Veganising my life

After almost six months of blissful vegginess, I have decided that I would like to eschew all animal bits and pieces from my diet and the things that I consume (things like toiletries, clothes and household goods). I have decided to go Vegan on 1st November 2008, as that is World Vegan Day.

However, unlike just going cold turkey (I know, rotten pun :p) when I gave up meat eating, this could take a little longer. Maybe it could be construed as hypocritical to phase out animal products, but let me explain.

1. I hate waste. But what to do with all those animal-unfriendly toiletries, cosmetics and so on? In a way, the damage has already been done. It won’t cause Proctor and Gamble any worries if I chuck out my Head and Shoulders, as it’s already been bought and paid for. And who wants a half-used bottle of shampoo? Although consumable, these sort of products hang around a bit longer than food, so I have come up with a compromise: use up the already opened products, but once World Vegan Day comes around, chuck out what’s left.

2. Educate myself. I have a lot to learn about going animal free. I think it is really important to understand how things are manufactured. My Animal Free Shopper is on its way and I think I will study this book from cover to cover.

3. Get used to vegan foods. OK, most of what I eat is vegan anyway (like fruit and veg), but I mean stuff like Seitan and Tempeh which I am looking forward to trying. I have a tin of Granose “Mock Duck” in the larder at the moment, as I felt intrigued. I don’t eat a lot of Quorn, but as it contains egg, then it’s not suitable for vegans.

4. Start overhauling my wardrobe. Recently I have made an effort not to buy any leather goods, so any new shoes or trainers I buy are animal friendly. I need to let my entourage know as well as I have a pink leather weekend bag and a silk blouse which were gifts but I feel guilty whenever I use/wear them. Yet I feel ungrateful. What to do?

I feel as if I have done something really positive for my health and the wellbeing of the planet by giving up meat and other animal products that involve killing animals, such as gelatine, rennet, lard, etc. However, my conscience is giving me a hard time over eating eggs, even free range ones (all the poor little male chickadees gassed or macerated at one day old!). As for dairy, it bothers me that the “waste product” of milk production is a calf that might end up being veal. Dairy production also means a depletion of resources such as water and land for grazing, not to mention the greenhouse gasses produced by cows’ bottoms! In Austraila, vast areas of land are being turned to desert by the hard hooves of cattle, which of course are an imported species to that continent.

What’s wrong with honey, I wondered? Then I found out that bees are factory farmed, kind of obvious when you think about it, to produce all that honey you’re going to need more that a few little country beekeepers. In effect the honey is stolen from the bees and replaced by sugar in the winter so they don’t die. I did actually know this because of Sylvia Plath’s poem “Overwintering”. In some systems though, they just kill off the colonies so they don’t have to feed them over the winter! And they clip the wings of the bees, which seems cruel. Not even these insects are spared the indignity of artificial insemination as the drones’ heads are torn off and their sperm use to impregnate the queens. This is covered in this essay by Noah Lewis.

I could go on, and I probably will, as I find out more on this voyage of discovery. Thing is, the more I learn, the more it is altering my perception of how I live and my place on the planet.