Vegan on the plate already going well? If you're into the whole vegan thing, let's take Veganuary to the next level and live fully vegan. Living vegan means avoiding animal suffering as best you can in every part of everyday life. What does that look like in practice? Glad you ask:
Food: We've already got this one well on the radar, but a quick recap here: foods of animal origin don't end up on the plate.
Cosmetics: As you've noticed, we always have a vegan version too. Here too it means doing without ingredients of animal origin or by-products in the manufacturing process. With cosmetics, always check that the company / the product is cruelty free (no animal testing). Best to look out for the "Leaping Bunny" or the "Rabbit with protecting hand" labels. A red flag is cosmetic products that are also sold in China. In China, animal testing is mandatory for care and cosmetic products.
But don't forget, cruelty free doesn't also mean vegan. You should still check the ingredients (maybe also with the help of apps like CodeCheck and the PETA app).
But don't forget, cruelty free doesn't also mean vegan. You should still check the ingredients (maybe also with the help of apps like CodeCheck and the PETA app).
Fashion: Wool is nice and warm, but it comes from an animal, of course. Here, animal husbandry, often painful and traumatising shearing, and mulesing are very problematic. If you don't want to contribute to that, better to avoid wool & co and stick with plant-based fibres and fabrics.
Petroleum-based fibres like polyester and acrylic are of course more animal-friendly, but very uncool for the planet. Something people often don't have on the radar is that clothing always sheds fibres when washed. No big deal with cotton and co, but with textiles made from synthetic fabrics this releases large amounts of microplastics into the water.
Vegan leather already comes in eco-friendly forms too (e.g. apple leather), but it's often quite pricey. The cheap version was still called pleather 10 years ago and is basically plastic. So not very sustainable or high-quality. Leather itself is very durable. One option, which everyone has to decide for themselves, is to buy something like that secondhand. That way you at least don't support the company that profits from the suffering of animals.
At home: Around the house, products with animal ingredients sneak in quickly too, of course. With textiles, watch the fibre blend and avoid leather. With cleaning products and the like, a glance at the label doesn't hurt either.
Entertainment: Planning your weekend and want to do something? If you like animals and don't want to support animal suffering, maybe skip the trip to the zoo or the aquarium. And if you do go to the circus, check beforehand whether the circus has animals performing.
Entertainment: Planning your weekend and want to do something? If you like animals and don't want to support animal suffering, maybe skip the trip to the zoo or the aquarium. And if you do go to the circus, check beforehand whether the circus has animals performing.
Tourist tours with horse-drawn carriages are absolutely no fun for the horses either. Better to rent a bike.
If you want to see animals, check whether there's an animal sanctuary near you.
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