Opinion Veg Christmas gift guide 2025: the gift that keeps on giving!

December is here! If that mere fact leaves you in a flap about the state of your gift list, don’t sweat it. I’ve done the heavy-lifting for you with the top gifts of the season.

Giving gifts is my love language. I plan months in advance and mull over ideas until the right thing pops up. But you know what? Sometimes it just doesn’t. This year, the cries of my family members wailing, ‘I don’t need anything!’ has been ringing in my ears on loop like some kind of anti-festive protest. Or worse — Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.

If the above resonates with you, then stick with me. This year we’re gifting the practical, the handy, and the downright thoughtful. Sometimes, all three at once.

For the kitchen

This gift could easily be mistaken as being purely for the foodies, but hear me out. This easy–pull dicer and chopper saves literal blood, sweat, and tears in the kitchen. Especially the tears. All you have to do is cut the ends of your onions, peel off the outer layer, cut into quarters and throw straight into the bowl of this cute lil’ gadget where you simply pull the string to dice as chunky or fine as you like.  
 
While you can use this with pretty much anything needing dicing or chopping, what it saves in tissues alone with the onions will change your life. A bold promise, I know, but one I stand by with conviction. It’s great for anyone who may ever need to chop an onion… which, let’s face it, is most people.

For the creative

Karuna Dawn are a cruelty-free, sustainable fashion brand with a social impact model that helps some of the most vulnerable and marginalised in our community with employment opportunities. Aside from their large range of bags, purses, wallets, and other accessories, they make the most incredible notebooks and journals using leaf leather. Yep, you read that right!  

These incredibly durable, quality books are beautiful to the touch, and a great reminder of how amazing nature (and plants) really are. For the writer, artist, journal lover, and all-round creative, this unique gift is a stand out.  

For the gardener 

Go native this year with 100% First Nations-owned social enterprise, Bush to Bowl, who specialise in native edible plants., Give the gift of therapeutic time in the garden, new food adventures, unique flavour profiles, and some of the best grub this country has to offer.  

So much of Australia’s native-grown produce is not widely available, so take the opportunity to grow Illawarra Plums, taste the sweetness of Dianella Berries from your own backyard, or just enjoy the beauty of Chocolate Lillies in bloom (or the taste — they’re edible too!). The journey from bush to bowl is an experience any green thumb or foodie will appreciate. 

For the kids 

Kids love animals — it’s just a fact! Imagine if you could give the gift of something super cute that they can kiss and cuddle all day long that also tangibly helps animals thrive? Enter symbolic animal adoptions from Animals Australia (full disclosure, that’s our parent org!). Whether it be a kangaroo with her joey, a plush piggy, or a long-eared bunny, kids will glow with pride knowing that they are the symbolic parent to an adopted animal  In addition to loving their new animal friend, a gift that gives back helps nurture the beautiful sense of compassion that comes naturally to every child. 

For your plant-forward pals 

While December is pretty much the most celebration-heavy month in Australia, I’m pleased to report that the good times don’t end there! Only a week after Christmas, there is an entire month of food to celebrate thanks to Veganuary!  

If you’ve been putting the call out for your friends to give it a try, then your Christmas gifting is made fail-safe. Create a hamper of all your favourite vegan products to welcome them to the experience and show them how delicious vegan living is!

Introduce them to aaaallll the chocolate, lollies, and snacks they can handle, as well as some surprisingly ‘accidentally vegan’ products that they might not realise are still on the menu. And, of course, the wonder of ingredients like nutritional yeast and black salt.

When it comes to tasty things, the world really is our oyster mushroom — make sure your pals know it, too.

For your feline friends 

While cats are obligate carnivores, you can still give them a big old dose of veg love this holiday season with this corn straight from the cob! With a silverline stick and catnip filling, the scent promotes healthy play, encourages chewing for oral health, and just generally gets them razzed up for play time. 

For the best buds 

They say that “Every dog has its day”. If I were a dog, I would love nothing more than to have my day lounging about on this giant banana bed! Aside from being incredibly comfy for your pooch, this bed also doubles as fun and playful home décor. I mean, if you’re gonna get a dog bed, you may as well get something that shows off your incredible sense of style, too! 

For those that really don’t need anything 

Still feeling frustrated by those people in your life who insist they don’t need or want anything from you? Don’t let it get to you. I have a solution. 

I have spent much of this year undertaking a home renovation, during which I realised I have acquired far too much over the years. I’ve felt the need to urgently downsize my belongings while simultaneously feeling that, y’know… simply everything brings me joy. So I completely understand not wanting to add any more clutter, however well-meaning. 

And this is where practicality meets thoughtfulness: toilet paper! But not just any toilet paper — About A Dog toilet paper! It looks beautiful on the bathroom shelves, it’s 100% recycled and Australian-made, and I have never met a person in my life who hasn’t a need for wiping. There is no doubt your gift is original and unique, and you just know it’s gonna get used.  

The best part about this gift? 50% of profits from each sale are donated to small animal shelters and rescues who need serious funding for their life-saving work. Now please allow me a brief moment to feel smug knowing that I’ve found the perfect non-gift gifting loophole that manages to help animals… 

…aaand thanks! I just needed to get that out of my system.  

For those to give thanks 

Goodwill Wine have genuinely made a business out of spreading goodwill. Their extensive range of wines are just the right way to acknowledge a job well done, to give thanks for always sorting out my bins on bin day (I’m looking at you, Marilyn! 😉), or a nice little something to celebrate making it through yet another big year. 

They’re completely free of any animal products, making them vegan-friendly, but the kindness to animals does not stop there! For every bottle sold, 50% of profits are donated to charities — predominantly animal-related — of which you get to choose from a selection. To date, they’ve raised half a million dollars to make the world a kinder place, so a gift of Goodwill Wine really is a gift that keeps on giving.
 

Christmas gifting COMPLETED! 

I feel rather optimistic that if you’ve followed my gift guide, you’ve ticked at least… well… everyone off your gift list by now. Which leaves you the rest of the month to kick back, relax, and plan for the delicious spoils of Veganuary.  

Let’s raise a glass of Goodwill Wine to the skies to celebrate wrapping up this list — and every item on it — just in time for Christmas.

Happy Holidays!