Stupid Things Omnivores Say: “Plastic Is An Animal Product”
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Grasping at straws, an omni recently inquired:
“are you not creating a demand for prehistoric animal matter by using anything plastic?”
My answer: I do try to limit my use of plastics. For example, I bring cloth bags to the grocery store. I do that for the environment,* not for animal rights.
But I do use some plastic products. I live in a modern society and plastics are virtually impossible to avoid if I wanted to avoid them: They’re in computers, cars, plumbing, etc. Right this minute, I’m typing on a plastic keyboard, using a plastic mouse, looking at a plastic screen, that sits next to a plastic phone.
And I feel like singing a Radiohead song: Fake Plastic Trees.
Below, another Radiohead song. Warning: graphic images, some foul language.
More importantly, plastic is NOT an animal product. Just because something was once an animal doesn’t mean millions of years later it still qualifies as an animal. Oil, and the products made from oil, are NOT animal products.
I think the reason omnis ask obviously absurd questions like the one above about plastic is because they don’t truly understand vegan philosophy. To them, it’s just a set of arbitrary rules, not a lifestyle based on rational, ethical principles. So let me clarify here.
The basis of veganism is…
- for ‘welfarist’ vegans: to reduce or eliminate unnecessary animal suffering
- for ‘abolitionist’ vegans: to eliminate animal exploitation / use
- for environmentalist vegans: to slow or prevent climate change or simply to greatly reduce pollution of air and water
- for health/dietary vegans: to prevent, cure, or lower the chances of illness, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes
- for human rights vegans: to reduce or eliminate human rights violations occurring as a result of animal agriculture, such as exploitative labor practices at slaughterhouses
It really depends on the vegan, because there are plenty of great reasons to go vegan, but in general, vegans are vegan for the benefit of nonhuman animals and/or humans and/or the planet. You have to talk to vegans to get to know their individual reasons because we’re all different. It’s not a cult or a religion, it’s a lifestyle and a philosophy.
Back to the omnivore… I think some omnis say things like, “but oil is an animal product – the product of prehistoric animals” for the reason above, they simply don’t understand veganism. But there are other reasons they do it, too:
- Some omnis want to provoke. They just want to rile you up.
- They’re looking for loopholes. If they can find a flaw in our reasoning, they won’t feel compelled to adopt our lifestyle.
- They’re mimicking purity trolls. But they get it wrong because their definition of pure is absurd. Plastic is NOT an animal product.
- They’re searching for inconsistencies because they want to label vegans as “hypocrites.”
Here are some responses to each kind of omni:
- If they want to provoke you, don’t let them. Stay calm and collected. If you can’t respond calmly, it might be best to simply roll your eyes and walk away.
- If they’re looking for loopholes, explain that it’s not all or nothing. “Veganism is a journey, not a destination” is cliche, but TRUE. Explain that the majority of vegans went vegan gradually, first by stopping one form of animal exploitation and then another. They, too, can choose to become more compassionate one step at a time.
- If they’re seeking purity, encourage them to start with themselves. “Be the change you wish to see” Ghandi said. It’s apt.
- A good way to disarm a hypocrite-seeker is to say something like, “If it makes you feel better, we’re both hypocrites. You eat animals but not people and I eat plants but not animals or people. We all draw our lines somewhere. Does it really matter if I’m a hypocrite if my actions make the world a better place? Veganism is not about moral purity, it’s about doing good. Won’t you do some good? Won’t you boycott cruelty?”
*Other reasons I use reusable shopping bags: they hold more groceries, people seem to think they’re hip, many have handles long enough to carry with my shoulder rather than my hands.
Plastic recycling is little understood by the general population. For this reason there is lot of misleading information out there about what actually can and cannot be recycled. We are plastic recyclers and this admittedly is a plug for our new product THE BETTER BAG, a unique reusable grocery bag. First of all, most municipal recycling programs do not accept any kind of reusable bags for recycling. Consequently the recycling symbol printed on the tags of these bags is really meaningless. Reusable bags put into your home recycling will most likely be culled out and thrown away. Second, plastics need to be virtually 100% pure to be recycled by ordinary plastics recycling methods. Plastics that are impure are called contaminated or commingled. We’ve purchased a variety of common reusable bags now being sold at supermarkets, office supply stores and other retail outlets. Many of them bear a tag that says that they are 100% pure. When we tested most of these bags, we found that the threads or the handles or the bottom stiffeners used to make these bags are often made from a different material than the bag fabric itself. This renders these bags commingled and in our opinion, not recyclable. A famous grocery chain promotes bags that are made from 80% recycled soda bottles, what they don’t understand is that the other 20% of the bag is another foreign material and that the mixture of these materials creates a commingled product. Sure, using any reusable bag beats using a one time disposable paper or plastic bag but why use a bag that will eventually end up as solid waste when you can use a bag that can be recycled over and over again?
THE BETTER BAG is a triple play. It’s made with recycled material. It’s incredibly sturdy and it’s the only reusable bag that’s guaranteed recyclable. We can offer this guaranty because we recycle it! To learn more, please visit our website:
http://WWW.THEBETTERBAG.COM
FYI, many grocery stores will collect and recycle plastic bags if you bring them in.
Or you can reuse plastic bags by using them for kitty litter clean-up or doggy poop bags or just donate them to an animal shelter or dog park.
You can also make things with plastic bags:
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/
I applaud thebetterbag for creating an even better reusable bag. But I don’t worry all that much about the bags I already re-use because re-use beats recycling any day of the week. The fact that the bags I use again and again may not make it through the recycler does not cause me that many headaches because it’s going to be a long time before I even need to consider recycling it. When that time comes it may become the place to package used kitty litter or other items that don’t get recycled or composted (yes, I am aware of the cone-type composter; I don’t have one yet).
All that said, you bet I will visit your website!
I wouldn’t spend even a nanosecond worrying about what omnis say about vegans. It’s virtually impossible to be 100% vegan in today’s world. All we vegans can do is the best we can, under the circumstances. I would dispute calling plastic an animal product–that’s a real stretch in time–but whether it is or not, just cutting down on plastic will help. I use it mostly to collect and dispose of kitty and doggie doo, as someone else mentioned. I recycle a lot of it and try to use reusable non-plastic bags most of the time.
“Just because something was once an animal doesn’t mean millions of years later it still qualifies as an animal.”
So can you tell me the cut off date where something no longer qualifies as an animal. Maybe to some its 3 days and to others its 100 years? Where is the line that an animal no longer continues to qualify as an animal but instead a source we as vegans can use?
If a cow dies from natural causes, is it “vegan” to make a belt from its hide? Calling people who don’t agree with your logic “stupid omnivores” is something I find offensive. I applaud and abide by many “vegan” lifestyle choices, but I do so without applying a label to myself and without being rude or haughty to others.
“Just because something was once an animal doesn’t mean millions of years later it still qualifies as an animal.”
Because you said so?
Yes, that guy was an idiot, however, I have to say that I see a lot of “vegan alternatives” being made from plastic..shoes, belts, purses, etc. Plastic is the most destructive material to the natural environment and most plastic can not be recycled even if it has a little recycle symbol on the bottom of it. I have recently become very aware of my plastic consumption and though I can’t get away from it I am trying to find other alternatives. Plastic kills animals and ecosystems,destroys the health of people all over the world, and it doesn’t have to be our go to material when we decide that we do not want to wear leather. There is a good documentary called “Bag It” if you are interested in learning how destructive the material actually is. Research your alternatives. Consuming plastic is just a less direct way of killing animals
And actually to note on top of what Jetson’s saying. Plastic actually does use animal byproducts, it has petrol in it (gasoline) which is very hard to find without animal byproducts such as old rendered bones, etc…
And doubly sad that one of the ways being researched to recycle plastic is actually using… animal byproducts.. on purpose… to save on landfills.. so..
I would say to just avoid plastic all together if you’re a vegan.