your favourite essential oil. There are a plethora of recipes online for everything from window cleaners to metal cleaners, all of which are perfectly compatible with your vegan lifestyle.

Switching to a greener way of cleaning is an excellent way to improve your indoor air quality. To make immediate improvements, use a vacuum cleaner so you don’t need to rely on toxic cleaning ingredients. You can also have fun with your partner by trying out different DIY cleaners, refining your list until you have a trusted few cleaners you can use for tasks like cleaning the oven, keeping surfaces clean, and keeping metal items shiny.

Don’t miss the Veggly Blog

So there you have it!

As Veggly grows further, make sure you stay up to date and read some of our success stories and messages from our users who found love from their Veg-Matches – all on this page here.

Stay up to date with all of our announcements, other news stories, blog posts, and recipes. Please follow Veggly across our social channels:

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How to Properly Prepare Vegetables?

What’s the right way to chop and prepare vegetables and fruits to get the most from them? In this article, we give great tips on how to prepare vegetables for your vegan recipes.

There are a many reasons to go vegan or at least include more vegetables in your plate, including animal welfare, environment conservation, health and even sexual performance.

Couple Prepare Vegetables

Prepare Vegetables In Advance With Your Veg-Match

Home-cooked meals are fast becoming a luxury, with a study published in the Nutrition Journal showing that while in 1965, up to 95% of meals were prepared at home, by the start of the new millennium, only 72% of people were doing so.

The shift in gender roles, rising housing prices, and the need to pay off student loans are just a few reasons for this phenomenon, although any vegan will tell you that time management is key to enjoying healthy meals regularly. Of course, if you are busy, then you may struggle to come up with varied enough meals throughout the week.

By prepping vegetables the right way, you can ensure your produce retains the maximum amount of nutrients and remains in the best possible state for your vegan sautés, sandwiches, wraps, snacks and soups. By preparing your vegetables together, the process can be as much an opportunity for romantic connection as the meals themselves.

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Investing In Quality Equipment

If you are vegan, then your shopping cart probably wields a host of colorful vegetables of all shapes, textures and sizes.

When prepping this produce, it is important to use the right utensils, since your slices or pieces should be uniform to ensure even cooking.

You should have a very sharp knife for shredding leafy vegetables like cabbage and lettuce, as well as good peelers and graters.

There are many fancy electric tools around that shred, slice and dice, but if you have a small kitchen, simply have a good set of knives for small, medium and larger vegetables will most probably suffice.

Wrapping Chopped Vegetables In Plastic

If you are concerned about the possible loss of nutritional value caused by cutting and prepping vegetables beforehand, know that there are good ways to slow down nutritional loss.

As stated by Dr. A Kader of the University of California at Davis, by wrapping cut produce in plastic, you can reduce nutritional loss to about 10% for Vitamin C, 7% for folate, and just 3% for beta carotene.

Keep the vegetables in your fridge, and keep them in airtight containers. Buy fresh, seasonal vegetables if possible so you consume food with the maximum possible nutritional content.

Choose The Right Vegetables To Prepare

Some vegetables – including broccoli and cauliflower, asparagus, green beans, celery, sweet potatoes, winter squash and zucchini – can last in an airtight container in the fridge four around three days.

Others – including eggplant, potato and avocado – oxidize, and are better prepped on the same day they will be cooked.

There are also specific hacks that work well for some vegetables. For instance, you can prepare potatoes a day in advance, placing them in a bowl of water and popping them in the fridge.

Freezing Vegetables

You may buy an extra large batch of vegetables that the two of you won’t be able to consume in a few days. If so, freezing is a good way to save your purchases. 

Those vegetables that freeze particularly well include peas, broccoli, green beans, squash and cauliflower. Greens like spinach also retain their texture when frozen, as do herbs.

Avoid freezing vegetables with a high moisture content (including lettuce, mushrooms, and cucumbers) as they can freeze up then take on a mushy texture when thawed.

If you are excited about prepping your vegetables for beautiful vegan meals with your partner, ensure you save as much money as you can.

You can achieve this! Freeze excess produce and prepare vegetables all at once so you are more likely to use them over the next few days. For freezing, concentrate on low-moisture vegetables, planning meals in such a way that you utilize high-moisture produce first.

Don’t miss the Veggly Blog

So there you have it! There’s no excuse not to prepare vegetables for your next date! 🙂

As Veggly grows further, make sure you stay up to date and read some of our success stories and messages from our users who found love from their Veg-Matches – all on this page here.

And to stay up to date with all of our announcements, other news stories, blog posts, and recipes, please follow Veggly across our social channels:

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Vegan and Cruelty-Free Home

Living a vegan lifestyle can be challenging, yet it’s also extremely rewarding. When you think of being vegan, you think immediately on your diet and the things your body consumes. However, in order to be truly vegan, the same principles should be put into practice at home, too. Whether you’re looking for new cruelty-free products, furniture, or décor, read on to learn how to create the ultimate vegan and cruelty-free home. Originally posted at Porch.

The Basics of Vegan and Cruelty-Free Products

Anything that’s considered vegan means that it doesn’t include any animal animal-based ingredients, from hot sauces, to furniture, however, that doesn’t always mean that the product was not tested on animals. To ensure that your home products are truly vegan, make sure they’re also labeled as cruelty-free. This term means that the product was never tested on animals before being introduced into the consumer marketplace. Read the ingredient labels on all of your cleaning products to ensure that they don’t contain any animal-based components. Then, make sure that they’re specifically labeled cruelty-free, so you know you’re getting a safe product that’s in line with your values. It can be challenging to find home décor and furnishings that specifically state they are cruelty-free. You may need to ask the retailer or contact the manufacturer directly to confirm before you make a purchase. Look for products that are Leaping Bunny certified, which means they are not tested on animals. Anything without this certification could mean that the final product may not be tested on animals, but the ingredients or materials used to make it could be. Some companies will also create a “vegan” product line, while continuing to explore and kill animals in other product lines. A real vegan product is one that comes from a company that does not practice this tactic.

Start with Vegan Cleaning Products

You don’t need to purchase chemical-laden products in order to have a clean and spotless home. In fact, many ingredients used in mass-marketed cleaning products aren’t just harmful to the environment, they’re also potentially harmful to you, your family, and your pets. Avoid products like caprylic acid, which is sourced from milk, and animal glycerol and stearic acid, which are both animal fats. You may also see the term “animal lecithin” included on the ingredients list of many cleaning products. This term refers to the use of waxy nervous tissue and should also be avoided. Research the names of the most common ingredients found in cleaning products and their source. This simple step will make it much easier to identify the things you know you want to avoid.

While baking soda and vinegar can be a great all-natural way to clean your home, there are still some products you might need to buy in order to achieve the ultimate clean. Brands like Seventh Generation and Ecos offer plant-based formulas that are both vegan and completely cruelty-free. Products that use natural enzymes provide effective cleaning to remove stubborn dirt and grease without the need for dangerous chemicals. Do your homework and read labels carefully, and when in doubt, ask the manufacturer directly. You can also make a few DIY cleaning products using natural ingredients like lemon, vinegar, and baking soda to accomplish quick, daily cleanings in a safe way.

Furnish Your Home with Vegan-Friendly Options

When it comes to furnishing your home, finding vegan products can be especially challenging. Wool and leather should obviously be avoided, as should silk. The process to manufacture furniture from these materials is especially cruel, and none of them should ever be used in a vegan home. Look for furniture with upholstery made of pure, organic cotton and fabrics treated with natural dyes instead of synthetics. Even faux leather furniture can be harmful due to the chemicals used and the environmental damage caused via the manufacturing process. Tables, cabinets, and shelving made of reclaimed wood is another excellent way to choose sustainable, repurposed furniture that doesn’t contribute to the deforestation problem. Visit your local thrift or antique store to find quality furniture made from safe materials like bamboo, natural fabrics, or solid wood. It’s a great way to repurpose older furniture and save money in the process.

The benefits of choosing vegan and cruelty-free furniture are plentiful, including:

  • Using vegan furniture at home is much healthier than products treated with toxic chemicals. These chemicals can penetrate your skin and get into your bloodstream and can also be breathed in causing damage to the lungs. It’s especially important to choose all-vegan furniture if you have children or elderly adults living in your home.
  • Vegan furniture is easier to clean since it shouldn’t attract dust or insects as leather furniture will. Rugs made of cotton are easy to keep clean, and they’re much more resistant to stains than wool area rugs.
  • If you suffer from allergies, most vegan furniture and décor are hypoallergenic. Animal fur and feathers can cause allergies to flare up big time. Choose bedding and pillows made from a down alternative to keep your allergies under control. Not only will you feel better, but you’re also ensuring that you don’t purchase items that harm animals in the process.
  • When you furnish your home with vegan and cruelty-free products, you’ll feel good about your surroundings. While eating a vegan diet is the cornerstone of this lifestyle, having a vegan home is also essential to achieve a well-rounded and value-driven life.

Living the Vegan Lifestyle: Don’t Forget Décor

Finding and using vegan and cruelty-free cleaning products and furniture can be easy once you know what to look for and what to avoid. When it comes to decorating your home, don’t forget that all of your home accents and décor should be vegan, too. Stay away from throw pillows and bedding made of silk and wool or anything filled with down feathers. Instead, choose down alternative textiles and try pillows, rugs, and linens made of organic fabrics. If you love the look and feel of leather but hate the cruelty, there are some companies currently making products from vegan synthetic leather. Remember to stay away from fur at all costs, too. Delve into vegan companies that are dedicated to making quality home products without the need for animal products and byproducts.

There are a few key things to look for when choosing items for your vegan home:

  • Try furniture and décor with rubber cushions instead of memory foam. Natural rubber foam cushions are soft, comfortable, and are made sustainably by harvesting natural latex from the rubber tree. This material may also be referred to as “natural latex.” Visit the GOLS, or Global Organic Latex Standard to learn more about how to choose the cleanest option for your home.
  • The sourcing of materials used to make home goods and furniture should not create toxic pollution or cause harm via deforestation. Make sure every item you’re interested in has been third-party certified so you’re confident in your choice.
  • Even the finishes on furniture and home décor can be harmful to the environment and animals. Check to see if the finish uses low or nontoxic organic ingredients that have no or very little off-gassing that can cause harm to the environment as well as your health.
  • Some home goods, especially many cleaning products, are completely biodegradable. Find out about the life cycle of your products and whether or not they can be reused, recycled, or if they’re fully biodegradable before you purchase.
  • Reduce the demand for mass-produced home décor items and furniture by buying products from a local thrift store. Not only will you give these items a new life, but you’re also slowing down the need for mass-produced products in the consumer marketplace. It’s also a great way to get something new without cutting down trees, testing on animals, or harming the environment through importation and transport.

It’s also important to note that even products like the paint on your walls could contain animal products. Milk and beeswax are often used as a binder when the paint is manufactured. Some paint brands still test on animals, either by putting the paint directly on the animals’ skin or doing things as cruel as forcing them to ingest it. If you’re planning to change the paint color in your home, always make sure that it’s completely vegan and cruelty-free. Thankfully, there are a lot of eco-friendly and cruelty-free paint brands out there to choose from. Do your research if you’re planning to paint your home so that you’re using a product that is both safe and vegan.

When picking out items to decorate your home, always keep sustainability and cruelty-free practices in mind. Materials like glass, repurposed wood, and natural fabrics are all excellent choices. Shop locally to find artisans and furniture makers who use repurposed materials to make their products. Look at labels carefully to ensure that every item you purchase for your home from cleaning products to area rugs is entirely vegan and cruelty-free. It may take some time and patience to find everything you need, but the process will be worth it in the long run.

Say Hello to a Vegan Home

Whether it’s window and oven cleaners with the Leaping Bunny logo or furniture made of organic cotton upholstery and natural latex cushioning, achieving a vegan home is possible. Always research where your items are coming from and don’t be afraid to ask companies about their manufacturing processes. With a little bit of homework and research, you can transform your home into a 100% vegan abode. Thanks to many new brands that are embracing veganism, you’ll be able to create a cruelty-free space to enjoy for years to come. There are no limits to this lifestyle, you can even find your vegan love here with Veggly! And don’t forget that the way we eat has a huge impact on the environment as well!

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