Living Vegan – Further Considerations

The Vegan Household

As abolitionist vegans, we reject all animal use from our lives provided it is within our power of choice to do so. This means eliminating all animal ingredients found in everyday products and replacing them with vegan alternatives. With the proper information, making sure that the products you use are vegan will soon become second nature. Firstly, it is important that you become familiar with the animal-derived ingredients themselves and where they can be found. Secondly, you must identify what vegan alternatives there are for these; and thirdly, how you can have access to them.

To name just a few examples, animal products are found in paints, perfumes, soaps, cosmetics, shampoos, toothpaste, candles, crayons, nail polish and even condoms. Some of the most common animal-derived ingredients found in household and personal care products are lanolin, gelatin, ambergris, tallow, carmine, isinglass and casein. There are many others.

In order to avoid using nonvegan ingredients, you can either purchase vegan products, or you can try homemade vegan alternatives (see links below).

Links For further information:

Veganissimo A to Z: A Comprehensive Guide to Identifying and Avoiding Ingredients of Animal Origin in Everyday Products (Please note: This book, while useful for providing information on animal ingredients, contains links to welfarist organizations. We do not support those organizations. )

For purchasing vegan products:

Also, see our Product Guide

Medication

Many medicines contain animal products, and practically all of them are tested on animals. However, you are morally obligated to eliminate animal exploitation from your life provided you have the option to choose a vegan alternative in the products you use. In the case of medicines, for example, you can avoid gel capsules, as they commonly contain gelatin. You can also try natural remedies that are vegan. Moreover, it is also good to focus on prevention and on maintaining a healthy vegan way of living to avoid getting sick as much as possible. That being said, if you find yourself in a position where you absolutely must take a non-vegan medicine lest your health will be seriously compromised, it would be morally excusable to do so although morally unjustifiable. Again, the issue here is choice. As long as you have a choice, you are morally committed to using the vegan alternative.

Companion Animals

Contrary to popular opinion, both dogs and the great majority of cats can lead healthy lives as vegans. However, it is important to make sure their nutritional needs are being met; for example, by ensuring that they are consuming adequate amounts of taurine and/or carnitine, and by monitoring their health on a regular basis.