dietary vegan, was Re:(unknown)

[Guest guest]

LOL - it's not easy to tell the difference between leather and vegan shoes

anyway.

 

Jo

 

, yarrow wrote:

>

> At 9:51 AM -0700 6/29/09, Sarah Tomecek wrote:

> I was looking at this email and I realized it's difficult to find

> things shoes especially that don't contain leather if I were not to

> go all the way with being a vegan what would I be called? Not that it

> matters I'm just curious. I wouldn't be eating dairy eggs or any

> other animal products, but I don't know if I want to worry about the

> expense of throwing out my tennis shoes considering I'm in college

> and don't have the money to buy more right now. Am I a bad vegan?

> >>

>

> Even after 20 years or so of being vegan, I'm still using a wool

> blanket I've had since I was born (it shows no signs of wearing out).

> I did give away leather hiking boots etc. eventually, when I couldn't

> stand to have them around, but I didn't get rid of stuff all at once.

> In fact, I'd already been vegetarian for over a decade before I

> gradually became vegan. I don't remember how long ago I stopped using

> tallow-based soaps (which were free, because I had a relative who

> worked for a company that made them) -- I noticed that my skin felt

> itchy after using them, and it was easy to switch to veg-oil-based

> soaps.

>

> One thing I've noticed in the past 5-10 years is that when I mention

> I'm vegan, some people immediately check to see if I'm wearing

> leather shoes or belt or whatever. So if you are still wearing your

> shoes until they wear out, you can prepare for this kind of scrutiny

> by saying it's more environmentally responsible to honor the life

> that gave you the shoes by using them until they wear out, instead of

> throwing them out.

>

> I think going vegan is a process, not an either/or. It's really hard

> to be totally vegan -- if you drive a car or ride a bicycle, you're

> driving over insects. If you eat food grown by someone else, chances

> are they used animal manures or fertilizers, or possibly used

> pesticides. But it is possible to increase your awareness and to do

> the best you can, and every bit you can do makes a difference. So I

> think it makes a lot more sense to focus on what you can

> realistically do and to look at the big picture: not eating animals,

> and not benefiting from the enslavement of animals, are huge.

>