[2723] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
Re: Cruelty-Free idea
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kelly Na'amah Zimmerman)
Sun Feb 8 16:59:33 2004
Message-Id: <5.0.2.1.2.20040207180248.03ba9d48@hesiod>
Date: Sun, 08 Feb 2004 17:01:53 -0500
To: veg@mit.edu
From: "Kelly Na'amah Zimmerman" <knz@MIT.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <20040206230437.39088.qmail@web12303.mail.yahoo.com>
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Hi--
In response to a question I received:
"I'm on the mailing list for the MIT Veg group. I was wondering how I can
find out about 'cruelty-free' detergent and all that stuff? I'm vegan and I
didn't even know there was anything to worry about there. All I worry about
is food, leather etc., and shampoo and makeup. What am I missing here?"
If you look in the wild harvest section of Shaw's/Star market, Harvest
Co-op in Central Square or Bread & Circus-type stores, you can easily find
eco-friendly/cruelty-free products, like detergent and other household
products.
Willow Lake shampoo & conditioner is cruelty-free, as are all of Tom's of
Maine products. For cosmetics, Bonne Belle is cruelty-free. These are only
a few brands, but there are quite a few more. Can people please help me
compile a list of cruelty free detergents and bath products, specifically?
It's easy to find companies, but harder to pinpoint individual products...
Bad brands include Tide, Colgate, Proctor & Gamble, etc.. They do some
pretty horrible testing. Usually people who support cruelty-free products
won't buy those products from companies that test for other products, eg.
while Herbal Essences Shampoo is cruelty-free, Clairol's other products are
not, so people avoid buying Herbal Essences. Sometimes the bottle will say
"this product was not tested on animals", but the ingredients may have
been. Also, there are really no regulations on who can say that they're
cruelty-free, so that's something to consider.
A lot of animal testing on cosmetic and household products is unnecessary,
as is evident by the fact that there are perfectly good, safe alternatives.
Testing does not just involve washing the bunnies in shampoo, but they do
some pretty horrible stuff-- they inject substances directly into the
animals' eyes or muscle, they cut off skin and see the reactions on open
wounds, etc.. It's awful.
You can go to http://www.caringconsumer.com/101.html for more information
on cruelty-free products.
Let me know if you have other questions.
Kelly ;)
>Kelly Na'amah Zimmerman <knz@MIT.EDU> wrote:
>Howdy--
>
>I have an idea for a campaign we can do on our own campus-- a cruelty-free
>campaign.
>
>I was in the laundry room at my house now, using my own cruelty-free
>detergent and sadly looking at the shelves of detergent wishing that others
>would switch to cruelty-free products. I often shower with my cruelty-free
>shampoo, looking at the other non-cruelty-free products, wishing that
>others would switch. I brush my teeth with cruelty-free toothpaste, and I
>wish others would start using it. Then it hit me-- most people either don't
>KNOW or don't THINK about cruelty-free products.
>
>So let's make them KNOW and make them THINK.
>
>Here's what I'm thinking:
>Someone (perhaps even myself) can make a poster of different brands of
>detergent that are cruelty-free, as well as a poster of different bath
>products that are cruelty-! free, and then we can all get permission at our
>respective living groups/dorms to post these posters in the laundry rooms
>and in the communal bathrooms. The posters would have a brief statement
>about what cruelty-free means (no animal testing, no animal ingredients),
>what exactly it is (no, they don't just bathe the bunnies in shampoo, they
>do horrible things involving needles and knives), and which products are
>NOT cruelty-free. It's important that this statement is brief, informative
>and not pushy. Underneath will be pictures of containers of brands that ARE
>cruelty-free as well as captions of where to get them and maybe how much
>they cost.
>I have time, so I can volunteer to actually make this happen, but I'd
>appreciate feedback and support from the rest of the group. Once the
>posters are made, we'd need to distribute them, which is where you all come
>in again.
>
>Another idea is that we might even talk with LaVerde's manager a! nd ask them
>to start promoting their cruelty-free products-- maybe print coupons that
>we could distribute on campus along with our posters.
>
>What do you think?
>Kelly ;)
>
>Kelly Na'amah Zimmerman
>http://web.mit.edu/knz/www/
>knz@mit.edu
>
>Alpha Chi Omega
>478 Commonwealth Ave.
>Boston, MA 02215
>house phone: (617) 450-0039
>room phone: (617) 450-0036
>
>
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Finance:
><http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=22055/*http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html>Get
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Kelly Na'amah Zimmerman
http://web.mit.edu/knz/www/
knz@mit.edu
Alpha Chi Omega
478 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA 02215
house phone: (617) 450-0039
room phone: (617) 450-0036
