Vegan Living & Ethical Buying

savvy

squirrelgirl wrote: »

Currently, I feel that I am living in a dumping ground for all sorts of random items belonging to random people!! :rotfl:

I can totally relate to this, it's driving me insane!!!!



Wish Ihad to your energy levels

bigask

squirrelgirl wrote: »

Hi,

I'm not sure if there is a thread which covers this already but I am a vegan who tries to consume as ethically as possible and wondered if there is anyone else out there trying to do the same thing in as much of a money saving way as possible!??

I have recently had an increase in income and have therefore decided that from this day forward I will no longer purchase anything from any organisation that doesn't produce their goods ethically. It means that I will no longer use supermarkets; will either buy fresh products from a local organic box scheme or local organic producers; toiletries, household products and dry/tinned goods will be from a wholesale cooperative or a local health food shop.

Tomorrow I will look at a greener energy provider- I can't afford solar panels at the moment but I can look at renewable electricity suppliers. I already bank with an ethical bank and am basing all my choices on ratings via the ethical consumer website.

I know that this isn't going to be easy, not using any mainstream shops is going to take a lot of planning but I think its worth doing and hope that I'm not alone!! :rotfl:

How do you do to without "B vitamin"?:eek:

[Deleted User]

Bigask...no worries!!! :rotfl:

Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)
Sources: baker!!!8217;s yeast (active yeast), nutritional yeast (nonactive yeast), coriander, pine nuts, Jerusalem artichokes, hibiscus tea, watermelon, whole grains, acorn squash, soymilk, soybeans, rice bran, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts (or butter), tahini, sesame seeds, spirulina, green peas, most beans, asparagus
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
Sources: cereal grasses, whole grains, almonds, sesame seeds, spinach, fortified soy milk, spirulina, mushrooms, beet greens, quinoa, buckwheat, prunes
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
Sources: baker!!!8217;s yeast (active yeast), nutritional yeast (nonactive yeast), coffee, chili powder, spirulina, peanuts, peanut butter, rice bran, mushrooms, barley, durian fruit, potatoes, tomatoes, millet, chia, whole grains, wild rice, buckwheat, green peas, avocados, sunflower seeds, tahini
Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)
Sources: baker!!!8217;s yeast (active yeast), nutritional yeast (nonactive yeast), paprika, mushrooms, sunflower seeds (and sunbutter), whole grains, broccoli, mushrooms, avocados, tomatoes, soy milk, rice bran, sweet potatoes
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
Sources: all soy products (choose non-GMO), bananas, watermelon, peanut butter, almonds, sweet potatoes, green peas, avocados, hemp seeds, spirulina, chia seeds, beans, rice bran, chickpeas, prunes, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, pineapple, plantains, hearts of palm, artichokes, water chesnuts, all squash and pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, green beans, pistachios, figs, nutritional yeast, baker!!!8217;s yeast (active yeast), garlic, sage, peppers, kale,
Vitamin B7 (Biotin)
Sources: almonds, chia, peanuts, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, peanuts, onions, oats, tomatoes, carrots, walnuts
Vitamin B9 (Folate)
Sources: spinach, beans, lentils, asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, avocados, mangoes, oranges, most whole grains, nutritional yeast (nonactive yeast), baker!!!8217;s yeast (active yeast), basil, soy products, peanuts, artichokes, cantaloupe, walnuts, flax, sesame, cauliflower, tahini, sunflower seeds, peas, okra, celery, hazelnuts, mint, leeks, chesnuts
Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)
Sources: soy products, fortified cereals (choose an organic, non-GMO brand), fortified almond milk (brands vary), fortified coconut milk (brands vary), some vegan protein powders, nutritional yeast (one of the best), spirulina (best source)

savvy

bigask wrote: »

How do you do to without "B vitamin"?:eek:

Lol that's an old classic :rotfl:

rachlikeswinter

Hey guys! Haven't posted in a while, life and all that.. hope everyone's well?

So on the plastic free side of things, I've just seen that Bulldog (that men's skincare brand, who are vegan) have just launched a completely plastic free razor - made of bamboo and steel. I'm mega excited about this as I've had no luck finding zero plastic razors until now, and the rest of my bathroom is almost plastic free... wondering if anyone has tried it yet? Boots have a 1/3 off intro offer right now too so its basically the same price as a Venus, so keen to get on it soon really, as I've just been using plastic disposables and they are awful. Not bothered it's supposed to be a men's razor ha!:rotfl: Google it, it's looks quite fancy.


On another note - this will probably open up a huge philosophical debate - what are people's stance on wool? This is probably the only area for me that has been a bit grey.. as a vegan I know I should be 100% animal free, but from an ecological standpoint, the alternative is polyester.. which is plastic. Wool is biodegradable and a renewable source.. but then I saw that horrific video on channel 4 news this week, filmed secretly in UK wool farms.. needless to say I felt sick. Anyone else see that? It was a Peta one.


So with winter fast approaching - what's the best choice? I try to buy second hand where possible, so I guess second hand wool jumpers? Argh. Everything is such a minefield these days.

[Deleted User]

Hi rachellikeswinter - personally, I'd never use wool so I wouldn't go near second hand ones either. Cotton, hemp etc are all suitable to wear and are ecologically sound (within certain parameters obviously). but it's down to personal choice.

Those razors sound good - i'll check them out!

All is going well with the ethical living - I've still got a lot in stock, I have lots going on in rl but i'm sticking to the plans wherever possible!

savvy

rachlikeswinter wrote: »

So with winter fast approaching - what's the best choice? I try to buy second hand where possible, so I guess second hand wool jumpers? Argh. Everything is such a minefield these days.

Increasing Squirrelgirls list, there's also bamboo clothing

RebeccaAnn

Can I please join you guys? We are a family of 4, 3 vegan 1 not. We do try and buy our food and clothing in ethical and vegan ways but living out in the middle of nowhere makes it really difficult. We have no local farm shops and so far my attempts at making tofu have been a disaster which leads to trips to the supermarket.

We are saving hard at the moment so that we can travel but also giving us the power to make decisions that we feel comfortable with. Up until recently, we were living paycheck to paycheck and everything was bought because it was the cheapest which makes me feel incredibly guilty.

In the upcoming future, I am hoping to make more changes to our lifestyles.

I need to move away from using plastic razors, my husband has one of the old-fashioned metal ones where you swap out the blade. My attempts at using it have left my legs shredded but I am going to go for it and hope the bikini line is more successful.

I buy most of my clothes at charity shops but need to have a major sort out. I want a minimalist wardrobe as have so many items that don't pair up is far too stressful in the mornings and I also want to buy some fairtrade ethical pieces as I have not had the money to do so before. What do people do for socks and underwear? I have been buying mine at primark for years

Next year I want to start growing some veg and salads in tubs (we are in a rental) and I am really interested in heirloom seeds. We did have an allotment plot a few years back but had to give it up as we didn't have the time around working to get it going.

I have slowly been making the change to making our own toiletries. We buy some item from lush like the shampoo bars so no plastic there but we are still a long way off with other household items and I still buy wash tablets and kitchen sprays (these are vegan but i hate the plastic!) And my worst habit of allis using the tumble dryer I am just so disorganized.

[Deleted User]

Welcome aboard RebeccaAnn!! :wave:

A few suggestions - first one is stop feeling guilty!!!

Living ethically is an expensive stance to take and not something which can be done overnight unless you have an extremely large income.....I have spent a great deal of time transitioning to ethical living due to financial constraints....you have to just do what you can when you can

Depending on your finances and storage space I would recommend you try Suma Wholefoods - they are a vegetarian cooperative wholesaler. I was given an account as I live so far away from any health food shop - obviously, they are a wholesaler so you need to buy in bulk (I think the minimum spend for free delivery is £250 but they will deliver a smaller quantity for a fee) Other than fruit and veg, I pretty much get everything from them - I buy all my household and toiletry products in bulk, then decant into smaller quantities. Suma will take away the bulk containers and refill too so that really cuts down on the plastics

Underwear - try BAM - they are a bamboo clothing company and their underwear is not 'grannyfied' again, be prepared to pay a lot more though.....there are a lot of ethical options if you check online...

Growing your own is always a lovely option for fruit and veg- containers obviously limit what you can grow but salads and herbs can be grown all year round supermarkets wrap them in plastic and they spoil quickly so I always think that if you are going to grow anything, salads and herbs are definitely top of the list....

I think that any move towards living more ethically is a step in the right direction - don't beat yourself up about what you can't do yet and be proud of what you are achieving! :T

ETA - Tumble dryer....I use mine all the time but my electricity supplier only deals in renewable energy so no planet damage

rachlikeswinter

Hi RebeccaAnn!

It sounds like you are doing amazingly and as squirrel girl says, don't feel guilty! You are doing so good and these changes do not happen overnight for sure.

My thoughts are:
Just because something is cheapest doesn't always mean its the least ethical - for example bar soap can be cheaper than shower gel, wash for wash - but of course the cheapest thing you can do is not buy new things. Adopting a make do and mend / waste not want not attitude is the best for the planet, and that will help attain your 'minimalist' wardrobe you would like (I have some qualms about that movement but thats a separate discussion.) Letting go of things you don't want doesn't mean replacing them straight away, even if they are fairtrade/ethical etc.

Have you heard of Project 333? Google it - if you really want a capsule wardrobe, thats the way to go. Its fun, very tough, and very very interesting.

Underwear - Primark is obviously an example of 'buy cheap buy twice' - I still vouch for good ol' M&S. While not made of any specific 'ethical fibres', they are such good quality still meaning you hopefully don't need to buy again for years. And they're not the most evil of companies, in the scale of such things. I would love to have all bamboo/whatever underwear etc but like you I'm on a budget so I need to balance my ethics with my wallet!

savvy wrote: »

Increasing Squirrelgirls list, there's also bamboo clothing

But yes as above definitely need to look more into this... small steps!

Also sad update about the bulldog razors, they aren't entirely plastic free - the head is plastic (blades are steel) and the connection on the handle is also plastic. The rest of the handle is bamboo and steel. Gives a GREAT shave though. So it's less plastic certainly, but not 100% plastic free sadly. But the packaging is a huge plus.

I've decided to invest in some (organic obvs) cotton handkerchiefs - old school! Realised I go through so many tissues and while they're not that bad in themselves, they're wrapped in plastic and of course it all has to be transported by the tonne, then binned. So - going to investigate the concept of 'washing' rather than 'throwing' haha. Maybe also money saving in the long run..? Initial outlay then never buying tissues again..?