This will just be a quick continuation of my last post. Whereas my previous post dealt with the problems of killing animals for food, this post will deal with the problems of killing animals for leather, fur, etc. In my last post, we learned about the horrors of the factory-farming slughterhouse industy and all of the torture, brutal conditions, and killing that take place at those factories. That's something that needs to be remembered for this post. The animals that are killed for their skins to make clothes/accessories out of are treated just as bad and have to go through all of those same experiences.
Luckily, there are tons of alternatives out there for everything that's made from animals that you can buy instead, so that you won't be supporting the companies that represent the cruelty and killing of animals. Here are just a few of the many examples:
http://www.peta.org/living/fashion/cruelty-free-clothing-guide.aspx
PETA lists a bunch of companies and products that are free of animal skins.
http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/index.aspx
This is a really great leather-alternative company.
Those links alone provide animal free-alternatives for everything you can think of that are usually made from leather/animal skins. And more good news is that if you don't like any of their options, you can go to any search engine or amazon and type in vegan belts, vegan wallets, vegan shoes, vegan purses, or vegan anything and there's tons of other options that come up. Also, when searching, you can use other keywords such as "cruetly-free", "animal-free", "fake leather", etc.
If enough people out there choose this type of consumerism, we can end the concept of killing animals for fashion and apparel. The companies that kill animals to use real leather will either run out of business, or be forced to switch to animal-free products. Because, after all, it's we that have the power to control the markets.
Showing posts with label Animal rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animal rights. Show all posts
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
The Issue of Eating Meat/Finding an Ethical and Healthy Way
If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.
-Paul McCartney
"Thou shalt not kill" does not apply to murder of one's own kind only, but to all living beings.
-Leo Tolstoy
"Nothing will benefit human health or increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
-Albert Einstein
In a perfect world, there'd be no such thing as eating meat. Or at the very least, we'd be able to fully go without it while remaining in optimal conditions of health. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. I myself have experimented with veganism and vegetarianism with negative outcomes. At worst, I was getting really sick every couple of weeks. At best, I'd feel completely fatigued every day. I understand that it's possible to live that lifestyle healthily if you're a genius about supplementation, or have the proper genetics for it, but I'm not quite there yet.
There's several problems I have with eating meat. Mostly, I've always been highly against the idea of factory farm slaughterhouses and all of the torture, killing, horrible living conditions, and overall brutality that take place at those factories. What we're doing to these animals is nothing short of being equal to genocide and like a neverending holocaust. Watch this video to get just an idea of the atrocities that go on behind the scenes of where our meat comes from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeJfY5CXTM0
And keep in mind that these arn't just animals for us to do with as we please. But instead, try to see them for what they really are; conscious, living, breathing beings that experience emotions and feel pain, exactly like us. Just because they lack the ability to communicate and build things, that doesn't mean we should view them as lesser than us.
And then there's the issue of how unhealthy conventional processed meat is. Keep in mind that most of these animals have been pumped so full of growth hormones, antibiotics and fed with GMO feed and other poisonous food. A lot of these animals have become genetically modified themselves. By the time any of it is ready to eat, it's extremely unhealthy.
Most meats lead to extreme health problems such as clogged arteries, high cholesterol, heart-attacks and even cancer: http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/processedmeat050305.cfm
So what are the solutions? Fortunately there's a lot of them that are easy to figure out and add to your life. For starters, you could decide to try out veganism or vegetarianism and see if you're able to live that lifestyle healthily.
For everyone else, you can remember this tip: The ONLY meats I've found to be healthy and beneficial are free-range organic chicken, cage-free organic eggs, and natural wild caught fish. Those are the only ones that I've found to be low in fat, high in nutrients, and overall, safe and healthy to eat. The brand I recommend for fish is http://www.wildplanetfoods.com/. This way, you can fully avoid supporting slaughterhouses and unnecessarily harsh treatment of animals.
Although it's true that meat in general will always have high protein, when you're dealing with conventional meat, especially meats that come from cows or pigs, there's always going to be much more harm than good.
In conclusion, try to look out for not only the animals and the planet, but your health as well. If you're going to eat meat, please try to make sure that it's free-range and organic.
-Paul McCartney
"Thou shalt not kill" does not apply to murder of one's own kind only, but to all living beings.
-Leo Tolstoy
"Nothing will benefit human health or increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
-Albert Einstein
In a perfect world, there'd be no such thing as eating meat. Or at the very least, we'd be able to fully go without it while remaining in optimal conditions of health. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. I myself have experimented with veganism and vegetarianism with negative outcomes. At worst, I was getting really sick every couple of weeks. At best, I'd feel completely fatigued every day. I understand that it's possible to live that lifestyle healthily if you're a genius about supplementation, or have the proper genetics for it, but I'm not quite there yet.
There's several problems I have with eating meat. Mostly, I've always been highly against the idea of factory farm slaughterhouses and all of the torture, killing, horrible living conditions, and overall brutality that take place at those factories. What we're doing to these animals is nothing short of being equal to genocide and like a neverending holocaust. Watch this video to get just an idea of the atrocities that go on behind the scenes of where our meat comes from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeJfY5CXTM0
And keep in mind that these arn't just animals for us to do with as we please. But instead, try to see them for what they really are; conscious, living, breathing beings that experience emotions and feel pain, exactly like us. Just because they lack the ability to communicate and build things, that doesn't mean we should view them as lesser than us.
And then there's the issue of how unhealthy conventional processed meat is. Keep in mind that most of these animals have been pumped so full of growth hormones, antibiotics and fed with GMO feed and other poisonous food. A lot of these animals have become genetically modified themselves. By the time any of it is ready to eat, it's extremely unhealthy.
Most meats lead to extreme health problems such as clogged arteries, high cholesterol, heart-attacks and even cancer: http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/processedmeat050305.cfm
So what are the solutions? Fortunately there's a lot of them that are easy to figure out and add to your life. For starters, you could decide to try out veganism or vegetarianism and see if you're able to live that lifestyle healthily.
For everyone else, you can remember this tip: The ONLY meats I've found to be healthy and beneficial are free-range organic chicken, cage-free organic eggs, and natural wild caught fish. Those are the only ones that I've found to be low in fat, high in nutrients, and overall, safe and healthy to eat. The brand I recommend for fish is http://www.wildplanetfoods.com/. This way, you can fully avoid supporting slaughterhouses and unnecessarily harsh treatment of animals.
Although it's true that meat in general will always have high protein, when you're dealing with conventional meat, especially meats that come from cows or pigs, there's always going to be much more harm than good.
In conclusion, try to look out for not only the animals and the planet, but your health as well. If you're going to eat meat, please try to make sure that it's free-range and organic.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Activism
But what can just one of us do? Against all that money and power trying to crush us into roaches?
- Jello Biafra
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does.
- Margaret Mead
It's my belief that political, social, and environmental activism are some of the most effective things that we, the common citizens, can be doing that will cause real positive change in the world. With all of the countless corporations, banks, and politicians causing harm to the world, in one way or another, it's up to us to stop them. We have to be the big obstacle for them, because nothing else will. The good thing is that we can make a difference, especially when joined together in large numbers. I know there's a lot of important issues to cover and try to fix in the world, but luckily, every one of them has atleast one large activist organization working tirelessly for the cause and attempting to create as positive a change as possible. And even better, the presence of the internet has made it easier than ever for anyone to actively become involved with any of these organizations and to help join the fight and make positive changes in the world. It's great to get out and find live activist protests and demonstrations in public to join, but when location or work schedules get in the way of that, it's still just as effective, and convenient, to join the organizations "Action Alerts" teams and work from home (just follow the "Take Action" links). Most of the organizations make this as quick and easy as possible for their participants. So without further ado, here is a list of organizations that I strongly recommend getting involved with:
GreenPeace - http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - http://www.peta.org/
Sierra Club - http://www.sierraclub.org/
Environmental Defense Fund - http://www.edf.org/
Flouride Action Network - http://www.fluoridealert.org/
Global Exchange - http://www.globalexchange.org/
Organic Consumers Association - http://organicconsumers.org/
Right to Know GMO - http://www.carighttoknow.org/
Green America - http://www.greenamerica.org/
Answer Coalition - http://www.answercoalition.org/national/index.html
Natural Resource Defense Council - http://www.nrdc.org/
Oceana - http://oceana.org/en
World Wildlife Fund - http://worldwildlife.org/
United For Peace and Justice - http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
The Nature Conservancy - http://www.nature.org/
War Resisters League - http://www.warresisters.org/
Center for Biological Diversity - http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
Clean Water Action - http://www.cleanwater.org/
Earth Justice - http://earthjustice.org/
Conservation International - http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx
Healthy Child Healthy World - http://healthychild.org/
Eco Health Alliance - http://www.ecohealthalliance.org/
Clean Clothes Campaign - http://www.cleanclothes.org/
This is just a small example of the many organizations that are out there. If you'd like, you can join any one of those, as well as searching for other ones that focus on the main issues that you care about. Consider the quote "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something." The world needs our help right now, and I hope you'll join the effort.
- Jello Biafra
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does.
- Margaret Mead
It's my belief that political, social, and environmental activism are some of the most effective things that we, the common citizens, can be doing that will cause real positive change in the world. With all of the countless corporations, banks, and politicians causing harm to the world, in one way or another, it's up to us to stop them. We have to be the big obstacle for them, because nothing else will. The good thing is that we can make a difference, especially when joined together in large numbers. I know there's a lot of important issues to cover and try to fix in the world, but luckily, every one of them has atleast one large activist organization working tirelessly for the cause and attempting to create as positive a change as possible. And even better, the presence of the internet has made it easier than ever for anyone to actively become involved with any of these organizations and to help join the fight and make positive changes in the world. It's great to get out and find live activist protests and demonstrations in public to join, but when location or work schedules get in the way of that, it's still just as effective, and convenient, to join the organizations "Action Alerts" teams and work from home (just follow the "Take Action" links). Most of the organizations make this as quick and easy as possible for their participants. So without further ado, here is a list of organizations that I strongly recommend getting involved with:
GreenPeace - http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - http://www.peta.org/
Sierra Club - http://www.sierraclub.org/
Environmental Defense Fund - http://www.edf.org/
Flouride Action Network - http://www.fluoridealert.org/
Global Exchange - http://www.globalexchange.org/
Organic Consumers Association - http://organicconsumers.org/
Right to Know GMO - http://www.carighttoknow.org/
Green America - http://www.greenamerica.org/
Answer Coalition - http://www.answercoalition.org/national/index.html
Natural Resource Defense Council - http://www.nrdc.org/
Oceana - http://oceana.org/en
World Wildlife Fund - http://worldwildlife.org/
United For Peace and Justice - http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
The Nature Conservancy - http://www.nature.org/
War Resisters League - http://www.warresisters.org/
Center for Biological Diversity - http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
Clean Water Action - http://www.cleanwater.org/
Earth Justice - http://earthjustice.org/
Conservation International - http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx
Healthy Child Healthy World - http://healthychild.org/
Eco Health Alliance - http://www.ecohealthalliance.org/
Clean Clothes Campaign - http://www.cleanclothes.org/
This is just a small example of the many organizations that are out there. If you'd like, you can join any one of those, as well as searching for other ones that focus on the main issues that you care about. Consider the quote "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something." The world needs our help right now, and I hope you'll join the effort.
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