Ethical Omnivore!

Ever stop and think , can we live a single minute of our lives cruelty-free?

• We wake up, brush our teeth. -That toothpaste and the ingredients were tested on animals.
• Have a bath..- That soap, facial cleanser, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel were tested on some poor rabbits.
• Get ready, wear some nice clothes, shoes - The wool, fur, silk came from animals who lead a tortured life. That leather shoe could be that dog, your neighbor lost as a kid, which ended up in china.. for its meat and skin and any possible use that can be made out of it.
• Fix hair..do some makeup/shave..- The sprays, mousse, foam, cosmetics were all tested on animals.. There are labs out there, with tons of animals, who have to live a horrid life of getting things injected in their body, eyes, ears and more, just so we can get that new lipstick from this seasons new collection.
• Cook up some breakfast..some nice eggs and bread with some hot tea..- The eggs come from factory farmed hens and the milk from cows who have udders 5 times the size of what they actually should be. With that much milk in their udders, they are in constant pain and have constant infections and hence all the hormones and antibiotics which end up in our system.
• Get to office, get coffee and eat and drink meat, cheese, butter and milk and other combinations of the same. - All factory farmed.
• Get home, cook dinner, clean the kitchen, do the dishes or the laundry..- The household cleaners, dish soap, laundry detergent.. and their ingredients were all tested on animals and still are.. for every new one that comes out.
• Watch something for entertainment like some animals in a circus, animal fights etc( oh yes, the supreme court thinks that dog fight videos are not cruel. They overturned a ban on those videos just last week) Animals in circuses have the worst life ever. Always chained and tortured to perform for our entertainment.
• Eat some desserts, ice creams, and head to bed..- all the creamy cakes, the frosting, cream, butter, eggs, milk.. all factory farmed. We consume so much dairy in a day.. ever think , out of the milk a cow produces..how much does its calf get?

It sounds like a really big deal to change so many things to be cruelty free. But it isn't really that big. One small step is good enough. That one small step will give you so much happiness that the next step will seem like an effortless extrapolation of the first. It is just about the first step. And If you are reading this, you cant even claim ignorance anymore.

For the bath and body, there are a lot of vegan products which are also animal testing free which are available in Whole foods, PCC or metropolitan market. The complete list of cruelty-free companies here http://www.leapingbunny.org/shopping.php . Some of the once I have tried are Hugo Naturals, Lush, Body shop, Organix, Pureology, Paul Mitchell and more. A lot of the brands are very comparable in terms of prices.

For food..We can try to be an Ethical Omnivore.. It is difficult but not impossible to find ethical, humane and organic meat. Whole foods and PCC is where you can find a good number of options. The Farms, brands, and places to get ethically raised meat here

http://www.certifiedhumane.org/

You can find the milk farms with ethical and organic practices below. All other dairy products like cheeses, butter from these farms also follow the same guidelines.

http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html

Do change the meat, milk, eggs, cheese to these humane brands and those happy animals will send a big thanks to you. There is hardly a difference in the prices and some of the brands are readily available in the regular grocery store. The big difference is that these are from an animal who had a decently happy life till its eventual slaughter.

For household cleaners, dish and laundry, you can find the complete list at http://www.leapingbunny.org/shopping.php. I have used Seventh generation and Method and most products are very comparable in terms of price and performance.

The post is of course is preachy and my views extreme, but we all know that all this pain and cruelty is totally unnecessary and easily avoidable. Let us take those few minutes from our life to move in the direction of eliminating this pain.. just a few minutes and just one small step. Try it...