Getting Started:
I’m the type of person who likes to do a lot of research before I really commit to anything. So, for me, reading the labels to everything was the best way for me to understand what is actually in our food and how to avoid animal products. In some cases, it is impossible to avoid animal products such as life saving or necessary medicine. But the main focus should be to reduce your consumption as much as possible and stay away from contributing to the harm of sentient beings. Here are lists of animal products to look out for and avoid:
PeTA has a very extensive list:
https://www.peta.org/living/food/animal-ingredients-list/
Vegan.com has a list that breaks down by product types:
https://vegan.com/info/animal-ingredients/
This is an article that explains the difference between animal products & animal by-products: https://blog.publicgoods.com/what-are-animal-products-and-byproducts/
Cruelty Free Cosmetics:
Once you have familiarized yourself with what to look out for, it’s time to start replacing your tainted goods! Places like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Mrs. Green’s easily have vegan friendly products. But what about mainstream places like ShopRite, Stop & Shop, and C-town? They all have things that are either “accidentally vegan” (meaning that it isn’t marketed as vegan but doesn’t contain animal products) or are beginning to have vegan friendly products on purpose. The lists of cosmetic supplies proved can be found in most places like Target, Walmart, ShopRite, and more. You may also find good deals online somewhere.
This is an article explaining what cruelty free means when looking for products:
This is an incredibly extensive list of skincare products that are 100% vegan:
Cruelty Free Make-up and Skincare Brands
PeTA is a great resource for many things, especially the way they make great lists. Here’s another group of lists of beauty products to consider switching to:
Cruelty Free Leave in Conditioner
This is a list of vegan toothbrushes:
This is a list of vegan toothpaste which also has pros & cons:
There’s also Dr. Bronner’s toothpaste (while you are here, check out all of their great eco-friendly &
vegan products such as soap):
Fashion:
This is a great blog post about what to look out for when purchasing clothes and understanding
veganism through your fashion choices:
Again, there is an emphasis on reading the materials and looking out to avoid animal derived products in your clothes. It is very easy to find beautiful items from everywhere as long as your making conscious decisions about what it is your purchasing. It even has some brands that you can look at that are dedicated vegan.
Also, I came across this website which shows that there is a push for veganism in mainstream fashion:
This is only the beginning to thinking about how to change your life to being more conscious, eco-friendly, cruelty free, and in favor of the animals. Changing your diet is apart of getting started too. There are many ways to go about this but if you are patient with yourself you will surely be able to find what works best for you!