Gifts for More Than Giving

Why just buy a present when you can buy one that will not only please a relative or friend, but also help save a tiger or a tree or fund medical research or benefit an AIDS patient? Here’s a roundup of what’s new among gifts that give:

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Desert Ties Neckties may be a traditional gift, but the World Wildlife Fund’s ties with wildlife and marine themes are different. New this season is a Southwestern design in red, green and beige that depicts desert plants and animals.

The neckties are bestsellers among the products that raise revenue to support the fund’s endangered species projects, with 3% to 5% of the sale of each tie going to WWF.

Manufactured by Manhattan Menswear Group, the WWF tie designs are changed four times a year. Locally, they are available at Bullock’s and Robinsons-May. Suggested retail price is $27.50.

You also can buy the neckties--and about 300 other items with animal and marine life themes--directly from the WWF’s holiday catalogue, (800) 833-1600.

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Can It If there is someone hard to buy for on your holiday gift list, Amy Glin’s Consciousness in a Can may be the answer. In a container resembling a quart can of paint are 365 “thought and laughter provoking quotes designed to remind us that there are many ways to view the world, and to jar us out of normal thought patterns,” says Glin.

The fortune-cookie-like slips of recycled paper include mostly quotes from notables. Among them:

* “Have you ever watched a crab on the shore crawling backward in search of the ocean and missing? That’s they way the mind of man operates.”--H.L. Mencken.

* “When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.”--George Bernard Shaw.

* “I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.”--D.H. Lawrence.

The cans ($12.50 each) are available at the Missouri Trader in Hollywood and the Guiding Star Bookstore in Mill Valley.

Phone orders (add $3 for shipping and handling) may be directed to On Target, (213) 467-7944.

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Animal Fillers In addition to canned quotes, Missouri Trader owner Lola Lynch offers tiny pewter animal and marine figures called Spoontiques that make great stocking stuffers. They range in price from $2.75 to $17, and Lynch gives 10% of sales to Wildlife Waystation, an animal refuge in San Fernando.

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Mint to Be Endangered animals also benefit from the sales of EnvirOmints, chocolate/peppermint candies sold through Recreational Equipment Inc. headquartered in Sumner, Wash.

Manufactured by Environmintal Candy Co. in Seattle, the mints are separately packaged in a box of 24. Each candy includes a card with a photograph and explanation of an endangered animal or bird.

Half of the proceeds from the sales of EnvirOmints ($10 a box) supports organizations helping to save endangered species. The mints are for sale at REI’s 37 stores nationwide (locally in Northridge, Carson, Santa Ana and San Dimas) or they may be ordered by calling (800) 426-4840. Hearing-impaired people may call (800) 443-1988. When ordering by phone, add $3.55 for shipping and handling.

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One Last Look If you can’t afford a trip to one of the Nature Conservancy’s designated last great places on Earth, check out the nonprofit organization’s 1994 “Last Great Places” calendar for photographs of them.

Each of the 12 photos pictures an area where the Nature Conservancy has been at work to protect the habitat. Among the scenes are Dolan Falls on the Devils River, “the last major unpolluted stream in West Texas”; Peru’s Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, and the Great Lakes marsh and cobble beach, two of Michigan’s distinctive natural landscapes, described as “part of the planet’s largest fresh-water basin.”

“The Last Great Places” calendar ($9.95) is available through the Nature Conservancy, (800) 382-2386.

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For AmFARGuenoc Winery in Middletown, Calif., has supported various charitable causes across the United States for four years. This holiday season, 50 cents from each bottle of its estate-bottled Guenoc Valley Chardonnay and Meritage Red will benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR).

The wines ($9.99-$12.99) are available at The Wine House in West Los Angeles; Beachwood Market in Hollywood; Bristol Farms in South Pasadena, Manhattan Beach and Rolling Hills Estates; Montana Wine Company in Santa Monica; Vendome Liquors in Studio City; Wine Club in Tustin, and Hi Time Cellars in Costa Mesa.