Hi, it's Veronika here!
Today I have amazing news for you. I've been vegan for a good few couples of years, but I wanted to take things further in my business and learn more. The more I know the more knowledge I can share further. I decided to take a vegan design course to get a certificate provided by VeganDesign. I've learned a hefty amount of facts, both sad (such as current leather and fur industry practices) and inspiring (new exciting plant-based and man-made materials we can now use and completely forget using animals in the design/clothing/fashion industry).
What does it mean? Now I can "show-off" that all my products are really vegan and cruelty-free - simply as they were until now, so actually not much change here =)) But I learned a lot of useful things I can now use further in my home decor business adventure. And that's worth it!
A few peaks in the course:
Being vegan, many of these sad facts I already knew, but I still learned some disturbing statistics and facts:
* About 80% of down is from live-plucked birds! Ouch! Are you really gonna buy the new down pillow or will you choose a kapok pillow instead?
* Minks kept for fur live in such small cages that they practice cannibalism under the pressure of limited living space - and that's considered as an acceptable and expected loss.
* Sheep get mutilated without anaesthetics to prevent fly strike. Do you really still believe the wool jumper is cruelty-free?
* You may not be vegan and you may still eat steak from cows, but I bet you love puppies. Well, did you know that leather may be actually made of dogs and cats? Nobody wants to be taking a nap on a meow-sofa, right? (And I hope most of us don't want the cow's ones either...)
Plenty of amazing ideas and insights into businesses working with new types of materials:
* Fabrics made of banana flowers and pineapple leaves - I'd call it a "tropical lush fabric"
* New natural and synthetic materials made to replace animal skins in fashion and related industries are actually more durable and less prone to damage - will you still insist to use animal skins just because it was a traditional item once used in human history?
* Plant-based fabrics are more ecological because leather processing requires way more chemicals than plant-based fabrics. A lot of leather is processed in other countries where the health and safety regulations are lower or not in place at all so workers are exposed to unhealthy conditions which negatively affects their life quality and even lifespan! If you don't want to think about animals, think about the people involved in this old-fashioned, unhealthy industry.
And there's more for plant alternatives and against the usage of animals. I'm happy to share my knowledge and discuss alternatives with you, should you be interested.
I want to keep this post as positive as possible, even though it's based on learning what cruel practices are still happening in the industry which I and many others like me are trying to prove old-fashioned and unnecessary.
Let's think about plants as our new future. Plants only (and man-made materials) have been the only part of my consumer life for a while. And I definitely like it that way.
Plants solved also many of my business-related problems:
* packaging - paper envelopes/boxes (with plant-based sealing/glue! and pouches made of starch (where necessary)
* pillows stuffing - filled with kapok tree fibres
And when there's no plant-based alternative, I'm open to using man-made synthetic materials. In today's world, it's more than possible to avoid inhumane actions and practices. So why not to join this healthy way of living and stop contributing to the part of the industry which uses animals (for no other purpose these days than just old tradition).
I'd like to briefly share with you a video where I talk about cruelty-free certification from VeganDesign.org!
Here we go:
Common questions:
Q: What would all the people working in animal-using industries do for a living?
A: Move to the industries which use plants and man-made materials instead. There will be still demand for pillows, clothes, sofas – only they will be made of better alternatives
Q: Cow's leather is used from cows killed for meat anyway.
A: Not always, the leather and meat industry support each other. Demand for leather is unfortunately still so high (many people still believe leather is the ultimate forever material or simply they think it's a luxurious item), so meat from dead cows killed for leather is pushed to the circulation even when there are every year more and more people becoming vegetarians (don't eat meat) and vegans (don't eat any animal products) and therefore there's less meat in demand.
Q: What's wrong with wool? Sheep need to be sheered anyway.
A: Sheep are sheared very inhumanely, as they are scared and don't stay still - and shearers are paid by the amount of wool, not per hour, so they rush and often injure sheep during sheering, other use unnecessary force and hurt sheep deliberately to stop them from moving.
Q: Why are you vegan?
A: Simply for the environment, animals and my own health. Here's the best answer I have for you:
This is my first vegan design T-shirt. I could simply wear it all day long to help me answer the neverending question "Why are you vegan?"
If you like it, you can click on it and buy it - available in men's/women's in various sizes and colours. And profits from this T-shirt goes to support animal charities and marine conservation!
At the end:
All my products are created by vegans for vegans and those who are open-minded and ready to learn that no cruelty is needed to get lovely, durable, fashionable, luxurious home decor and related accessories that don't compromise on vegan- & eco-friendliness.
It doesn't matter what you prefer, whether you are into luxury or economical options, or something in the middle. What matter is to keep it cruelty-free.
Do you agree with my core values? Do you want to help me to spread the word so I can raise more funds for marine conservation and animals in needs? I appreciate a lot if you share this article or any others from my blog, share information about my products, or simply mention my website.
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