Deitary vs Ethical Vegan

As I’ve said, I just switched to being vegan in January, and for the present I am simply a dietary vegan not an ethical vegan. Or maybe I am somewhere in between the two. I still feel as though I am transitioning on a lot of aspects that feel hidden and tricky. You would be surprised at how animal products, or animal testing is almost everywhere. It feels overwhelming at times, others not.

(Ethical vegan is the term used for vegans who forgoe animal products in all aspects of their lives; food, clothing, cosmetics and toiletries, entertainment...)

There are many aspects of ethical veganism that I do hold to, like:

Makeup and toiletries;  from this point forward I plan to research and be wary of all the products that I am buying and to avoid those tested on animals.

http://www.leapingbunny.org/indexcus.php

Pet ownership;  There is never a need to buy an animal new. There are SO MANY animals in need of homes. All over the place. We adopted Minnow from a very well run shelter in Boucherville, and I can tell you there were at least 20 beautiful cats there just waiting for someone to love them, not to mention dogs, rabbits, and a bunch of rats. I think you should never buy from a breeder or a pet store. Those things just perpetuate the problem of unwanted pets. Animals from shelters are always neutered and spayed beforehand.

Les Services Animaliers de la Rive-Sud

Clothing; This is the aspect of ethical veganism that catches me up a bit. I am pretty conflicted about wool and silk and therefore my thoughts on those are still percolating. I don't really wanna talk about it while I feel up in the air with my views. Obviously leather is a problem, but even there I don't feel inclined towards being hard-line. I think I will continue to purchase USED leather products for the time being.

I kind of had a feeling I was headed back towards veganism for a while and at the same time I have been wanting a leather jacket forever. I've been keeping my eye out for the perfect one, the one that never showed up. But then a week after going vegan the perfect jacket did show up. And wallah! It wasn't real leather! I was really surprised because I usually kind of hate the feel of synthetic leather. It doesn't breathe and the touch is off. But my new jacket is soft , and so far I haven't got the Sweaty-Synthetics yet. So I am very happy there.... But here’s the point where I am still very conflicted:

I think that plastics are the devil and a very huge factor in the destruction of our ecosystems. Synthetic clothing is all pretty much petroleum based, and plastic. If we destroy the ecosystem that animals live in we are still contributing to their suffering. And so I am not to keen on purchasing plastic shoe after plastic shoe. At the same time the farming of animals for their goods (wool, leather, silk) is just as problematic as it is for food. So I feel a bit like I am in a catch 22. I may just take this one item at a time, and strive for plant based fibers and second hand, as I already do.

The last aspect is honey. Even among vegans its a debated issue. I DO eat honey. And I think I will continue to do so. The problems with large scale honey operations is that they sometimes clip the wings of the queen bee so she cannot move the hive, and they also pillage ALL the honey form the hive at the end of the season and replace it with sugar. Since the bees make the honey for themselves, and its purpose is to get them through the winter, I think that practice is problematic. It also sometimes kills the hive. But there are plenty of small scale bee farmers who don't do this, and I just have to pay a little extra for their honey. I am willing to do that.