- Joined
- Jan 3, 2016
- Reaction score
- 1,838
- Age
- 44
- Lifestyle
- Vegetarian
(1,300 words. 5 minutes to read.)
I do this lifestyle for ethical reasons.
Some people might say "just say you are plant based" but "I won't go to the zoo since I am plant based" doesn't make a lot of sense.
I sometimes say "vegetarian and mostly vegan" but that is a mouthful and if I say that and then refuse a cake made with egg, someone is going to think why didn't I just say vegan. On the other hand if I am known as "vegan" hosts may go to a significant amount of effort say making sure a dish is strictly vegan in every detail which would be more effort than I myself would do for my own food, which seems unfair.
Obvious Stuff
I never eat meat, fish, cheese, butter, milk, or eggs (unless they are vegan versions). I also don't eat honey. I do eat almonds and avocados.
Things With Diary In
I almost always avoid products with milk chocolate on them, cake and ice-cream. However occasionally I eat one in social situations (although usually I decline). Overall I'd say I've cut down my consumption of such products by about 95%.
Gelatin
I do eat sweets with gelatin (a few a week) because my wife is buying them for the kids and they are just there. I see this as a bad habit, and want to cut this out at some point. I don't myself buy products with gelatin.
Shopping
I feel it would put an unnecessary strain on our relationship if I tried to do the shopping, or insisted on non-vegan pastas and breads, so I let that slide, and eat whatever pastas and breads she does for me and be thankful for what she does for me. Same in restaurants; I never ask about the pastas or breads.
Veggie Burger
A few times my wife bought me a veggie burger with egg listed in the ingredients. I ate it, but politely asked her to get a different one next time.
Pizza
A year or two ago I ordered a pizza without cheese in a fast food place, and it came with cheese. I ate it anyway. If the same thing ever happens, I'd possibly still eat the cheese. I don't see the point in wasting it. Also, I never ask if the base is vegan. I eat any pizza base. However I always order pizza without cheese, and won't eat a supermarket one since they always have cheese.
Food Waste
On a very, very rare occassion I have eaten a product with some cheese in (or slight trace of butter on) that was certain to be thrown away if I didn't, or even a second away from the trash. I am not a big fan of food waste. The last time I ate cheese in this way was maybe a year ago. I wouldn't do the same with meat or fish or eggs. I decided to just draw a firm line there.
Ingredients
When I buy products in packets with ingredients, I read the ingredients and if there is an animal products in the first 5-10 ingredients, I don't buy it. However if there are 20-30 ingredients I very often stop reading after the first 5-10 ingredients, since the products are listed in order of amount, and so once you get past the first 5-10 ingredients, any animal suffering will be tiny. Also, I very often find things in the ingredients that I don't know what they are. I usually just ignore these and don't bother to find out what they are.
Clothes and Shoes
I have stopped buying non-vegan clothes and shoes and other products like that. However I would sometimes judge based on what sort of fabric it looks like and I ask in store if they think it is vegan and trust them, rather than checking online lists before buying. I did buy a shoe with a small piece of leather on it marking the company name. The rest of the shoe is vegan as far as I can tell. I did this because I had been looking for hours and that was the best I could find in a reasonable price without going back to the shops a second day. I did buy a vegan sleeping bag instead of a down one.
Zoos
I refuse to go to zoos, no exceptions. I have considered making an exception for animal rescue centres/shelters, but I haven't actually done this yet because I am skeptical of some of them. For entertainment centres with animal attractions as one small part, I attend, but refuse to do that part and let others do it without me (e.g. parrot attraction in a kids theme park). I wouldn't go to a circus with animals.
Toothpaste
I have been using Colgate toothpaste, because there is no vegan toothpaste available within 30 miles of our house. I know this because I have checked online about all of them. I found a vegan one online and had it shipped to the house, but then it stopped being available. I found one in the big city where I go occasionally, and use that when I go there. I also made my own, but I didn't like it. It went hard, and tastes weird. Eventually I'll probably figure out a better solution, but for now I'm using Colgate at least some of the time.
Last year I went to South Korea on a business trip and forgot my toothpaste, and I was in a shop, and all the writing on the toothpastes was in Korean only. I just picked any one at random.
Shampoo
My wife bought me a shampoo for Christmas. I don't know if it's vegan. I'm not going to check.
Leather
I still have a few non-vegan products from before I changed to this more ethical lifestyle; a leather belt, a leather wallet and a car with leather seats. However, I expect I'll replace those eventually. I slightly dislike having them, but perhaps I've been a bit lazy or cheap about replacing these.
Other
I will never try and get 100% vegan cars, computers etc. That feels like a fools game. Just avoid leather and hope for the best on the rest. Random small products like random things like say sunglasses or telephones or paper or boxes or a radio I'll rarely try and check if they are vegan either. They probably are, or close enough, as long as they don't have some obvious animal material on them.
Standards
I think my standards dip a bit because I live in Chile, and it is harder to order online or google if something is vegan. I would do better in US, UK etc. I would also do better if I lived alone, or with other like-minded people.
I feel like I've reduced my animal suffering from animal products by say 99%, and that's probably more important than the last 1%. I'm not really in transition since I've been doing this for nearly 3 years now but I tend to become stricter over time and have an aspiration and tendency to improve, but I am in no hurry about it.
So please don't comment but not vote, I want to see the results of the vote with a yes/no answer. I think it may be interesting to others also.
In spite of what I said at the beginning, thee question is NOT "should I call myself a vegan?" but "am I a vegan" so if you think I am not a vegan strictly speaking but would have no issue with me saying I am and would hesitate to vote no out of politeness, then don't hesitate and still vote no, thanks.
A response like "it's up to you where you draw the line and how you define your life" is probably not helpful either, I want a yes/no answer this time or if you can't there's always "don't know/borderline" in which case maybe it really is up to me.
I'll display the results of others' votes but if possible please decide your vote before looking at this to avoid just being swayed by the majority.
Thanks for your help.
PS I do advocate for veganism in gentle ways like facebook, invite people to vegan restaurants, give money to animal charities etc.
I do this lifestyle for ethical reasons.
Some people might say "just say you are plant based" but "I won't go to the zoo since I am plant based" doesn't make a lot of sense.
I sometimes say "vegetarian and mostly vegan" but that is a mouthful and if I say that and then refuse a cake made with egg, someone is going to think why didn't I just say vegan. On the other hand if I am known as "vegan" hosts may go to a significant amount of effort say making sure a dish is strictly vegan in every detail which would be more effort than I myself would do for my own food, which seems unfair.
Obvious Stuff
I never eat meat, fish, cheese, butter, milk, or eggs (unless they are vegan versions). I also don't eat honey. I do eat almonds and avocados.
Things With Diary In
I almost always avoid products with milk chocolate on them, cake and ice-cream. However occasionally I eat one in social situations (although usually I decline). Overall I'd say I've cut down my consumption of such products by about 95%.
Gelatin
I do eat sweets with gelatin (a few a week) because my wife is buying them for the kids and they are just there. I see this as a bad habit, and want to cut this out at some point. I don't myself buy products with gelatin.
Shopping
I feel it would put an unnecessary strain on our relationship if I tried to do the shopping, or insisted on non-vegan pastas and breads, so I let that slide, and eat whatever pastas and breads she does for me and be thankful for what she does for me. Same in restaurants; I never ask about the pastas or breads.
Veggie Burger
A few times my wife bought me a veggie burger with egg listed in the ingredients. I ate it, but politely asked her to get a different one next time.
Pizza
A year or two ago I ordered a pizza without cheese in a fast food place, and it came with cheese. I ate it anyway. If the same thing ever happens, I'd possibly still eat the cheese. I don't see the point in wasting it. Also, I never ask if the base is vegan. I eat any pizza base. However I always order pizza without cheese, and won't eat a supermarket one since they always have cheese.
Food Waste
On a very, very rare occassion I have eaten a product with some cheese in (or slight trace of butter on) that was certain to be thrown away if I didn't, or even a second away from the trash. I am not a big fan of food waste. The last time I ate cheese in this way was maybe a year ago. I wouldn't do the same with meat or fish or eggs. I decided to just draw a firm line there.
Ingredients
When I buy products in packets with ingredients, I read the ingredients and if there is an animal products in the first 5-10 ingredients, I don't buy it. However if there are 20-30 ingredients I very often stop reading after the first 5-10 ingredients, since the products are listed in order of amount, and so once you get past the first 5-10 ingredients, any animal suffering will be tiny. Also, I very often find things in the ingredients that I don't know what they are. I usually just ignore these and don't bother to find out what they are.
Clothes and Shoes
I have stopped buying non-vegan clothes and shoes and other products like that. However I would sometimes judge based on what sort of fabric it looks like and I ask in store if they think it is vegan and trust them, rather than checking online lists before buying. I did buy a shoe with a small piece of leather on it marking the company name. The rest of the shoe is vegan as far as I can tell. I did this because I had been looking for hours and that was the best I could find in a reasonable price without going back to the shops a second day. I did buy a vegan sleeping bag instead of a down one.
Zoos
I refuse to go to zoos, no exceptions. I have considered making an exception for animal rescue centres/shelters, but I haven't actually done this yet because I am skeptical of some of them. For entertainment centres with animal attractions as one small part, I attend, but refuse to do that part and let others do it without me (e.g. parrot attraction in a kids theme park). I wouldn't go to a circus with animals.
Toothpaste
I have been using Colgate toothpaste, because there is no vegan toothpaste available within 30 miles of our house. I know this because I have checked online about all of them. I found a vegan one online and had it shipped to the house, but then it stopped being available. I found one in the big city where I go occasionally, and use that when I go there. I also made my own, but I didn't like it. It went hard, and tastes weird. Eventually I'll probably figure out a better solution, but for now I'm using Colgate at least some of the time.
Last year I went to South Korea on a business trip and forgot my toothpaste, and I was in a shop, and all the writing on the toothpastes was in Korean only. I just picked any one at random.
Shampoo
My wife bought me a shampoo for Christmas. I don't know if it's vegan. I'm not going to check.
Leather
I still have a few non-vegan products from before I changed to this more ethical lifestyle; a leather belt, a leather wallet and a car with leather seats. However, I expect I'll replace those eventually. I slightly dislike having them, but perhaps I've been a bit lazy or cheap about replacing these.
Other
I will never try and get 100% vegan cars, computers etc. That feels like a fools game. Just avoid leather and hope for the best on the rest. Random small products like random things like say sunglasses or telephones or paper or boxes or a radio I'll rarely try and check if they are vegan either. They probably are, or close enough, as long as they don't have some obvious animal material on them.
Standards
I think my standards dip a bit because I live in Chile, and it is harder to order online or google if something is vegan. I would do better in US, UK etc. I would also do better if I lived alone, or with other like-minded people.
I feel like I've reduced my animal suffering from animal products by say 99%, and that's probably more important than the last 1%. I'm not really in transition since I've been doing this for nearly 3 years now but I tend to become stricter over time and have an aspiration and tendency to improve, but I am in no hurry about it.
So please don't comment but not vote, I want to see the results of the vote with a yes/no answer. I think it may be interesting to others also.
In spite of what I said at the beginning, thee question is NOT "should I call myself a vegan?" but "am I a vegan" so if you think I am not a vegan strictly speaking but would have no issue with me saying I am and would hesitate to vote no out of politeness, then don't hesitate and still vote no, thanks.
A response like "it's up to you where you draw the line and how you define your life" is probably not helpful either, I want a yes/no answer this time or if you can't there's always "don't know/borderline" in which case maybe it really is up to me.
I'll display the results of others' votes but if possible please decide your vote before looking at this to avoid just being swayed by the majority.
Thanks for your help.
PS I do advocate for veganism in gentle ways like facebook, invite people to vegan restaurants, give money to animal charities etc.