Vegans and vegetarians, your thoughts of collecting seashells and calcium tablets made out of seashells?!
Collection of remains isn't the same thing as consumption, though. I would not consume the remains in any form, including tablets. To me, that would be eating dead animal parts, a no-no.
Good question. A fine line.
Answers: A mollusc's shell is analogous to a vertebrate's skeleton, so to me, finding a seashell where the animal is no longer present is like finding the skeleton of a bird or squirrel in the forest. Both are remains from animals that have already died. Now I'm not into collecting that kind of thing being neurotically squeamish, but if another vegan was, I wouldn't judge them for it.
Collection of remains isn't the same thing as consumption, though. I would not consume the remains in any form, including tablets. To me, that would be eating dead animal parts, a no-no.
Good question. A fine line.
The shells are not truly the animal, but rather a part that they have left behind after dying. To me it's not much different than using the fall leaves left behind from the trees for art projects.
Personally, as a vegetarian, I don't care; seeing as how seashells are simply the old shells of crustaceans who abandoned them. They're also a good collector's item.... You're opinion may be different. : )
i don't buy real perls, and sea shells.
I am pretty happy with the stuff, i have, I don't really need shells or perls
I agree with kim. I wouldn't support the pearl industry by *buying* them. But I cant see anything wrong with simply collecting shells on the beach. I didn't know they made tablets of seashells. I'm sure there must be better sources of calcium.