Ethical Consumerism

Casual observers might consider it a setback for proponents of ethanol and biodiesel now that Europe is planning to ban biofuels made from crops grown on high-value conservation lands. But the truth is, shunning biofuels produced on wetlands, grasslands, and deforested land is good for both critics and supporters.

PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic, commonly referred to as vinyl, is one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created. PVC is dangerous to human health and the environment throughout its entire life cycle, at the factory, in our homes, and in the trash.

Now I must be honest with you from the get go. I have never been too concerned with how my actions would effect the environment. Let me rephrase that, what I am trying to say is that, like most people, I have gone through life so far without making a conscious effort to protect the environment.

Many people think of Charlotte’s Web and Babe when they imagine how pigs are raised for meat. Unfortunately, these Hollywood tales do not depict reality.

US President Harry Truman stated, “No man should be allowed to be President who does not understand hogs.” Most people know very little about these fascinating animals. In fact, pigs are curious and insightful animals thought to have intelligence beyond that of an average 3-year-old human child.

Are animal rights the privileged domain of the world’s affluent nations? Dare we, in Africa, care about the well-being of animals while so many of our people are dying of hunger, Aids or in bloody civil conflict?

The poultry industry is one of the most wasteful and cruellest intensive farming industries. Millions of male chicks are thrown into dustbins to die, at just a few days old, because they are of no commercial interest for the meat industry. Male chicks are also worthless to the egg industry because they don’t lay eggs, so every year millions of them are tossed into trash bags to suffocate or are thrown—while still alive—into high-speed grinders called “macerators.”

Several research teams have recently published findings on chicken intelligence that have challenged old notions about avian cognitive abilities.

In order to give meaningful suggestions for building a brighter future,
we first need to speak candidly about what’s happening in the world at present.

When you buy a gift for a loved one you don’t expect that it might come with a dose of harmful chemicals. But if you are buying certain perfumes this Valentine’s day that’s exactly what you’ll get.

Two US-based development groups are warning Valentine’s Day shoppers that the gold jewellery they buy for their sweethearts may be a lot dirtier than it appears.

Cruelty exists in three distinct realms: cruelty against mankind, cruelty against animals and cruelty against nature.

Apart from the government stipulations regarding the listing of the guaranteed analysis and the contents, there’s a good chance that what you think is in your pet’s food… isn’t.

All things need food to be alive and to grow, including our love or our hate. Love is a living thing, hate is a living thing. If you do not nourish your love, it will die. A talk by the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh on the issues surrounding the eating of flesh and mindful consumption.

Millions of cows, pigs, sheep, and goats are slaughtered for their skins every year. They are castrated, branded, dehorned and have their tails docked without anaesthetics.