PETA Apparel

      As you may know, one of my favorite organizations is PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and I recently found out that in their PETA Catalog they have some awesome clothing items! Like cute shirts and sweatpants and adorable shorts, bags and necklaces. Some of my favorites are these shirts. They each cost about $20 and can be purchased on the PETA website. I'm pretty sure the proceeds go the organization, but I'm not positive. I'm definitely buying some of these great things!!!

You Don't Have to Be Cruel to be Beautiful

I am a make-up junkie. I love testing out fun color combinations and watching how-to make-up tutorials on YouTube. However, the choice of what brand you use can save animals lives.

               http://www.enviroblog.org/2008/04/toxic-makeup-all-around-the-world.html 

Animal testing, a cruel and inhumane practice that still goes on today, is behind the walls of many cosmetic laboratories. Animals are tortured, cut open and have their skin ripped off all for the sake of a new eyeliner or mascara. However, you can do something about it! Just buy Cruelty-Free brands! There are countless companies that do not test on animals, from drugstore to high-end lines. Try to ‘veganize’ your cosmetic collection by buying Cruelty Free cosmetics.  

                               http://theanimalblog.tumblr.com/page/24

But how do they test the products without using animals? L’Oreal has invented a form of synthetic skin called Episkin; this may help end animal testing! To make the synthetic skin donated human skin cells are put into a dish with collagen gel, sugar, water and amino acids. After three days, the Episkin is put out in the air to dry it and then a UV light is shone on the “skin” for ten days. After this, the Episkin is ready to be used in testing. L’Oreal still tests on animals, but they are researching Episkin and they plan to stop animal testing in 2013.

                      http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/episkin_growing.php

This list from Caring Consumer by PETA tells you all the brands and companies that DO and DO NOT test on animals. Here is the DO NOT test list, please check it out: http://www.caringconsumer.com/pdfs/companiesDontTest.pdf. If a brand is not on this list you can Google it, research on their website or even email them. If you aren’t sure if they test on animals it's better to be safe then sorry.

Some of my favorite drugstore Cruelty Free lines:

-Revlon

-Physicians Formula

-Milani

-Almay

-Jane

Some of my favorite high-end Cruelty Free companies:

-MAC Cosmetics

-Urban Decay

-Benefit

-Too Faced

-Stila

-Smashbox

-Tarte

Top 5 Reasons NOT to Eat Beef

A year ago, I lowered my meat consumption by not eating red meat anymore. I do still eat poultry and seafood, but since I stopped eating beef and pork, I have definitely lowered my meat digestion. Here are the top five reasons to stop eating beef, inspired by PETA’s list. 

1) Beef has a high fat content, much higher than a turkey or soy product.


All beef products have "artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat... it is a good way to increase both your waistline and your chances of developing impotence and diseases" and "research has shown that vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease than are meat-eaters, and they have 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters,” according to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

2) It is useless to feed cows grains and other crops when those crops could be fed to poor families. There are over 1.02 billion people currently suffering from world hunger (www.worldhunger.org). 

3) Beef production is one of the largest causes of deforestation in the Amazon. Cattle ranchers must burn many acres of land to create new ranches. The trees and plants being burned may never grow back again, depriving the world of much-needed oxygen. 

4) The thousands of cows in massive factory farms produce huge amounts of waste, which seeps into lakes and rivers close to the farms, infecting the fish and killing many other life such as plants and micro-organisms. The horrid stench pollutes the air around the factory farm and thins the ozone layer even more. According to GoVeg.com, a website by PETA, "Numerous studies and governmental reports have shown higher rates of miscarriages, respiratory problems, and neurological diseases among people who live near factory farms.” 

5) Cows in factory farms are crammed into crates and cages so small they cannot turn around. They are fed unnecessary huge quantities of food chock-full of harmful chemicals and hormones. Cows have their horns sliced off, tails chopped off, they are branded with scorching hot irons, all without the use of painkillers. Is that worth a steak or cheeseburger?