Anonymous asked: I totally approve the reasons why people decide to go vegetarian or vegan but what I can't understand, it's that some of them defend animal rights but are also victims of the consumption society (without even thinking about the condition where thoses clothes have been created). Loving and protecting animals is right, but thinking about humans too...I'm not attacking you, it's just something that I find incoherent and often think about (and sorry about my bad english)
It’s really, really hard to live completely cruelty free. It’s almost impossible. You do the best you can. I don’t see anything wrong with being aware and speaking out against more than one injustice at one time. Animals are voiceless…diet is the easiest to control, so people start there. I think people forget how much veganism helps humans as well. Nothing wrong with your english. c:
This is an inconsistency that goes both ways.  I know very few jerks, but I know many people who eat crap food and buy crap products.  It’s very easy to forget/not think about what our money supports because you hand over your money and get a donut or a sweater and there is nothing inherently wrong with either one…
But then you think, “this choice is hurting our planet.  My money is going to support a destructive industry.  The meat industry is a leading cause of global warming and factory farms torture animals before killing them.  It’s a poor use of our resources.”
Or you buy that sweater, which is really cute and it was only $15!  Yay!  Except it was made in a country that sees huge problems in the garment industry with trafficking or abusive labor practices.  
So here’s the deal: YES.  Keep doing what is right.  Keep advocating for animals.  Keep advocating for people.   DON’T tell yourself that being an ethical consumer is impossible.  Some things are difficult.  I don’t buy clothing made in most foreign countries anymore.  It means my clothes are more expensive (sometimes) and it means I can’t shop at many stores I used to enjoy shopping at.  
Here’s the radical truth.  You don’t need to eat meat (at least it is very unlikely).  You also probably don’t NEED to buy the clothes you buy, most of the time.  Sometimes you need a jacket or a new pair of shoes, but most of us buy clothing for FUN and eat meat because it’s FUN.  Is your fun worth torturing animals?  Is your fun worth enslaving people?
So!  Nordstrom has a fair amount of things that are made in America.  Check tags.  BP, a less-expensive department, has Made in America stuffy, too.  I bought a Made in USA sweater over the weekend for $27.  Check labels and clearance racks.  
Boutiques are far more likely to carry smaller, made in USA designers.
Shop second hand and you’re not directly supporting a company that manufactures clothing using trafficked labor.
Don’t tell yourself you can’t do things you can totally do.  You CAN (probably) give up eating meat and you can (probably) give up shopping at Old Navy and Target.
Try shopping online.  You can search “Made in USA” on both Nordstrom.com and Piperlime.  
Our spending habits are passive injustices oftentimes.  It can be hard to think of these things and to be disciplined enough to pass up that sale or turkey on Thanksgiving.  Sometimes we have to cave in and say, “I really need a pair of black shoes for work and everything I can find that is made ethically is $500 or up and I don’t have that kind of money.”  There are exceptions to every rule, but for the love of God, make yourself rules.
The ways we spend our money affects people other than ourselves.  Maybe you’re not enslaving someone, but maybe your money is supporting companies that do.  Maybe you’re not torturing animals, but maybe your money is supporting companies that do.  Maybe that’s something worth thinking about.  
I may not have the time and means to go work on a big justice project, but I CAN make more responsible decisions about what my money supports.  WE can.  WE should.