What Do Lucille Ball and Kim Catrall Have in Common?

Flashback: 1950's, I Love Lucy. An American icon. I loved watching re-runs as a kid. Still do. Two things that bring no laughter: shows in which she covets fur (in one episode, she actually sleeps in her mink stole she loves it so much), and scenes where the Ricardos light up.

We now know how harmful the cigarettes are that they were smoking. Desi Arnaz in fact passed away to lung cancer. But we should also know how egregiously cruel fur is. Yet so many people, even in 2010, still associate fur with the good life and glamour and many are still smoking (The Wall Street Journal put the percentage of American adults who smoke at about 20%).

Flashforward, 1998-2004, Sex and the City. Fur and smoking are both featured on this marketing powerhouse. Carrie, after having successfully quit smoking seasons earlier, resumes the ugly habit when she lives in Paris in the last few episodes. What about the fur coats she was wearing during the series? Real or fake? Do some of the impressionable women watching know enough to demand faux?

Starlet Kim Cattrall once wore fur and now shuns it, but that hasn't stopped this New York City fur shop from displaying her image.


Doubt the influence of media images like Sex and the City? You can even take bus tours where they point out how you can shop just like Charlotte, Carrie, Miranda and Samantha. The show is a textbook case on the effectiveness of product placement.

Hopefully our society will become more enlightened. Much like a bad horror film, I will never get this video of an animal being skinned alive at a Chinese fur farm out of my mind from PETA. Horror movies are pretend. This act of brutality is not.

So, what do Lucille Ball and Kim Catrall have in common? Their images above are being used to market products associated death. For Lucy and Desi's Philip Morris ads, it has the possibility of causing a slow death by lung cancer. For Kim's image, it's a a certain painful death endured by helpless animals, who come to earth to suffer for our disposable values and wants.

What's the first word that comes into your mind when you see this? I hope not glamorous if you've watched the video.

Learn more about Fur Free NYC. Visit PETA's Fur is Dead site.

Sick. Spotted outside a fur shop on 29th street in New York City.

Liking The Loving Hut

Are you attending a Ringling Bros. or rodeo protest at Madison Square Garden (the bull riders are in town this weekend!), or just catching a game or concert there? Leafleting outside of the fur district? A tourist? An office worker in search of humane dining? If you answered yes to any of these, and are hungry, you may want to consider New York City's new entry on the vegan scene: The Loving Hut.

The former tenant was a mac and cheese place, where I vaguely recall someone trying to hand me a leaflet wearing a sandwich board and a fake plastic cheese on his head. I once e-mailed them to suggest soy mac and cheese (check out Alicia's version). They should have listened. The vegans in the area would have pounced faster than you can shout, "Olsen twins you're so tired, wearing fur in uninspired."

The Loving Hut sandwich, $6. With tarragon mayo (which I chose) or chipotle sauce. Not having eaten a real chicken since I was a teenager, I can't compare it to the real thing. Tasty, loved the mayo. To drink: complimentary hot tea.

Vegan beef fried rice...my taste buds are intrigued.

Share the love for less: 15% off between 3-6 PM.

Visit the Loving Hut, 348 Seventh Ave. between 29th and 30th Sts., New York City, Mon-Fri., 11-9 PM, Sat., 11-8 PM. Closed Sundays.

Have a Trader Joe's nearby? Pick up their beef-less or chicken-less strips in their refrigerated section and stir-fry with your favorite sauce and veggies. Below is my mom's version. Add toasted sesame seeds for sesame 'chicken'. Serve over organic brown rice (easy, breezy single serve packs) or their vegetable fried rice (both in their freezer aisle), and you have Chinese take-out, without, well, the take-out. You won't miss the meat. Check out more of their vegan goodies.

Vegan Cupcakes and Activism

Remember that scene in Chocolat when Juliette Binoche's dinner party guests (even the dog) are all devouring their meal in a moment of unbridled food ecstasy? That was me at vegan cupcakery Sweet Avenue Bake Shop on Sunday.

Flavors vary daily. Lemon Raspberry (lemon cake, lemon frosting and raspberry preserves), and Mocha Madness (chocolate cake with mocha frosting), both $3.

To go: Lemon Raspberry, Peanut Butter Chip, Lavender Lemon, all $3, and Sexy Sadie (Red Velvet), $2.50. Yes, I shared.

While there, I dropped off some Farm Sanctuary literature.

Lit dropping is a super easy form of advocacy. Animals rights groups don't have the budget of the multi-national food giants and big agribusiness, so it's up to us to help spread their message of compassion to the masses. My friends at Farm Sanctuary's ACT (Advocacy Campaign Team) hooked me up with this literature. Consider dropping literature from them or your favorite animal rights groups. PETA also offers a great selection, including a monthly leafleting pack and literature in languages such as Spanish, French and Japanese. Cruelty in any language is unacceptable.

Visit Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, 153 Park Ave., Rutherford, NJ. Closed Mondays. Flashback to my first visit there.

Mark your calendars: Cupcakefest, a day of cupcakes and music, will be held on Saturday, June 13th, in Lincoln Park in Rutherford. Bring your donations of pet food, litter, and toys for the Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City, NJ.

The Future of The Earth

is in Your Shopping Cart, declares this bag. How true!


Many environmentalists refuse to think about the harmful impact on our Earth their meat and animal by-products consumption has. Did you know there is a 'dead zone' of 7,000 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana that cannot sustain most aquatic life because of severe oxygen depletion from animal manure pollution, noted Farm Sanctuary's Veg for Life? Or that it takes an estimated 4,000 gallons of water to produce a one day, animal-based food supply for an average American (vs. 300 gallons for a plant-based diet)? Learn more.

Would it really be a huge sacrifice to switch from a hamburger to a veggie burger or organic grilled veggies for their BBQs? Instead of pork beans, why not organic baked beans? Or from cow's milk to a non-dairy option? But I digress...

This weekend, I joined fellow environmentalists in taking part in Hackensacker Riverkeeper's clean-up of Staib Park in Hackensack. It was great to see so many youth groups participating. One teenage boy exclaimed, "You get to save the environment and have fun." Where were boys like him when I was in high school?

Trash from Route 4 businesses such as Wendy's and Fuddruckers trickles down to the woods, and often to the river, including cups, ketchup packets, and straws.

As is everywhere in our world, cigarette butts littered the ground. Note to smokers: the streets are not your ashtray. Cigarette butts can take 10 to 15 years to break down in the environment, and in the process, leach toxic chemicals into the water and soil as they corrode into tiny plastic powder, according to EcoWorldy. One tree is sacrificed for every 300 cigarettes produced, noted YgoY.com.

After just an hour and a half, volunteers collected all this. An AC, several tires, and an old lawn mower were in the mix.

Afterwards, I hit the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop, where I picked up a set of silverware for $10 for our office kitchen. For every reusable fork, spoon or knife people take, that's one less in the landfill wasting away for thousands of years. I've even started bringing my own silverware when I know disposable will be around, as well as takeout containers for leftovers when dining out, and highly recommend this. Don't feel self-conscious...be a trendsetter!

At the C.A.T.S. store, I socialized with my friend Dottie, who suffers from eye ailments. Instead of doing the responsible thing, her owners tossed her into the woods to fend for herself. Much like their trash, many people seem to think their pets are disposable too. Read about her story.

The next clean-up is Saturday, May 30, in Kenneth B. George Park, River Edge.

Some Green Fashion: Don't Believe the Hype

Recently, while getting a frugal $15 hair cut at Supercuts, where PETA-approved brand Paul Mitchell is available, I flipped through a copy of Marie Claire. There was a fashion spread about an alleged eco-minded model, and her attempt to pair spring jackets with organic and sustainable shirts, jeans and shoes. One of the jackets was a $4500 leather Ralph Lauren piece. Not eco-friendly! Learn more about the detrimental impact on our Earth leather has. She was also carrying a disposable coffee cup with a plastic lid, that will languish away in the landfill. You can read the whole ridiculous article here.

In the midst of a recession, most people don't have money for $400 Stella McCartney tops, nor should we promote the idea of spending that much ever. The hype behind green fashion is getting out of hand. In that spirit, I organized a clothing swap at work to promote the idea of giving your unwanted clothes a second life, and instead of purchasing something new, picking a used option instead.

In addition to spring/summer clothing, we added beauty products, jewelry, scarves and other accessories to the mix.

I scored an adorable blue cotton sundress, an Old Navy red clutch, and a striped cotton H&M top.

Most of the unclaimed items are bound for the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop. Cruelty-free treats included Trader Joe's maple cookies and sparkling pomegranate juice, and homemade sweet tea. Served, of course, on reusable dishes (the pink daisy plate is from C.A.T.S. Resale). Brightened up by flowers borrowed from the reception desk.

Can you find a new home for your unwanted items? Consider doing a swap of your own (many are already asking me when the next one will be). Donating items to your local thrift store, holding a garage sale, or freecycle are all great options as well. Mass consumption is not good for our wallets or the planet.

Bea: "Thank You for Being a Friend" to the Animals

Today our animal rights community lost a great supporter, and the public lost a wonderful comedienne, Bea Arthur. I am a huge fan of the Golden Girls, on which she was a co-star. Intelligently written, superbly acted and with great chemistry among its cast, such comedy is hard to find nowadays in a television age of vapid reality shows focused on some ridiculous obsession with wealth. Check out PETA Vice President Dan Mathews' tribute to Bea.

As the theme song of the Golden Girls goes, "thank you for being a friend," I will say, "thank you, Bea, for providing the world with so much laughter, and for being such a tireless advocate of animals."

Bea's Dorothy Zbornak character was a strong, vibrant, intelligent woman, with witty comebacks never in short supply. She was a great role model, both on TV and in real life, for women of all ages. We live in an era when so many are obsessed with pursuits of vanity and material possessions. Bea lived in pursuit of a better world, and making us all smile.

Bea participated in this PSA for PETA with co-stars Betty White and Rue McClanahan
Golden Girls Fur PSA


Goodbye Bea. Surely, there will be more laughter among the angels now that you have joined them.

On this Earth Day...

...some words of wisdom from one of the founders of the animal rights movement, Ingrid Newkirk.

"Human beings should be in awe of all the other animals. They're never greedy. They live well on the Earth. They don't despoil it, they don't pollute it. They live simply. It isn't because of them that the sun is searing into the Earth bringing starvation to the peoples of Africa. That no one can drink from our waterways. That sparrows are dying throughout Europe, frogs are disappearing in South America, and penguins are found floating dead in the Antarctic."

"We should be in awe. Our own species has trashed the place."

On the disappearance of the Congo and its vast natural resources, she bemoans, "We humans here have so much greed, not need, but greed, that we want more rubber, more minerals, we want more logs, more lumber. We just want more. That's what our species is defined as."



How green is your diet? Find out.



In the 19 years I've been a vegetarian, it calculated I saved 5,320 animals. By sticking with it, I will save 13,160 more animals from death and 155,100 lbs. of CO2e from polluting the Earth in my lifetime. Learn more about the environmental impact of that steak on your plate.

"Can you blame nature if she's had enough of us?" Tori Amos, Father's Son.

Cool Beans: Get Your Organic, Fair Trade Java Fix Here

In our Starbucks world, independent coffee houses aren't exactly on every corner, unless you live in Seattle. I adore the cafe culture of many European cities, but unfortunately we don't have that here. Americans seem to be perpetually on the go. But if you're looking for a relaxed, home-away-from-home vibe (think Central Perk on Friends) and want to support the independents, Cool Beans in Oradell, NJ, may be your place. You can linger with a good book or read the paper with little interruption.

There's only one vegan dessert. Luckily, it's a tasty one. Chocolate polenta cake ($3.96 + tax) and a small coffee, $1.54 + tax). Very decadent...probably enough to share. ZenSoy brand organic plain soy milk is available. They always have one fair trade, organic coffee option (this was from Nicaragua). Take a pound home for $14.50 (half pounds available for $7.50).

A tall soy cappuccino, $3.75.

A hodgepodge of kitschy second-hand furniture is in the shop, which I love. It's a form of recycling, and who wants scary over-sized leather couches? PETA's Cows are Cool site gives the low-down on the horrors of leather.
A meditative rock garden outside. With the arrival of warmer weather, outdoor seating is now available.

They also have Heart Thrive vegan energy bars for sale, but I'm not an energy bar fan.

Visit Cool Beans International Coffee & Teas, 304 Kinderkamack Rd., Oradell, NJ

Learn about Oxfam America's fair trade coffee campaign.

In New York City and looking for the Cool Beans vibe? Check out Grounded Organic Coffee & Tea House in the West Village (28 Jane St.) Vegan breakfast options include a tofu scramble wrap and bagels with Tofutti cream cheese.

Break Out Your Datebook...

Aside from the official celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd, which we all know is really every day, there will be animal and eco-events galore next month. Mark your calendars for one, a few, or all of these groovy events!

April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month and what better way to celebrate than by rocking out at Union Square in New York City with the ASPCA and the 4-legged set on Tuesday, April 7th. Between 4-8 pm, enjoy refreshments, live music, and socialize with doggies up for adoption. Don't forget to get decked out in orange - the official color of the ASPCA - even the Empire State Building will be doing it! Impress your coworkers with this free ASPCA wallpaper. But what to pick...the cat, dog or horse?

Be thrifty, green and an animal activist all in one by signing up for a library card and celebrating National Library Week (April 12-18th). Of course I own some things, but communal sharing is the way to go. Netflix? No thank you. I get new DVD releases for $1 and older releases for free at my library; get my reading fix on ("I cannot live without books," Thomas Jefferson to John Adams in 1815); peruse magazines, vegan cookbooks and sample music. The library can also be a great resource to advocate for animals. Learn how using the Farm Sanctuary library outreach page.

Celebrate the Cherry Blossom festival at Branch Book Park in Newark, NJ. Or, just pamper yourself with some Cherry Blossom beauty products from The Body Shop. Or just eat soy cherry chip ice cream from Trader Joe's. It's delicious!

April 24 is Arbor Day, a national observance that encourages tree planting and care. Become a member of the Arbor Day Foundation for as little as $10, and they will plant 10 trees in our national forests.

Don't forget the Hackensack Riverkeeper clean-ups, the first of which is on Sunday, April 26, in Overpeck Park, Leonia, NJ. But you don't have to wait for an official clean-up. Trash is everywhere.

April 9th is the first day of Passover. PETA's VegCooking offers recipes including Carrot Tzimmes, Chopped 'Liver' Spread and Sweet Potato Kugel. For more, click here. For Easter, April 12th, doesn't a Mustard and Apricot Glazed 'Ham', Creamy Mashed Potatoes With Chives, and Apple Walnut Cake sound tempting? Click here. Not a cook? Try the vegan vegetable ravioli salad ($8.99/lb) off of Whole Foods Market's Easter catering menu or how about the vegetarian chopped "liver" ($6.99/lb.) on the Passover menu. Don't forget the campy chocolate in the form of an Easter Bunny. Check out Rose City Chocolatier.

Pancho's, You Never Let Me Down

It's always so good, I had to go back. Can you blame me with food like this?

A virgin mango margarita. $4.50


Sweet fried plantains, served with cinnamon sugar. $6.50


Grilled portabella burrito. $11.50. Filled with Spanish rice and choice of black or pinto beans. Ask for non-dairy, and you'll get soy cheese, tofu sour cream and brown rice. Portabella mushrooms are nature's mock meat for me. But can we talk about portion size here? I got three meals out of this.


Pancho's Burritos, 214 Main St., New Milford, NJ. Or visit 20 Jefferson Ave., Westwood, NJ.

PETA's VegCooking site offers up easy-to-make Mexican recipes, including black bean soup, guacamole, pepper quesadillas, limeade, Mexican chocolate cake and flan. Vegans just eat tofu, right? All those carnivores are really missing out.
Search by cuisine type (German, Greek, Italian, Middle Eastern and more) or by food type (appetizer, salad, entree, dessert, etc.)

Forgot Hallmark, Support Animal Groups this Valentine's Day

Is it almost Valentine's Day? Here are a few gift ideas for the animal lover in your life, or even for yourself, because you are a sweetheart to all the animals, aren't you?

ASPCA's Logo Pawprint Heart Sterling Pendant, $28

PETA's 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' T-Shirt, $20.


So I revert to being a five-year old during certain holidays...Valentine's Day being no exception. The past two years, I handed out those cute little Valentine's cards (Winnie the Pooh and Ratatouille ones, if you must know the embarrassing details) and chocolates to my co-workers, and it was a huge hit. This year, I may treat them to these vegan sweets from Endangered Species Chocolate:

Endangered Species Dark Chocolate Love Treats (24-pieces), $6.72, or a set of three bags for $18.50


Farm Sanctuary's 25-piece vegan chocolate box comes adorned with a mini-button, which will last longer than the chocolates will. $35. Visit their online shop.


Flowers last a few days, but a Farm Sanctuary rabbit sponsorship gives all year! You can sponsor a rabbit or chicken for just $10 a month. Call me a crazy fool, but I think this is the most romantic gift yet.


Then, plan a visit to their Watkins Glen shelter in the late spring to visit your friend in person. Stay at one of their three rustic cabins (open starting May 1), enjoy a vegan continental breakfast, and stroll their peaceful and breath-taking grounds. Plenty of opportunities to hike and go wine touring too.

The fine-feathered good life...

The way it should be...

Flashback to my visit, including Watkins Glen dining.

The Ginger Cat Bed & Breakfast, which looks like an adorable Plan B if the Farm Sanctuary cabins are booked, offers a list of vegan-friendly wineries in the Finger Lakes region.

Urgent Action Needed on Behalf of Goats and Pigs

Our animal rights community is being urged to act immediately to stop an implausible but yet very real act of extreme cruelty - funded by U.S. taxpayers.

The US Army plans to stab, shoot, and break the legs of pigs and goats this week - starting today - as part of a training program at Fort Dix, according to Farm Sanctuary. While we have a volunteer army, these helpless animals certainly had no choice in volunteering to be brutalized in this needless act.

Please urge Col. Ronald R. Thaxton, the Installation Commander at Fort Dix, to cancel this at once using this form. Learn more.
PETA is asking us to e-mail our Senators and Congressperson to contact the Secretary of the Army and the Army Surgeon General to insist that they prohibit the military use of animals in trauma- and chemical-casualty training courses and use available non-animal teaching methods instead. Contact your Senators and Congressperson through their web site.

Happy New Year!

Greetings for 2009! I rang in the New Year with family and a Chinese feast of vegetable soup, spring rolls, steamed veggie dumplings, and bean curd. There were two family birthdays to celebrate, so I picked up two adorable vegan tea cakes (one carrot, one chocolate) from Planetary Pastry, available at my local Chelsea Whole Foods Market.

Among other items, I treated the birthday recipients to Sigg water bottles. Breaking the bottled water habit is a great resolution for 2009. More than 1.5 million barrels of oil are used annually to make bottles for Americans' water, enough to fuel 100,000 cars for a year, according to Carbon Conscious Consumer. Even scarier, they say 86% of plastic water bottles used in the U.S. are not recycled. Never mind all the fuel that is wasted transporting them, and our hard-earned money.

Want to spread your animal rights coolness while saving the Earth? PETA makes this aluminum bunny bottle, $16.


A reusable coffee mug shows you care about the planet and animals. Think about all of those paper cups and plastic lids in the landfills. ASPCA makes this cheerful travel mug, $13.50, also available in grey.


A mug Bob Barker would be proud of. $9.

Just say "yes!" to reusable grocery totes too. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales, and other marine mammals die each year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food, Carbon Conscious Consumer reports. Whole Foods Market offers a 5-10 cent discount per reusable bag, and my Trader Joe's lets you enter into a raffle to win a $25 gift card when you BYO-bag it.

ASPCA's Will Fight for Animals tote, $10.


Visit Farm Sanctuary's shop for totes, cups, and more.

Being an animal rights advocate and an environmental advocate go hand-in-hand for me. We are destroying our climate each day, often out of laziness, apathy, greed, and worse, a sense of entitlement. Any action we take to lessen our impact on the environment benefits all animals.

Eliminating Animal Products from Your Wardrobe

Hope everyone had a festive holiday. I feasted on a cashew nut roast, sweet potato mash and broccoli made by the best un-vegan mother ever. I also hit the stores for some great sales. If you're in the market for vegan clothes, now is the time to buy. I picked up a cute vegan coat for under $50, and even scored $5 ballet flats at Old Navy.

In my nearly 20 years as a vegetarian, I never gave much thought to leather or wool. I would justify my purchase of a pair of leather boots or shoes by saying, "I don't eat animal flesh, which saves a lot of suffering." Truthfully, like most people, I just didn't think that much about it.

When I started to research veganism, I was horrified to learn about the cruelties involved in leather production and that I had, even in a small way, contributed to it. Most leather comes from India and China, where animal welfare laws are either non-existent or not enforced, according to PETA's Cows are Cool web site. These suffering souls face extreme crowding, deprivation, castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning, all without any anesthetics.

Wool is no better. Australia is the leading producer, accounting for 30 percent of all wool used worldwide, according to PETA's Save the Sheep web site. Animal welfare standards are atrocious for the 100 million sheep there. Lambs' ears are hole-punched, their tails are cut off, and the males are castrated without painkillers.

With so many man-made alternatives, both stylish and inexpensive, now widely available, there is no need for the suffering to continue. For vegan shoes, I recommend Payless Shoes for price and availability. Just beware: many of their sneakers do have leather, but the majority of their shoes are manufactured from man-made materials. Target also has a large man-made shoe line. PETA's Dan Mathews recommended both of these stores when I heard him speak at his book signing. Most people don't have money for Natalie Portman's vegan shoes at Te Casan, typically $200 a pair, and in today's economic climate, that just seems frivolous anyway.

Finding a vegan coat may be a bit more of a challenge, but inexpensive options are available at H&M, Forever 21 and Old Navy. Besides, it's worth the little extra effort to purchase products without any animal by-products. While no one can un-do their past purchases of animal products, we can go forward by making more educated purchasing decisions, and showing, not only how much healthier and better for the animals and planet veganism is, but that you can look great doing so.

Resources:
Check out PETA Living's guide to vegan coats.
PETA's Cows are Cool
PETA's Save the Sheep
Payless Shoes
Vegan Chic

A Plea to Give Up Fish

In his lively look back on his activist life, Committed: A Rabble-Rouser's Memoir, Dan Mathews, the senior vice president of PETA, describes a fishing trip he took in the ninth grade, just a few weeks after being bullied for being gay. He discovered, to his dismay, he had caught a flounder.

"'You've got a booby prize!' someone joked as he stomped the flailing fish to the deck and tore out the hook, causing blood to flow from the slimy creature's mouth to the beat of his racing heart. Everybody laughed, but I grew uneasy. I considered what the scene looked like from the flounder's point of view. Stunned, he looked up to see a collection of chuckling faces as he lay gasping for breath...I had become one of the terrorizing bullies I dreaded so much at school."

More than 17 billion fish are killed for food in the U.S. annually, and sport fishing and angling kills another 245 million animals per year, according to PETA's Fishing Hurts web site. Much like their farm animal counterparts, they have no legal protection from cruel treatment. They are impaled, crushed, suffocated, or sliced open and gutted...all while they're fully conscious.

For whatever reason, fish is the one flesh many vegetarians struggle to give up. Perhaps because there isn't as much graphic footage available of their horrible treatment. Or maybe because we've succumbed to the marketing of the industry touting it as a health food. But did you know seafood is the leading cause of food poisoning in the U.S.? So many of our waterways are polluted with human and animal feces, and this waste carries dangerous bacteria like E. coli, according to PETA.

Mercury is in the news as of late due to actor Jermey Pivens' bout with mercury poisoning due to a twice-a-day fish consumption lifestyle. PETA noted a study by the Environmental Protection Agency that revealed that women who ate fish just twice a week had blood mercury concentrations seven times higher than women who had not consumed fish in the prior month.

Meanwhile, commercial fishers have destroyed the ocean's ecosystem to the extent that large fish populations are just 10 percent of what they were in the 1950s.

Please consider shunning fish once and for all, for the health of your body and of our oceans, and for the long-suffering fish.

Learn more about the health, environmental, and moral impact of consuming fish by visiting PETA's Fishing Hurts web site.
Check out Dan's book, available at your local library, or through the PETA catalog.

Veganize and Green Your Laundry Routine

Living a vegan life extends way beyond the plate. Animal by-products are hidden everywhere. Scarier yet, animal testing is still a routine practice. Did you know that Procter & Gamble, maker of the popular Tide brand, still tests on animals?

Luckily, there are more cruelty-free, affordable options than ever before. Trader Joe's Liquid Laundry Detergent is my pick. Biodegradable, non-animal tested and containing no animal ingredients, it has a pleasant, but not over-powering, lavender scent, and is reasonably priced at $8.99 for a one gallon container. It also has a built-in fabric softener. Not lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's nearby? Check out Method and Seventh Generation brands at Whole Foods Market and increasingly available in mainstream supermarkets.

Did you know that most fabric softener sheets contain animal fats? Fortunately, our friends at Method offer a vegan alternative with their squeaky green dryer cloths. Personally, I hang-dry most of my clothes, so I only need these for my towels and sheets. Hang drying is kinder on the environment than being dependent on the dryer, and of course saves money, always a plus.

Don't forget to wash in the cold cycle. A startling 90 percent of the energy used by a washing machine goes to just heating the water, according to Carbon Conscious Consumer. They calculate that if you wash four out of every five loads in cold water, you could reduce your CO2 emissions by 72 pounds in just one month, and save $60 or more on your annual energy spending.

Learn more eco-friendly tips from Carbon Conscious Consumer, including how to reduce your junk mail and breaking the bottled water habit.
Want to know if the products you're buying are tested on animals? Check out PETA's Caring Consumer search engine.

"All Living Beings Wish to be Free"

I first heard of PETA in my teen years, when I made the life-changing decision to become a vegetarian. I've never eaten animal flesh since, save a few years in my late twenties when I confusingly decided to dabble in pescetarianism. Why I thought consuming any level of mercury in fish, whatever amount of omega 3 fatty acids it contained, was an acceptable notion I have no idea. Let alone neglecting their feelings as living, breathing creatures who have as much a desire to live as any cow, chicken, pig or human. But I am now fully committed down the path of veganism, with no desire to look back.

Ingrid Newkirk continues to be a source of inspiration, particularly in her arguments on the moral issues of how we treat animals. Our society is so dependent on animals, as a food source (often poor), for fashion (which we tire of so quickly), for entertainment (to amuse ourselves for a few fleeting hours) and more. Yet they are such an after-thought to many, and to most, their treatment is not thought of at all.

On this snowy weekend, I took the time to listen to Ingrid's moving speech, "Non-Violence Includes Animals," and encourage others to as well.

"How we treat animals goes to the very heart of who we are."


"failure to recognize the us in them."


"They are treated like things, like commodities, machines and objects. They are treated like everything but as animals."

"There is no human nature. It is shared nature, for all animals laugh, and lie and cheat and love and breathe and are lonely and feel pain and wish to be free."


"There will be a day...when we will stop saying, we are human beings, treat us like human beings and start saying, we are living beings, treat us, please like living beings."


Check out PETA's official page on Youtube.

Another Loss for Shelter Dogs

The first word (and second, and third) upon hearing that Vice President-elect Joseph Biden bought a 3-month-old male German shepherd from a Chester County, Pennsylvania breeder..."Why?!?" He had a nationwide platform to make a more compassionate, humane choice, yet he chose the vanity of his breed over common sense. I have just never understood people's obsession with having to buy a puppy. One more dog has to wait for his or her forever home, facing likely death, due to this reckless decision. Read PETA's take.

Shelter dogs lose out any time people patronize breeders or pet stores, typically supplied by grizzly puppy mills. Check out PETA's undercover puppy mill investigation, narrated by Charlize Theron.



PETA offers some ways to help.

"Shelter Dogs" is a soul-churning photography book featuring 50 beloved souls captured by Traer Scott. Some found their forever homes, and some went on, hopefully, to a better world than the one they knew here on earth. This book is available through the ASPCA website.

Blinders: The Truth Behind the Tradition

Don't miss this heart-breaking look at the plight of New York City carriage horses. Sadly romanticized by many and patronized by legions of tourists, the horse carriage trade has a very ugly side.

There are as many as 68 horses at a time on the crowded streets of New York City, who must evade cars, buses, and emergency vehicles, according New Yorkers Against Horse-Drawn Carriages. Last year, a mare, frightened by a street performer's drum, died after going into shock when she broke her leg after running into a tree. Meanwhile, a second horse bolted into a car. That incident came just as a NYC Comptroller audit concluded that horses work without sufficient access to water and shade or oversight from authorities.

The list of accidents and deaths goes on and on. Horses, who are extremely sensitive to loud noises and unexpected sounds, should not be subjected to lugging tourists around, just so they can get some delusional New York City experience.


Blinders the Movie site.

Fortunately, people are banding together to put this cruel practice to an end. Learn what you can do: Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. Also visit PETA:'s The Cruelty of Horse-Drawn Carriages.

Cruelty-free Thanksgiving Recipes

As much as I enjoy perusing cookbooks for inspiration, I love browsing the web even more for recipes. Much like my thrift store hobby, it's creative, fun, and better yet, doesn't cost $20 and collect dust on the top of my refrigerator. The animals rights groups score an "A" for publishing mouth-watering, comfort holiday food recipes online. And you need not be Emeril to pull them off. Here are some easy-breezy recipe sites. You'll wonder why turkey was ever on the table at all.

*PETA's VegCooking Holiday Recipe Guide. Includes hot artichoke dip, broccoli and cauliflower bisque, sweet potato biscuits, and pumpkin patch cheesecake.

*The Humane Society's Favorite Recipes list. Includes cranberry hot punch, butternut squash soup, faux turkey casserole, and miniature apple pies.
*Farm Sanctuary's Compassionate Thanksgiving Recipes. Includes holiday portabella with vegan gravy, millet-cauliflower mash, green beans almondine, and pumpkin pie with glazed pecans and tofu whipped cream.

I attended a cooking demonstration of these Farm Sanctuary recipes at The Loft Salon in NYC that was led by Christine Waltermyer of the Natural Kitchen Cooking School located in Princeton, NJ. You and your guests will love any and all of these cruelty-free and heart-healthy recipes.