Just became Vegan. The food is easy, but what about the other stuff?!
Just became Vegan. The food is easy, but what about the other stuff?
I also want to avoid animal products in personal care items. Soap, shaving gel, shampoo, etc. Are any "normal" brands vegan, or do I have to go to Whole Foods and get the all-natural stuff that costs five times as much? (I'm poor) I'm sure there's other stuff I never would have thought of that's not vegan, like photographic film or gel-cap medicine. I'd rather not be constrained to the health food stores due to cost, but is there anything out there that's not based on animal products?
I understand this is a rather exhaustive question, but if anybody has any resources - books or web sites - that are reliable and a good list of vegan and not vegan non-food items, please let me know. Thanks.
Answers:
I'm poor too. And vegan.
It's too bad you don't live in Hawaii, cuz if you did, I could show you the ropes of being a thrifty vegan!
Anyway...
Costco will have a lot of stuff you need foodwise - including organic soymilk, organic greens, other veggies, beans, etc.
Most products out there are vegan. I get my shampoos and soaps, toothpasts, shaving creams, whatever, from K-mart or a local drugstore.
I just stay away from gel caps when it comes to meds
Go to www.veganwolf.com for an informative list on non-vegan products commonly used in products. I know. It's a lot to remember. Just look for the most obvious ones at first.
Did you know that cochineal extract that is found in some drinks and fruit cups used as a red dye comes from the crushed dead bodies of thousands of beetles? Or castor oil comes from beaver genitals? Yeah.. It really is a sick world we live in.
So.. I think the veganwolf website will help you a lot. It's a great reference guide. If you ever read the ingredients on something and you see something that sounds suspicious, just go to the website under 'ingredients to avoid' and see if it's on there.
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Oh, by the way.. I was just looking at the comments some other people put and how they talk about vegan products being expensive... Don't listen to them. Seriously. I am a poor college student and I DON'T WORK! And I afford great vegan products all the time.. Do you have a Grocery Outlet near you? They only have 'em on the west coast, but before they closed down here, I used to buy the majority of my vegan organic stuff from there. They had tons of stuff for only $2.
I'm 100% vegan, but like 50% organic. If it's organic, then great, but if not, then I don't really care. So if you're the same way, it should be very easy for you to find INEXPENSIVE vegan products. SERIOUSLY. Like for soaps, just get the foaming gel kind, not bar soaps, since most of them are made out of tallow, and the vegan bar soaps are pricier. If you get the kind that comes in a bottle, they are usually cheap - especially if you get it at a place like K-Mart, as I mentioned earlier.
Shop for clothes at a second hand shop. I have Savers, Salvation Army, and Goodwill where I am. They have tons of vegan clothing there for under $5.
As for shoes.. Go to Payless Shoes. They have a good deal of vegan casual AND dress shoes. I got my boyfriend some faux leather shoes from them for only $10, and they look nice.
Send me a message through yahoo answers if you have any more questions and I'll be more than happy to answer them for you.
Good luck! :D