Leather-free shoes

March 29, 2013 by Jean Coburn

For some people, giving up cheese keeps them from going vegan. For others a plant-based diet is a no-brainer, but shoes? You love shoes, right? You might be thinking, “I can’t give up animal products if it means switching to hemp Birkenstocks.” Well you don’t have to! There are tons of stylish vegan shoes out there if you know where to look.

Proof that cute vegan shoes exist!

Accidentally vegan shoes

This first category of footwear is comprised of shoes that just so happen to be vegan. I doubt the manufacturers had anything other than looks and costs in mind. Often cheaper shoes are vegan. Stores like Payless sell a lot of faux leather and faux suede shoes. Summer shoes in canvas, raffia, and other materials qualify too. They’re not always high quality though. Some are. I’ve had “manmade” boots for several seasons that are stylish, comfortable, and don’t make my feet sweat.

Have a look at zappos.com, amazon.com, or DSW. You’ll find vegan shoes from lots of brands like Wanted, MIA, Volatile, and Madden Girl. Aerosoles has a mix of materials. If you look at the product description (or tag, if you’re in the store) you’ll find non-leather options. Here are a few of my “accidentally vegan” shoes and boots.

Poetic License velvet and sparkle booties (from amazon.com)

Satin leopard platforms by Two Lips (from DSW)

Fioni faux nubuck peep-toe pumps (from Payless)

Kimchi Blue velvet desert boots (thrifted)

Satin and sequined kitten-heel mules (from Payless)

Guess faux leather boots (from T.J. Maxx)

Faux suede stack-heel booties (from Old Navy)

Dirty Laundry faux leather engineer boots (from amazon.com)

Satin and rhinestone pumps (from JC Penney)

Intentionally vegan shoes

This category is made up of vegan companies who have worker conditions, environmental impact, animal rights, and of course style, in mind. The shoes will cost as much as leather versions but the quality is high, the materials are stellar, and you’re supporting a vegan business. I’ve only just started to splurge on quality vegan shoes so I can show you only a few. After the images, have a look at the list of vegan shoe companies. There’s no shortage!

Faux suede booties by Novacas

Faux suede OTK boots by Cri De Coeur

Some of the vegan shoe companies out there:

Additionally, stores like Moo Shoes, Vegan Chic, Compassionate Couture and Alternative Outfitters carry all-vegan men’s and women’s shoes and boots from a bunch of companies. I’ll keep my resources page updated with the latest, growing list.

Second-hand leather

Some people buy used leather shoes. The thinking (at least what I used to think) is that I wasn’t adding to the demand of new leather shoes and I wasn’t supporting the leather industry financially. In fact, buying second hand meant I kept things out of the landfill!

However, I’ve grown uncomfortable with leather. First, it creeps me out. When I saw footage of a slaughtered cow being de-skinned, it really hit home. Second, other people don’t realize I bought my leather shoes at a thrift shop so I’m not sending a good vegan message. If they like my used shoes, they might buy a new pair. I don’t want to be that kind of trend setter! Finally, I like proving that I can live a vegan lifestyle. If I make an exception with my shoes, I’m saying it’s good to be cruelty-free…but it’s impossible to live without animal products. And that’s not true.

So now that you have more info on vegan shoes and leather alternatives, vote with your dollars, and be stylish and cruelty-free!

Do you have a favorite brand of vegan shoes?

Ballet flats come in lots of different materials

Sandals are often vegan

Boots can be vegan too

Celebrating Seattle Vegfest

March 26, 2013 by Jean Coburn

This past weekend I participated in Vegfest, a healthy food festival in the Seattle Center. The annual event is put on by Vegetarians of Washington. Instead of just attending, I worked a shift at the NARN table.

The NARN booth had a great selection of pamphlets and flyers about topics such as how dairy and eggs are cruel and unhealthy, that humane meat is a myth, and why fishing is unsustainable and causes a lot of suffering. We had information for parents who have vegan kids, and a restaurant guide for people looking for vegan places to eat.

A brand new tote was for sale too. They’re made from recycled bottles and have my new favorite slogan printed on them: The future is vegan. I’m not the only one who liked them. People snapped them up! For $20, you can too.

Attendance was great and we talked to a lot of supportive people. Some were vegan, some were toying with the idea, and some weren’t even vegetarian. But there was something for everyone. No matter where people were on their compassionate journeys, we talked to them and had good conversations.

I was surprised that three people came up to me over the course of my shift to tell me that since becoming vegan they’ve gone off their cholesterol medication. One man was vegan for only three weeks before his doctor retested his blood and told him he no longer needed statins. Amazing!

I became vegan for the animals so I sometimes forget I’ve made a really healthy choice too.

The festival had cooking demos, cookbooks for sale, and tons of free food samples. I was really impressed with Dave’s Killer Bread, Daiya vegan cheese, and juices from Blue Print Cleanse.

Have you been to Vegfest or a similar festival? I highly recommend it. It’s a lot of fun to be around like-minded people and have a wide variety of foods to try.

Anti-fur protest at Nordstrom

March 22, 2013 by Jean Coburn

Protesting on a busy sidewalk with a sign in my hands takes me a bit out of my comfort zone. But compared to the torture and horrendous deaths millions of fur-bearing animals face every year, what’s slight discomfort?

anti-fur

Last Saturday, I joined a dozen or so like-minded people at an anti-fur protest in front of the Nordstrom flagship store in Seattle. The event was organized by Action for Animals.

I’m somewhat surprised that in 2013 there’s still a need for an anti-fur demonstration. Don’t people know better? Maybe they do, but do they care? Farmed fur animals gassed, poisoned, or genitally electrocuted. Wild-caught animals suffer for days in traps and break bones and teeth trying to free themselves.

Many of the passerbys nodded in agreement and some thanked us for speaking up. I didn’t see anyone in fur coats–just a faux fur vest and some trim on hoods that I hope was fake.

We protested to raise awareness. As consumers, we vote with our dollars. I’ve shopped at Nordstrom before but from now on I won’t be supporting businesses that sell fur. Luckily, there are loads of other stores that don’t sell fur, as you can see on this handy list.

Tell Nordstrom you won’t shop there either until they stop selling fur. Here’s a petition you can sign and a sample letter. As much as I want all businesses to be ethical “on their own,” it’s usually about the bottom line. If people don’t support cruelty, stores will have to change their business strategies.

Margo looks good in fur. People don’t!

Information:

Facts about fur from the Fur Bearer Defenders
Animals used in fur info from PETA
My fashion post about why fur is inexcusable

Meatout 2013

March 17, 2013 by Jean Coburn

Since 1985 March 20th has been synonymous with Meatout. It’s the first day of spring and a chance to pledge to go meat-free for a day, one day a week, or for life!

To promote Meatout, I joined Action for Animals in Seattle’s busy Westlake Park yesterday. The St. Patrick’s Day parade was ending, and the streets were packed. We handed out meatout flyers and gave out free samples of Tofurky slices and Silk soy and almond milk.

Rachel and Paris offering flyers and samples

The reception was great! people loved the free food and most commented on how delicious it was. We wanted to show people that you can eat healthy, tasty food and be cruelty-free.

Why pledge to be meat-free?

For the animals. In the US alone, over 10 billion land animals (chickens, pigs, and cows primarily) are raised cruelly, and slaughtered painfully.
For the planet. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, global warming, and water use.
For our health. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and many types of cancer are diet-related and what we eat can improve the quality–and length–of our lives.

So this Wednesday ditch the meat! If you want to take it further, try Meatless Mondays every week, or go all the way and be vegan!

Get your free vegan starter guide with delicious recipes at meatout.org or by texting meatout to 55678.

Protesting Dolphin Slaughter

March 11, 2013 by Jean Coburn

A couple of weeks ago, February 22nd to be precise, I took a long lunch break and drove to the Consulate of Japan in Seattle’s downtown core, and stood in the wind and rain with a sign and a stack of pamphlets.

Seems like an odd way to spend lunch, but I was there with a dedicated group of people to stand up to injustice. If you’ve seen the documentary The Cove, you know all about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it.

In Taiji, a village in Japan, a group of fishermen round up thousands of dolphins every year. Dolphin families are separated for the main goal of finding a few suitable candidates for marine parks. Selling a dolphin to a SeaWorld-type place is lucrative business. A life of slavery is no life at all. But the ones who don’t make the cut are slaughtered. The normally blue water turns red with the blood of dolphins as families of cetaceans watch each other die.

The rest of the animals are sold for meat (dolphin meat is intentionally mislabeled and sold in supermarkets) despite the high mercury content.

The Taiji Day of Action was a global event, and even though we were only a dozen strong, other groups all over the world were also protesting the slaughter of dolphins in Japan. We were targeting the Japanese Consulate and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because the IOC is considering Tokyo as an Olympic host city in 2020. We say stop the slaughter or lose the bid!

No country is innocent. Canada slaughters seals, Spain conducts gruesome bullfights, animals are killed for food in every place on earth. But since the Olympics (and the money the games bring in) are part of the equation, there’s more leverage. It’s not an anti-Japanese cause. It’s a pro-animal one. In fact, Japan has a growing animal rights movement and I believe change will happen “from the inside.” Japanese people were once unaware of the slaughter, but now most disagree with it and some are even protesting it!

Want to help? Here’s a petition that you can sign.

Morrissey at The Moore

March 8, 2013 by Jean Coburn

Yesterday I had the privilege to see Morrissey play a concert at The Moore Theatre in Seattle, WA. What a show! I’m so in awe. I’ve loved his music since the early days of The Smiths but I hadn’t had the chance to see him until now.

Morrissey is a musical icon and a champion for animals. He’s an outspoken vegan and stands up for animal wrongs. Those qualities makes me love him even more than if he were simply a performer.

Morrissey opened with Shoplifters of the World Unite and continued on with songs from virtually all of his albums–with a few Smiths songs thrown in for good measure: Every Day is Like Sunday, Ouija Board, This Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, Irish Heart, English Blood, and Haven’t had a Dream in a Long Time.

The show was energetic and exciting but the mood got serious when Morrissey sang a rendition of Meat is Murder.

The disturbing Meet Your Meat video, which shows undercover footage of factory farms and slaughterhouses, played on the huge screen behind the band while Morrissey sang. The imagery combined with the haunting music and heavy percussion was powerful.

After the song, Morrissey said, “Everyone should know everything.” Someone in the crowd yelled, “Tell us the truth!” to which Morrissey pointed at the screen and responded, “That is the truth. I’ve been telling you the truth for a long time.”

PETA had a table in the lobby where people could pick up vegan brochures. I’m so happy that the animals have Morrissey in their corner. I could stand on the street all day and tell people about the cruel treatment of animals but it wouldn’t have the same effect as being in a theater watching your idol and listening to what he has to say. Morrissey had a captive audience and the message hit home.

If you ever have a chance to see Morrissey, go to the show! He doesn’t disappoint.

Meat Is Murder

Heifer whines could be human cries
Closer comes the screaming knife
This beautiful creature must die
This beautiful creature must die
A death for no reason
And death for no reason is MURDER

And the flesh you so fancifully fry
Is not succulent, tasty or kind
It’s death for no reason
And death for no reason is MURDER

And the calf that you carve with a smile
Is MURDER
And the turkey you festively slice
Is MURDER
Do you know how animals die ?

Kitchen aromas aren’t very homely
It’s not “comforting”, cheery or kind
It’s sizzling blood and the unholy stench
Of MURDER

It’s not “natural”, “normal” or kind
The flesh you so fancifully fry
The meat in your mouth
As you savour the flavour
Of MURDER

NO, NO, NO, IT’S MURDER
NO, NO, NO, IT’S MURDER
Oh … and who hears when animals cry?