My intern Alexis Piascik and I were talking about this topic and it was REALLY interesting! So, I asked her to wrote this as a guest post! Thanks, Alexis!

Food

Cruelty free eating is essentially going vegan; it just sounds less intense, and can actually be really easy! Substitutions are easy to find and often come with tons of benefits. Meatless meat generally has more protein than regular meat, dairy-free milk doesn’t have to be refrigerated, and going cruelty-free simply requires more consumption of fruits, vegetables, and other organic foods, which all have immense health benefits. And if the inhumane treatment of chicks, pigs, cows, and turkeys isn’t enough, the environmental impacts of the meat industry are no joke either. The extensive water consumption, CO₂ emissions, and land use have contributed greatly to global warming.

However, if going vegan is too intimidating, there are tons of other ways to save a few animal lives and live cruelty-free.

Make-up

Make-up is something most of us use almost every single day and essentially pay for every day causing the industry to bring in more than $50 billion dollars annually in the U.S. alone (according to statisticbrain.com). Why would you put that kind of money towards testing on bunnies, mice, and guinea pigs when it’s so easy to pick up a different brand? It may be disappointing to find out your favorite products have caused a rabbit to lose its vision or a mouse to lose its leg, but there are tons of popular and reliable brands that don’t test on animals including Urban Decay, NYX, elf, Bare Minerals, and Wet ‘n’ Wild. A more extensive list can be found here [hyperlink to http://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/list-of-cruelty-free-brands/ ] but simply googling your favorite brands works just as well. Most brands will advertise if they’re cruelty-free, and if they’re staying silent, it probably isn’t good news – MAC, Maybelline, and L’Oreal are just a few.

Clothing

What do you use more frequently and more regularly than your clothing? For some of you fast-fashion and bargain shoppers, some good news may be ahead; both polyester and cotton are cruelty-free fabrics! And there are plenty of other plant fabrics and man-made materials that are cruelty-free such as denim, rayon, and jersey but some pretty common cruel fabrics include wool, cashmere, silk, leather, fleece, suede, and anything that includes the animal and/or the word ‘skin’: alpaca, camel hair, snake skin, etc. The good thing though? There are vegan alternatives for practically anything: faux fur, faux leather and Soysilk are just a few of the alternatives. Modern Technology has even allowed us to create fabrics out of things like wood, seaweed, and soybeans to create more cruelty-free fabrics. Read more about the different kinds of alternatives and where to find them here.

Living cruelty-free doesn’t mean you’re snobby or “crunchy,” it just means you’re being a little more intentional about your decisions to help out your health, the health of others, and even the environment!