5 Simple Ways to go Cruelty Free Today

1. Look out for the leaping bunny on products that guarantees a product is verified as cruelty free. 
Companies may say they don't test on animals, but sometimes their claims are misleading. Copies that carry the leaping bunny logo (accept no imitations and believe me, there are plenty) need to prove their cruelty free credentials. 

Go to http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/shopper to find cruelty free companies. You can select by country.

Go bananas for Fair Trade

2. If you're buying bananas, chocolate or coffee, make sure it's Fairtrade (also Fair Trade). 
By buying Fairtrade, you are making a real difference to real people's lives. 

Remember though, that milk chocolate can never be cruelty free because the dairy industry kills unwanted calves and that's only one of the cruelties they inflict on cows.

They are paid a fair wage for their work and farmers get a fair price for their goods.

The true face of leather

3. Ditch the leather because it's NEVER cruelty free: it's a by-product of animal slaughter, of the meat industry. 

Get synthetic belts, handbags and shoes instead.

4. Encourage anyone interested in getting a pet to adopt and not buy. 
There are so many animals in need of good homes. 

There's no reason for anyone to buy a pet. 

When people buy a pet they might as well be locking the cage on an unwanted pet at an animal shelter.

5. Make a veggie meal for everyone. 
Let your family/partner/housemates taste how good a cruelty free meal can be.

Remember if it's really cruelty free, ditch the milk and butter. Better for you too. 

It's not that good for you anyway.

Living Cruelty Free is now available on Kindle USA, UK

Many people have asked me when Living Cruelty Free would be available on Kindle. So, I'm delighted to announce the book is on sale at Amazon.co.uk priced £6.41.

You can also buy the Kindle version on Amazon.com priced $10.14

Because it's a great reference guide to things like hidden nasties in foods that are not suitable for vegetarians or vegans, how to spot if products are tested on animals and how to tell if something is Fairtrade (amongst other things) it's the perfect guide to carrying around on your Kindle when you go shopping.

Say no to sweatshops, go Fairtrade

Living cruelty free isn't just about showing compassion towards animals: it's about caring about human beings too. That means trying to buy Fairtrade (called Fair Trade certfied in the USA and Canada) wherever possible.

Fairtrade in the UK

Fair Trade n the USA & Canada

With Fairtrade you have some kind of guarantee that the workers who produced whatever you are buying were paid fairly for their work and had decent working conditions.

When you buy Fairtrade you know -
NO sweatshops have been used
NO slave labor has been used
Workers and farmers are paid a fair price
You are helping to lift poor workers out of poverty
You are helping to benefit communities and not just the workers


There are certain things you can buy that it is easy to find Fairtrade alternatives for -

1. Coffee - Starbucks
2. Bananas - available in most major stores
3. Cotton garments
4. Tea
5. Chocolate - in the UK, Cadbury's is Fairtrade
6. Biscuits
7. Sweets
8. Wine
9. Flowers
10. Cereal bars

To learn more about Fair Trade certified products in the USA, visit www.transfairusa.org/
To learn more Fair Trade in Canada, go to http://fairtrade.ca
For the UK, go to www.fairtrade.org.uk/
For South Africa, visit www.fairtrade.org.za
For Australia and New Zealand, visit www.fta.org.au

Things I've learned whilst writing Living Cruelty Free

Writing Living Cruelty Free has been at times a distressing experience. I've had to research some things that were so upsetting I've had nightmares and wished that I could unlearn these things.

Things like what goes on in puppy farms, the shocking way that children are treated in Third World countries where they are taken advantage of by the suppliers to the big store chains to make things like clothes and toys, the appalling ways that animals are treated to make so called delicacies like veal and Foie gras.

There is one thing that I have come to realize whilst writing the book -

The countries with the shocking human rights records like China, are the ones with the worst animal abuses.

Could there be a link between human cruelty and animal cruelty? There definitely is. That's why in order to create a kinder, more compassionate world, we need to look out for each other and animals.

The other thing I have learnt is that we can never stop fighting for both human and animal rights, because there are so man people and animals who need our help.

5 Simple ways to go Cruelty Free

There are things we can all do to make this world a kinder place.

Here are just five of them -

1- Don't buy a dog, adopt one. The more people who buy dogs the more unwanted dogs there are.

2- Buy only cosmetics that are NOT tested on animals and check that applies to the ingredients too. This is important, because many companies might not test the finished products on animals, but they will test the ingredients. 

See the Leaping Bunny site for details - http://www.leapingbunny.org/indexcus.php and http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/

3- Never ever, under any circumstances buy fur.There is no such thing as cruelty free fur.

4- Buy Fair Trade products as much as you can. Fair Trade, means the producer and workers have been given a fair price.

5- Use humane rat or mouse traps. These will get pests out of your home alive without harming them.