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Everything about Animal Testing

Posted on December 4, 2017July 6, 2023

This week I’m talking about a new subject concerning veganism. I’ve never talked about it before, but since I’m vegan now I really feel the need to. I first focussed on turning my diet vegan since that’s the most important at first. Today I want to talk about another part of veganism: animal testing. Don’t worry, I am not going to include horrible pictures, but I do want to inform you about these horrific tests.

Unaware

When I tried to switch to a zero waste lifestyle I did so because most cosmetics are packaged in plastic, like L’Oreal or Braun. That’s the main reason why I avoided those products. But never ever had I thought about animal testing. And that’s the absurd thing: I didn’t know. I only learned more about this when I went vegan and started following PETA. That is maybe even the most horrible part: people don’t know that they are enabling animal testing. I think we should be aware. Whenever someone buys a brand that tests on animals, like Axe, they should be notified in some way. I for example have supported animal testing for years by using a brand called Clearasil. This makes me so mad! We should know and that’s why I am sharing this today.

Horrible Sight

Obviously, these animal tests are horrible to look at. I am not going to share any photos or videos because I want to keep you here reading more. But if you are curious I suggest you look it up. It might help you realize how severe the situation is. I also don’t share the pictures because I want to keep this post positive. Because there is something we can do about it!

It’s About the Brand

Since 2013 it is prohibited to sell cosmetics which have been tested on animals in the EU. That is a win! But this is only the case in the EU. Animal testing is not prohibited on the entire planet. And so one brand can sell products that are not tested on animals in the EU, but at the same time sell products that have been tested on animals in other countries. We don’t support animal testing directly as consumers in the EU.

But we do so indirectly. It’s about the brands. If we support brands that do animal tests outside of the EU we still support that. We hand that brand our money and so we say: continue, I don’t mind. And mind you: animal testing is only banned by the EU on cosmetics. Not for cleaning products and such. In that case you could be directly supporting animal testing by choosing the wrong brand.

REACH

And then we also have REACH. In 2006 the EU has decided that chemical ingredients which are used in products have to be tested on animals to prove that they are safe (if that hadn’t been proved before). Ridiculous! There are other ways to test products for safety, besides animal testing. The law does say that these tests can only be a resort and there are luckily ways around it. You can read more about REACH here.

What We Can Do

I believe that if people know about animals testing they will act. When you see the horrible photos or videos you can’t be horrified. I simply think you can’t. We can stop the testing by boycotting brands who do tests on animals. And no, you don’t have to investigate every single brand. Which is a lot of work, since companies try to hide this ugly truth. No, there is a tool. A golden tool! A tool which tells you which companies do support animal testing (outside of the EU) and which companies do not support animal testing, ever! This tool, made by PETA, an independent organization. Just type in the brand and the information you need to know will pop-up. Easy.

Bad Brands

When I looked at the lists for the first time I was really surprised. Well-known brands test on animals. Axe, L’Oreal, Braun, Air Wick, Always, Biotherm, Calvin Klein, Dove, Pampers en the list seems endless. These are all brands that have fancy commercials and are famous. And they have a dirty secret at the same time!

Certification

With this list you can avoid brands that test their products on animals, yes! No unnecessary suffering. Another thing I can recommend is checking labels and certification. There is an official label which tells you that brands don’t test on animals. The Cruelty Free label. I try to maintain the rule: no label, no purchase. Right now, I mainly buy from Lush. They have the label and sell zero waste.

And if you’re an activist: Animal Rights also occasionally holds protests against animal testing! Attend to those too if you can.

Yours sincerely,
Romee

2 thoughts on “Everything about Animal Testing”

  1. Pingback: News + What You Can Do About It | Februari 2021 – When A Teen Goes Green
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ABOUT ME

 

when a teen goes green

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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Dit is hoe ik met de trein van Krásná Lípa (🇨🇿) naar Bratislava (🇸🇰) reisde. Dit was reisdag 3/6 van onze duurzame interrail reis. Ik ben vandaag 25 jaar geworden 🥳. Ik hoop heel hard dat dat betekent dat ik ongeveer op een kwart van mijn leven ben. En wat een verjaardag is dit! Ik mag het vieren in Kopenhagen met mijn favoriete persoon @casperchristiaanse , terwijl ik met de trein door Europa reis 🚃. Ik ben een gelukkig mens. Op naar de 50! Dit is hoe ik van Dresden (🇩🇪) naar Krásná Lípa (🇨🇿) reisde. Niet een bijster lange, maar wel een prachtige treinreis, omdat je door het nationaal park Boheems Zwitserland gaat. Dit was de tweede reisdag van onze interrail (2/6). We zijn op de helft van de interrail. Terwijl ik dit typ zijn we onderweg naar Warschau (8,5 uur vanaf Bratislava). Nog twee bestemmingen te ontdekken, maar wat hebben we nu al veel genoten. Elke dag goed en lang slapen, nieuw vegan eten proberen, bijzonder lang wandelen, spelletjes spelen, weinig schermtijd, genieten van de mooie uitzichten en zon: deze reis is genieten 💜. Dit is hoe ik met de trein van Amsterdam naar Dresden reisde 🚃. De interrail is officieel begonnen! (1/6) Vandaag verschijnt er geen artikel op mijn blog. En de komende twee weken hierna ook niet. Dat is voor het eerst, in de 7 jaar dat ik schrijf. Een heel leuk onderdeel van duurzaam leven is tweedehands kleding. Hier zijn 4 tweedehands outfits die ik droeg in augustus 2023 🌞. Je zag het al in de reel van vorige week: ik ben op vakantie geweest naar Gent, in België. Het was een ontzettende aanrader, en daarom verscheen er vandaag een artikel op mijn blog over de leukste en duurzaamste hotspots in Gent 🌆. Check it out via de link in mijn bio Gent, wat was je prachtig 🌆. Dit is absolute een duurzame vakantietip (oh, maar wees niet zo naïef als ik en ga lekker met de trein 🚃). Binnenkort is op Youtube de gehele vakantievlog te bekijken.

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