Are you thinking about living a more cruelty-free lifestyle to help save animals? You may not realize that the things you buy or the things you do are actually supporting the suffering and exploitation of animals.
There are also lifestyle choices we make at home or while travelling that may directly impact wildlife without us even realizing it.
Thankfully, there are many ways that you can help save animals without necessarily transforming your diet or way of living.
It starts with simply being mindful of your purchasing decisions and the actions you take.
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Here are 9 easy ways to start living a more cruelty-free lifestyle.
1. Don’t Buy Products Tested on Animals
You might be surprised that your favorite makeup brand is actually still testing on animals. These days, a lot of companies have become cruelty-free, but definitely not all of them.
There might even be some products in your home that you didn’t even know were tested on animals, like Windex, Band-Aids and Vaseline.
Always do your research on cosmetics, cleaning products, shampoos and conditioners, etc.
How to tell if a product was tested on animals:
- Products has a clear indication saying that their product isn’t tested on animals.
- Look for the Leaping Bunny logo.
- Download an app like Bunny Free or Cruelty-Free for a list of companies that test or do not test on animals.
- Email the company and ask them, straight up.
2. Wear Vegan Clothing
One of the biggest changes you can make to live a cruelty-free lifestyle is to refrain from buying fashion that is made from animals such as leather, feathers and fur.
Many fur industries hold animals captive in fur factories and are crammed in cages. They also suffer gruesome deaths in order to limit the damage to the fur. The same goes for cows and their leather – sometimes they’re still alive.
Definitely not something you want to contribute to.
Instead, you can opt for vegan leather for things like wallets, purses and shoes. Vegan leather can be made from natural materials such as cork or leaves from trees or fruit.
Here’s an example of vegan leather using tree leaves.
Tree Tribe Leaf Leather Clutch
3. Reduce your Waste
It takes a lot of energy and resources to create and distribute the products and food we let into our home.
And with the human race only getting bigger, it’s creating a larger demand for products which means we need more factories, which then expand into natural habitats.
Not every industrial company is eco-friendly, therefore these buildings could also be causing more pollution or sending waste and toxic products into the soil, ocean and air.
You should try not to waste the food you eat and take care of the products you buy. By throwing them away, you’re also throwing away the resources put into it.
Trying to use less plastic in your home and avoiding single-use plastics is a great way to ensure you’re not contributing to the suffering of animals.
By trying to create less waste, you’re helping save the planet and animals at the same time.
Check out my post 13 zero-waste products on amazon for a more eco-friendly home if you want some recommendations when getting started with zero-waste.
4. Recycle & Use Less Plastic
What you do with the items you let into your home after the fact is also extremely important.
We’ve all seen it – trash floating in the ocean, animals getting trapped in plastic wires and bags, or digesting plastic.
Plastic doesn’t degrade quickly. Most plastic can take up to 1000 years to decompose.
And even when it does degrade, it’s only turning into little micro-plastics That plastic isn’t going anywhere for a long time.
Try and use less plastic in your home as well as when you’re travelling.
Whatever plastic you do allow into your life, recycle them! By ensuring that you recycle your items properly, you’ll be doing your part by ensuring your waste isn’t causing any harm to animals on the planet.
Check out my post single-use plastics to avoid and their eco-friendly alternatives to learn more about reducing your plastic consumption.
5. Rescue Animals
Instead of encouraging the breeding of animals from puppy mills at your local pet store and online buy-and-sell stores, why not head to the animal shelter instead? There are always animals in need of being rescued.
All my cats have been rescued from the outdoors or from animal shelters and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Also, if you seen an animal in poor living conditions, do you part to try and get the animal out of that cruel world. Offer to take the animal from the person or help out. Maybe the person isn’t intentionally being cruel – maybe they are just uneducated.
If the situation is dire, you can call your local animal control agency or call 9-1-1 to ask for assistance.
6. Promote a Cruelty-Free Lifestyle
You don’t have to shout from the rooftops that people should live more cruelty-free, but there are small ways in your day-to-day that you can promote it.
You can give cruelty-free gifts to your family and friends which would be a great conversation starter.
You can share posts on social media about cruelty-free brands or articles that share ways that you can live a more cruelty-free lifestyle. (Like this one!)
7. Don’t Support Animal Circuses
Circuses with animals are the worst and are getting banned more and more. The way circuses train animals is through punishment, which usually means electrocution or whips.
These animals also spend the majority of their life behind bars. All so people can watch them perform tricks that animals were never intended to do.
Circuses aren’t the only form of animal entertainment you should avoid. Stay away from dolphin and whale shows, elephant rides, rodeos, and animal races.
These are all activities that animals were never meant to do, and are suffering for our own entertainment.
8. Raise Chickens
Instead of buying eggs from chickens that may have been setup in awful living conditions, consider raising your own laying hens to have your own eggs.
Raising your own hens for eggs allows them to be free range, and it means that the eggs are fresher and healthier than store-bought because they were raised – well, by you!
It’s also a great way to dispose of your food scraps if you don’t want to compost them. Chickens will eat pretty much anything, including eggs shells.
A couple of my family members have hens, and it’s not as difficult as you might think.
Learn how to start raising your own chickens.
9. Eat Less Meat
Eliminating meat from your diet completely would have the biggest impact, but for some people, that’s easier said than done.
However, eating less meat is something everyone can start doing and will help make a difference for the amount of animals that are bred and killed for food.
By eating less meat, you’re doing a lot of good, not just in regards to animal cruelty.
There are a lot of greenhouse gases created farming livestock, about the same as the emissions created by all types of automobiles combined.
Trees have to be cut down for pastures as well, reducing wildlife habitats.
Start saying no to certain types of meat such as veal, lamb, or processed meat to start reducing your consumption.
You can also start creating smaller portions or only eating meat once a week, or only in the evening. This is what’s called part-time vegan and it’s definitely achievable.
Alternatively, try buying meat from local free-range farms. That means that these animals aren’t cooped up in buildings but rather they’re walking around and grazing.
Living a more cruelty-free lifestyle isn’t difficult.
It simply requires you to be a little more mindful of the products, clothing and food you allow into your life, and also conscious of the types of entertainment you decide to take part in.
Want to learn more ways that you can help save the planet and the animals within it? Using less plastic is a great thing to master in order to do that!
Check out my post of 14 easy tips to help you use less plastic to learn more.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article.