Meanwhile, I have continued to be inspired by the Rich Roll Podcast, and the past week has been no different. I managed to listen to two shows in a row that had something to do with the value system behind why many people choose a plant based diet.
Enter RRP #111 featuring PETA Senior VP Lisa Lange. You can have a listen by clicking HERE. Say what you want about people from PETA, but they are super driven and they know who they are and what they stand for. Rich's discussion with Lisa gave me a great deal to think about.
I'm a knitter, and I LOVE making felted wool bags. After hearing this podcast, I was awakened to what many sheep farms are doing to their animals in order to get wool. And while I realize that sheep do need to be shorn from time to time, I'm sure there's a more compassionate way to do it. These factory-farm style assembly lines and what not...I mean, it just doesn't seem right and it's definitely not compassionate. After hearing this, I immediately began an internal struggle about my fiber choices and I know that if I'm going to continue knitting and felting, I'd better find a yarn company who harvests wool in a more compassionate way. Thank goodness I found this blog just today - and it WILL be bookmarked!
But beyond the yarn thing - PETA even encourages designers and other clothing companies to stop making wool clothing all together. The focus is on finding more plant-based fibers that can be more sustainable and avoid using animals for food or clothing. So do I being by throwing out everything in my house that is made from leather, wool, and other animal based fibers? There's alot to consider here. Am I truly being compassionate to animals if I tell people I'm plant-based and I still wear leather boots? Do I truly live up to walking the talk about animal agriculture and its carbon footprint when I pull out the wool pea coat? (which i almost never do in California). And then what about my leather sofa? It can't be enough anymore for me to just be proud that Charles and I adopted two dogs.
And so the next RRP that I checked out was with the makers of the movie COWSPIRACY. Which I still haven't seen, but now I'm DYING to.
Rich Roll writes in his show notes:
It is indisputable that our global industrialized system of factory livestock harvesting is unsustainable. It’s killing us and it’s killing the planet. We must embrace this reality and work collectively to create new sustainable systems to feed the 7 billion people that walk the Earth. Because the point of no return is quickly upon us. We’re in the red. If we don’t promptly redirect, it truly will be too late.
This absolutely blows my mind. Especially when you consider that the filmmakers claim this:
Wow. Now, i still need to do a chunk of my own individual research, but everything I'm finding on science websites is indicating that this is true. Now, Charles and I decided to go plant-based for health reasons, but now I don't see how I can eat a hamburger or a chicken nugget any longer knowing that I can straight up do my part to help the environment by not eating meat.
So - while I'm letting all this turn around in my head, I'm reading, writing, and reflecting. I'm making sure that wherever I land on these issues, that I can stand up for it and use the information to make me a better person and hopefully make the world a better place.
Stay tuned - I'm sure there will be more to come on this!!
1 comment:
Great things to think about! The part about pea coats and boots especially stood out. I've struggled with that too, most recently when I bought a leather gun holster. I too own a pair of leather cowboy boots and an amazing teal wool pea coat that served me WELL in Chicago last month. What I've decided for myself is this: if there's an equally good alternative that isn't prohibitively expensive/hard to find/etc. then I'll use that. If not, then I have to value my happiness and well being along with the animals'.
The boots? I was working on a ranch in Wyoming and needed a pair of all weather, all terrain shoes with a heel for riding...hard to find something better than boots.
The pea coat? Well, I didn't want to use down, which in my opinion is even worse than wool, and the synthetic fabrics that matched the temperature rating were $$$ and ugly.
As for the holster, I tried a rubberized one...it gave me an insanely itchy rash that didn't fully go away for months. I tried a cloth/plastic hybrid, but it was bulky and hot. The leather is slim and doesn't irritate my skin.
So this is where I've ended up. No, I don't like having leather. Yes, I try to avoid it at all costs, but if there really isn't a viable alternative I'm not going to beat myself up over it.
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