QUESTION EVERYTHING, AND BY EVERYTHING I MEAN EVERYTHING

As a vegan, you'll quickly realize that you will and have to question everything and by everything I truly and whole-heartedly mean EVERYTHING.

From the hygiene products you are using (yes, tampons and menstrual cups may be tested on animals or include animal-derived substances), to condoms, to the household products, makeup, shampoo and the material of your clothing and even the material of the threads and the colouring agent of those, and the glue that is used to stick labels on beverage bottles or hold the pages of a book together.

➸ Read about “Is Your Period Vegan”?
➸ Why organic cotton is so important!

Yes, this information is often hard to get and we can’t always know, and finding alternatives or a way around certain ingredients in products may be hard, but very often, to our surprise, we find what we're looking for.

It may not be possible to buy a certain book with a plant-derived glue (maybe there’s an online version though), but we most certainly have the choice to buy another brand of a shampoo that is not using animals or tests on them.

AVAILABILITY AND NECESSITY

Of course, it comes down to availability but also necessity and demand, but if we don't start asking for the supply and stand firm that it is our right to know if something is harm-free, how can companies be aware of the demand and therefore covering the supply?

Everyone who knows me and my pushy, militant character knows what’s coming next: be the “annoying, militant and pushy vegan”.

What I’m saying with this is ask and be tenacious in companies providing you with the information you would like to receive and also drop a little “Oh really? What a pity. I would have loved to go with your company, but if it’s using animals I can't morally justify it”.

Some may now say "Well Kerstin, don't you think that's going a little bit too far? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?", is it though?

BE AWARE AND DO WHAT YOU CAN

See, the thing is that it is all about awareness and doing our best to be the best version of ourselves by avoiding any substances, materials, and products that use animals and make a profit by exploiting them, killing them, and taking advantage of their bodies and secretions.

Be aware on whose expense you’re making decisions and choose to buy a product.

No, we can’t always be perfect in every single step we take or we would quickly come to the conclusion that our existence only on this planet is already causing harm to others so we might not better exist at all. No matter how hard we try, we will somehow cause pain and suffering to others (I'm talking of accidentally stepping on insects when walking through the forest, you get my point).

Does that mean we should just fuck it all, be careless, and act negligently regardless of the consequences? ...What? Wait, NO! We should for sure try our best and to be honest, it is very possible and practicable to do research (especially in the Western World) to find an alternative.

(IF) WE HAVE A CHOICE

(If) we have the option and choice to choose a way that causes the least amount of harm to others, why wouldn’t we do more research and find companies that have the same mindset even though they are a company focusing on a specific niche that is animal friendly? Especially those companies need to be supported or there won’t be any supply in the future.

COSTS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Yes, those products might cost a little more, or they don’t, but that is because they care too. They care about sustainability, the lowest environmental footprint, and quality materials that are not making their profits off the backs of innocent, sentient, living beings.

How much is life worth? How much is your life worth?

I have spent countless hours and hours looking for vegan products and information from companies online. I have made many phone calls and written many emails to receive information that sometimes cannot always be provided. But that hasn’t stopped me from continuing to look for vegan products and vendors and I have often decided to do more research to find a company and manufacturer that meets my high standards or, let’s better say “ethical-view-and-attitude-to-life standard”, that is simply asking for not using non-human animals.

INFORM & CHALLENGE COMPANIES

Challenge companies to do research on where their supplies come from and to find out if their products are animal friendly. You’ll see who truly cares about customer service and provide that information and do anything to advise me as best as they can.

I would rather be a nuisance to the service center of a company than to finance the use and abuse of non-human animal suffering. If someone gets annoyed by an important ethical question concerning a product’s ingredient or manufacturing, they would definitely have to check their attitude and privilege first, just saying. They are not a brand and company to support.

In the face of justice, I very much enjoy being annoying and you should too!

IS IT CONVENIENT TO GET THE INFORMATION?

Hell, no it is not convenient. It takes time and energy, but this time and energy are well put. Companies need to see the demand for environmentally friendly materials and they need to feel the pressure of having to cover the vegan market too, which is getting more and more attention due to the constant growth in awareness. And this is only because the world is changing, slowly but surely.

And while I’m sitting here writing this and thinking about all the things we have to question I stare at my second-hand tv sideboard from the 50s and I wonder if the varnish contains animal cruelty,

… and this I will never find out.