This creative Elephant artwork with a rice motif depicts the life and love of India. Elephants represent good luck! Now, you can carry luck around with you!

The Henna Artwork depicts India. The rice in the hands are shaped in a heart and represents giving. Good karma. Good Vibes.

The ELEPHANT and HENNA illustrations were created by Sarah Querido. Originally from Japan, Querido now lives in Texas with her husband and new baby. Follow Querido's work on Instagram @sarahquerido.

MANDALA

The Mandala Artwork represents the idea that everything is connected, like a circle. Our rice giving is like this, too. For example: you buy a bag, it feeds a family, that family is then able to send their child to school instead of work, that child grows and contributes to the world. We are all interconnected. What goes around, comes around.

Artwork created by the talented Emily Sikora. Follow Emily on Instagram @emsikora.

PINEAPPLE

The Pineapple Artwork can be interpreted in many different ways. Pineapples are iconic in Hawaii, representing welcome and aloha. However, not everything is paradise in Hawaii. Homelessness ranks #1 in Hawaii for the 50 US states. The disintegrating rice depicts this problem. The reintegration of rice represents the hope we have to solve the growing problem of hungry in Hawaii. Good vibes.

The illustration was created by Kris Goto. Originally from Japan, Goto is making a name for herself in the Hawaii art scene. Check her out at krisgoto.com.

WHAT YOU ARE GIVING

This bag provides 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice, which provides the rice needed for 12 individual meals. Based on a typical family of 4 in India, eating rice 3 meals per day, this gift lasts one day. Your bag comes with a unique hang tag number, which allows you to find the photo and story of the family you are helping on ricelove.com. In order to make hand-delivery possible, others will be contributing to the same family you are. We deliver 25 kilos of rice per family at a time, which provides for about a month supply of rice! Buying this bag feeds families!

SUPPORT FAIR TRADE

We only partner with factories that respect the environment, have safe working conditions, no child labor, and at a minimum pay the local living wages. Buying our bags provides quality jobs!

INTERNATIONAL DUTIES NOTICE

All orders are shipped from the USA. The cost of import fees and/or duties are NOT included in the cost of shipping. If you live outside the USA, you may be required to pay a duty before you can pick up your package. It is important to know your countries rates for duties as you will be responsible for this added cost. If you do not pay the duty, the package will be returned to us. In this case, we will contact you to ask if you would like to pay to have the package re-shipped to you or if you would like a refund on the cost of the product (excluding shipping). Most European countries have import fees, however, they are generally less than the cost of the product(s), and the fees are not charged consistently on every package. Customers have not reported any duties for Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.

Every backpack is one-of-a-kind!

The burlap pieces are recycled from authentic Indian rice bags. These bags are purchased from local sources and reduces the amount of waste in the landfills.

Since all bags come from recycled materials expect slight imperfections and variations in every bag.

No bag is exactly the same.

Between the fabric, the seamstress who made it, the family who receives the rice, and you, every bag has a different story. You are giving life. You are a part of the story.

Each bag is made of recycled materials. Expect the same color scheme but variations in design and patterns.

We hand-deliver 1 kilo of rice for every item we make.

India alone has a population of 1.2 billion people. About 450 million, or 37%, are below the world poverty line, living on $1.25 USD per day. This leads to poor health, disease, and needless death. We give in India because it has more poor than any country in the world, 1/3 of the world's total poor.

From a Western perspective, it can be very difficult to imagine just how important rice is to Asia and the Pacific Islands. Westerners can easily get by without eating rice. But, in Asia, this is not case. In India, rice is eaten three times per day. For low income families, rice is the primary source of daily calories. These families are not bombarded by packaged foods and fast food, like exist in the developed world. In Asia, rice is life. The amount of rice we provide lifts a tremendous burden from families who are strained in many way beyond financial. Most families dream of sending their children to private school in India, which is the beginning of the path out of poverty. Many families use the money they save to pay an admittance fee for one of their children to get into school, which provides hope for the future.

We give 25 kilos of rice at a time. For every 25 items we produce, we hand-deliver a 25 kilo bag of rice. For example, if each customer only purchased 1 item, it would take 25 customers to give 25 kilos of rice to one family. 25 items made = 25 kilos delivered.

We don't buy rice in one country and send it to another, which would negatively impact the local economy. Instead, we buy rice locally from retail stores supporting the supply chain all of the way to the lowest levels. We buy from the places that the people would be buying from if we weren't there. The income that the family saves on rice can be used towards these necessities in their local village, therefore, stimulating the local