Gone are the days when people used to say “you eat shoes?” when I mentioned the search for vegan-friendly footwear.
Now, it’s generally realised that being vegan goes beyond diet and means doing as little harm as possible.
I personally have been looking for more environmentally-friendly bathroom products. Plastic is killing our ocean life, so this is certainly a vegan issue. I have done away with bottled shower gel and replaced it with vegetable-based bars of soap.
I was horrified by the difficulty of finding a shaving brush not made with badger hair. In the end, I plumped for a kit from www.twaburds.co.uk I found safety razors to be very expensive, so have bought a Preserve razor for Animal Aid – it’s made from recycled materials and it helps a worthwhile cause – http://www.animalaidshop.org.uk/household/preserve-razor-triple?cPath=20 They also have a toothbrush available. http://www.animalaidshop.org.uk/household
I’ve also noticed an increase in non-packaged bath bombs and soaps at vegan markets and festivals – so it’s all good – and, of course, Lush has a great range of vegan products. Or you could make your own bath bomb – I found this recipe with a simple Ecosia (ethical alternative to Google) search – https://www.bathbombfizzle.com/blogs/news/all-natural-bath-bomb-recipe-that-is-vegan-with-essential-oil
Superdrug is great for products with the leaping bunny logo too.
Why in the 21st century are companies still testing on animals when there are so many alternatives available?
To get around EU regulations, companies test household products abroad. So, when it comes to household cleaning, it can be a dirty minefield out there.
Recently, Method and Ecover lost their Naturewatch accreditation due to a takeover by SC Johnson – who test on animals. Basically, if you buy a product, it helps to make a profit for that company’s parent company – profit which helps funds animal tests elsewhere in the business.
The good news is that it’s so easy to pick up alternatives on the High Street – Astonish is a well-known and well-loved brand of vegan cleaners – they are available in many pound shops and Asda – a full list of stockists is available here – https://www.astonishcleaners.co.uk/stockists/
There is also Marks & Spencer, Co-OP, Waitrose and Ecozone. Look for the leaping bunny symbol – but, be careful, that symbol means the company will not use any newly-derived ingredients tested on animals after a fixed date. This means testing on animals now and in the future is frowned upon.
The Compassionate Shopping Guide from Naturewatch has lists of companies which are and aren’t endorsed as being cruelty-free. Get one here – https://naturewatch.org/compassionate-shopping/compassionate-shopping-guide
Peta also have some useful PDFs available online – http://features.peta.org/cruelty-free-company-search/index.aspx
Of course, there’s still the issue of plastic packaging and chemicals – so why not make your own products? Baking soda and white vinegar are the staple ingredients of most DIY cleaners and they work very well. Simply Vegan magazine recently published a “one mix to clean them all” recipe. This included 1 cup of Castile Soap, 2 cups of purified water (filtered or boiled then cooled), 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp of baking soda, juice of a lemon, 5 drops of tea tree oil, 5 drops of orange oil, 5 drops of eucalyptus oil and 5 drops of lemongrass or lemon oil all mixed together in a spray bottle.
Naturewatch also sells a household cleaners recipe book – https://naturewatch.org/compassionate-shopping/homemade-household-cleaners
There are also some good tips and recipes here – https://wellnessmama.com/6244/natural-cleaning/
I’m sure many of you have tips and recipes too – I’d love to read those.