Glass versus Can and Tetrapak, prices, advantages and disavantages

Glass Jars:  Number 1 choice for me!

Can be recycled, even the lid. You can also see the contents! The price is usually a little bit more expensive as the can or tetrapak, if you go for the same quantity.

The only thing you have to look out for is the lid, which contains the dreaded BPA or BPS.  Leave whatever is stuck to the lid on it!  Wash it away.

The good thing about the jars is that you can re-use them!  My father in law used to have a great use for themTheir cans are lined with baked-on oleoresinous c-enamel…in other words, their cans don’t have any traces of BPS, vinyl, acrylic, polyester, or any other icky stuff. in his garden shed.  He attached the lid of the jar to the underside of the shelf and screwed the jar onto the lid, he used to keep all his nuts, bolts and little items in those jars, pretty well organised!

Cans:

It all depends on what you wish to buy, because the problem with most cans are that they are lined with BPS, vinyl, acrylic, polyester, or any other icky stuff. Look for cans that are lined with baked-on oleoresinous c-enamel.

The inside lining of these cans can seep into whatever is inside and because cans have a really long shelf life, it gives a long time for that to happen.  I will be looking for the produced date on the can (if there is one) and buy the ones that are near to the actual date I buy. From 2018 the European Union introduced new measures to reduce the amount of BPA in cans, but many consumer agencies said that it wasn´t enough.

The plastic liner looks plastic'y in all cases, it's very hard to tell. Epoxy is harder than other plastics, but there are epoxies that are BPA free anyway

Aluminium cans are more likely have a epoxy liner that will give off a trace of BPA.

Many steel cans do not use epoxy or other BPA plastics. 

The unfortunate thing is that you can only tell if it is plastic lined after the can is opened, but then if it is then change the product.

Cans are recyclable and easily done so.

TetraPaks:

These are lined with plastic, are not fully recyclable, if you have the time you can break them down into the different products, plastic, paper and aluminium.

The food does taste different from these containers and the one of the few things these days that I  buy in tetrapak is Milk, I like to buy milk from Menorca and I have only seen it available in Tetrapak or plastic bottles, which there is small availability.

Below is a price comparison of tomato Frito: I used brand names not the stores own.

350ml 0,66c (1,89 a kilo)

400g 0,74c (1,85 a kilo)

500g 1,09 (2,18 a kilo)

In comparison the bottle does come out more expensive (0,30c per Kilo more) but not that much more than the Tetrapak which you would have thought would be much cheaper.

This is a good brand to buy, mid range. Gallina Blanca and Solis are also very nice. I have also found that Dia Supermarkets make a nice one too in a jar!

I totally understand that it is really difficult to buy the more expensive products when you are on a tight budget, so it is not always possible to do it.  Even once in a while is great! Bit by bit we can change things and maybe for the manufacturers to use glass again!

The blog song for today is: "Us and Them" by Pink Floyd.

TTFN

 

 

 

The big disappointment with Ecoembes - Recycling company in Spain

                                                               

Greenpeace yesterday presented the report "Ecoembes lies: Dismantling the deceptions of the management of household packaging waste", in which it denounces the malfunction of a management system that fails to end the problem of plastic. 

We explain the main situations that the organization reports. Before entering the subject, it is convenient to know a key concept. When a company markets a domestic container, whether it is plastic, aluminum, metal or paper-cardboard, it prints a green dot for it. This means that a percentage is paid for Ecoembes to recover that container and recycle it. 

The problem that Greenpeace denounces is that only 25% of the plastic packaging that is consumed is recovered and recycled, while the rest ends up in the environment. Ecoembes As defined by Greenpeace, Ecoembes is a monopoly formed by the main plastic polluting brands (Coca-Cola, Nestlé, P & G ...) that, through this screen entity, “clean” their image but without cutting the pace of production, nor generate cleaner systems such as returnable and reusable packaging. 

Greenpeace denounces, firstly, that Ecoembes is not an environmental organization and continues to show that it is not a non-profit organization, since in recent years its profits have increased fivefold. The organization points out that, in 2018 alone, these reached 578 million euros. Mario Rodríguez Vargas Executive Director of Greenpeace Spain, points out: “Ecoembes and its companies have long blocked alternatives to their inefficient packaging management, such as having a return and return system for packaging. We are talking about two decades lost in the fight against plastic pollution. For this reason, we ask the Vice President for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, that, due to the imminent processing of the new Waste Law, promote real measures based on the circular economy, with the elimination of single-use containers and the commitment to the reuse and return of packaging ”.

 
What does Greenpeace denounce? 

 The organization first denounces the situation of landfills, where 44% of Spanish plastics end up, although most of them could be recycled. Greenpeace also mentions the fires. From 2012 to September 2020, 342 fires have been recorded in recycling plants and, at least, until 2019, 35 of them appear in the lists of recuperators and recyclers approved by Ecoembes. 

Another situation that the organization puts on the table is the pollution of the oceans, in which up to 12 million tons of garbage are concentrated each year. Specifically, between 21% and 54% of the microplastic particles in the world are in the Mediterranean basin. 

Finally, Greenpeace denounces the export of plastic waste to other countries with less management capacity and the fact that Ecoembes calls the process of burning plastics, in which large amounts of toxic substances are emitted, a circular economy. On the other hand, in economic terms, Greenpeace points out that the mismanagement of Ecoembes generates an economic extra cost both to the producing companies, because many of the containers for which they have paid the green dot are not recycled, as to the citizens, since Ecoembes frequently calculates down what the garbage collection will cost to municipalities.

For all these reasons, the organization demands from Ecoembes that the rate obtained by the green dot is aimed at fully covering management costs and ceasing to promote "false solutions". For the organization, the money collected by the green dot should not be managed by Ecoembes, but by the administrations. In the same way, they ask the Government to introduce legislation that encourages the reuse of a comprehensive waste management system and to promote initiatives to reduce single-use plastic. Source: Greenpeace.

This report was in addition to one that was issued last year which showed an illegal landfill on Mallorca.

 Hundreds of plastic bottles, glass and containers have been piling up on a farm near the Can Alou quarry, in Felanitx for years, according to a Greenpeace report on the setback in the fight against single-use plastic.

In 'Ecoembes lies: Dismantling the deceptions of the management of household packaging waste' the environmental organisation denounces the illegal landfill on the property saying 40% of the packaging that's sent to the Son Reus selection plant is burned and the rest ends up getting dumped in places like Felanitx.

"We don’t know who started this illegal dumping but it is an aberration," blasts Julio Barea, Head of the Greenpeace Waste Campaign.

Greenpeace Volunteer, Javier Soto says it’s important to raise public awareness about the price of raw materials and stressed the urgent need for a comprehensive waste management system.

Felanitx Town Hall admitted that the landfill has been there for years and has promised to do something about it.

"We are aware of the Greenpeace complaint and the police have made a report,” said Felanitx Mayor Jaume Monserrat. “It is a large area and we plan to study the situation to find a way to reverse this disaster.”

Medi Ambient launched an immediate investigation after it received the Greenpeace complaint.

As a keen recycler for many years these types of reports are very disappointing and disheartening, making me question why the heck have I and others been bothering for all these years?  This is why I keep on encouraging my family and all my friends to buy less plastic, maybe using the shops that refill your containers for you,such as the three I have mentioned before in my previous blogs.

As you know I am also in the process of making my own cleaning products, some are working better than others but it is all trial and error and fun too.  The latest one being soapnuts!  The way I see it is that the base product is packed in plastic, but weighs 1 Kilo, this can be made into many litres of the cleaning liquid or you can use the nuts as they are!  They come with a special cotton bag to put the nuts in for use in the washing machine, you only need 5 and they can be reused up to five times before throwing them away.  

Please if you can, buy less plastic because as it is becoming painfully clear, we are being misled and lied to!  Once again it all comes down to money.  

The blog song for today is : "Watching the detectives" by Elvis Costello

TTFN

 

Home made cleaning products - Clothes washing liquid

 I have been reading about a different way of washing clothes, there is a natural product called "SoapNuts" which I have come across and have decided to give it a go.

                                     

First you buy some "SoapNuts", I bought mine from Amazon.  They come with a little bag for you to put the nuts in so if you want you can just pop them straight in the washing machine and use them as you normally would detergent.  Apparantly there is no need for fabric conditioner as they leave the clothese really soft.

I have decided to do option B! I put 20 in a pan with 2 cups of water, brought it to the boil and let it simmer for one hour.

After an hour just let it cool down, overnight if you want to.  Strain the liquid into a suitable bottle and its ready to use. The shells are organic and can be used for compost or thrown in the ordinary rubbish bin.

All you have to do to use it is add some essential oils to make it smell nice, orange, lemon,rosemary,lavender, sage, basil and Tea tree are all good.  I will try one of them.  

For clothes washing use 2 tablespoons.

 For washing up use 1 tablespoon

To make an all purpose cleaner take, half a cup of soapnut liquid, 1 cup of tap water, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and 4-6 drops of essential oil.

Mix the ingredients well and poiur into a spray bottle.

To make handsoap, half a cup of soap nut liquid, half a cup of castile soap, 2drops of essential oil.

Because it is a natural product it doesn´t have a long shelf life so I am not going to make too much of it.

I will let you know what the results are!

The blog song for today is courtesy of my hubby: "Messages from the Stars" by The Rah Band

TTFN

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News from the Union for Ethical Biotrade and the RainForest Alliance about herbs and spices.

 

 

 

 I think most of us recognise this logo! Below is a brief layout of the work the UEBT do and how they grew to be what they are today. 

  

UEBT is a non-profit association that promotes sourcing with respect. We work to regenerate nature and secure a better future for people through ethical sourcing of ingredients from biodiversity. We aim to contribute to a world in which all people and biodiversity thrive.

We set good practices for how companies and their suppliers source specialty ingredients for the food, cosmetics and natural pharmaceutical sectors. 

We are internationally recognised for our work advancing business contributions to sustainable development goals.

What is sourcing with respect?

The good practices we set act as a guidepost for how companies and their suppliers should harvest, collect or grow ingredients from biodiversity in a way that is respectful of the local environment and the people who call it home. We call this "sourcing with respect."  Companies, communities, civil society and other stakeholders are involved in developing these practices, collectively known as the UEBT standard.

Working with UEBT is a powerful way for businesses to demonstrate impact to consumers, governments and other supply chain actors, and UEBT certification allows all of us to choose brands, products and ingredients that are contributing to a world in which all people and biodiversity thrive.

Our vision

A world in which all people and biodiversity thrive.

The history of UEBT:  

1992

Countries adopt the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, and to ensure fair and equitable benefit sharing

1996

To support CBD objectives, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launches the BioTrade Initiative.

2007

UEBT is born, following an UNCTAD initiative to promote business engagement in the ethical sourcing of biodiversity.

2008

UEBT moves to independent offices and begins a formal partnership with the CBD Secretariat. 

2015

UEBT certification begins for natural ingredients and the joint UEBT/UTZ herbal tea certification program. 

2018

UEBT ethical sourcing system certification begins, with Weleda and Natura Cosmetics as launching partners.

The new initiative: 

UEBT and Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices Programme

Herbs & spices are used in a variety of foods, beverages, and flavourings and provide important income to farmers around the world.

UEBT and the Rainforest Alliance have developed a joint Herbs & Spices Programme. All ingredients certified under this new programme will be able to carry the Rainforest Alliance certification seal.

With this partnership, we build on the positive track record of the UEBT/UTZ cooperation in herbal tea, the decades-long experience of the Rainforest Alliance and UTZ in sustainable agriculture certification, and UEBT’s expert knowledge of ethical sourcing of ingredients from biodiversity, including those ingredients collected from the wild.

Programme scope and requirements

The new UEBT/Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices Programme brings together the current UEBT/UTZ Herbal Tea Program along with the UTZ and Rainforest Alliance certification programs for herbs, spices, rooibos, and vanilla. The new programme applies to:

• all ingredients for herbal and fruit infusions, including rooibos

• other herbs & spices, including vanilla, chili, or pepper

The certification for farm certificate holders in the programme is based primarily on the UEBT standard. This standard was designed for ingredients that are cultivated or collected from the wild.

The UEBT standard is complemented by selected requirements from the new Rainforest Alliance 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard. Together, these make up the UEBT/Rainforest Alliance requirements. For practical purposes, these requirements are described in a Field Checklist and a Certification Checklist, based on the Certification Protocol (to be published in March 2021).

Timeframe

For farm certificate holders getting audited against UEBT/Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices requirements

• January 2021: The Field Checklist that compiles the UEBT/Rainforest Alliance requirements for farms has been published.

• From January 2021: Farm certificate holders should begin to contact UEBT at herbsandspices@uebt.org to plan for their transition and/or future audits against the new UEBT/Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices requirements. 

• March 2021: Publication of the Certification Protocol that compiles certification and auditing rules of the UEBT/Rainforest Alliance Herbs & Spices Programme. 

• From July 2021: Farm audits can begin against the new UEBT/Rainforest Alliance requirements.

• From January 2022: Auditing against the new UEBT/Rainforest Alliance requirements becomes mandatory for all farms that are in the scope of the Herbs & Spices Programme (read section above to see who this applies to).

That  looks like fantastic news to me, I like the labelling and certification that they use! I do already look for these logos!

The blog song for today is: "  Vienna" by Ultravox (Those sideburns were something else!)

TTFN

Is this the cutest bat ever seen?

 

I found this article on the BBC News website and wanted to share it! 

Described as "cute" even in formal scientific journals, Costa Rica's tent-making bats defy negative stereotypes by living in harmony with each other and inspiring conservation.

A report By Reena Shah 27 January 2021

I drove to Sarapiquí, a little-known region in Costa Rica, during a brief respite of dry weather between Hurricanes Eta and Iota in search of a miniature tropical bat. Here, conservation efforts big and small are fighting to preserve a lowland tropical rainforest with astonishing biodiversity, including one of the smallest and most adorable mammals: Ectophylla alba, also known as the Honduran white bat or Caribbean tent-making bat.

It was impossible not to coo

I'd been warned that these bats aren't always easy to find. They live in selected lowland rainforest habitats from Honduras to eastern Panama. In Costa Rica, I tried my luck at Tirimbina Rainforest Center, a 345-hectare private reserve. At first glance, the neighbourhood seemed an unlikely locale for a rainforest. Pineapple plantations dominated on all sides and spiky green shrubs stretched to the horizon. But tucked away behind an unassuming green gate was an ecological oasis that protects nearly 4,000 species of plants and animals.

My guide, Emmanuel Rojas Valerio, led me across a 270m chain-linked suspension bridge over the roaring Sarapiquí River. In the middle of the river was the small island of "La Isla", once a biologist's heaven for studying the bats due to its abundance of heliconia plants. The tent-making bats chew a perforated ridge into heliconia leaves, similar in shape to banana leaves, to form tents where they roost during the day. The plants are easily shaken, which is one of the reasons they make suitable homes. The leaves become alarm bells as soon as predators, such as snakes, owls and opossums, touch them, giving the bats a chance to escape.    

In 2015, severe flooding wiped out La Isla. Though, by the look of it now, I wouldn't have known. Enormous cecropia and balsa trees had already grown taller than the bridge, and dense vegetation obscured the island floor. The tiny bats, however, haven't yet returned. Scientists speculate that the understory is too crowded with new growth, making it hard for them to easily leave their tents.

But we were lucky that day. Inside the reserve, just a few hundred meters after the bridge, Rojas Valerio pointed out fraying empty tents along our trail, then led me into marshy woods with mud up to our ankles. In the middle was a neatly folded leaf with a brown ridge on top. Underneath, the bats looked like a handful of fuzzy green seeds, a surprisingly effective form of camouflage. When Rojas Valerio turned on his torch, they transformed into white cotton balls with yellow-orange noses and ears. A shiver ran through the upside-down colony of five females, one male and a baby. One opened its eyes and stared at us, dewy black slits embedded in snowy fur.

It was impossible not to coo. One of the smallest fruit-eating bats in the world, the tent-making bat has an average wingspan of just 10cm and weighs roughly 6g – about a teaspoon-and-a-half of sugar. According to Bernal Rodriguez, bat biologist and professor at the University of Costa Rica, these diminutive creatures are the only known mammals with an accumulation of carotenoid pigment, the chemical that accounts for the bright yellow of their ears and nose. The carotenoid comes from peels of the bats' food: cranberry-like figs from a particular tree, Ficus columbrinae, that grow near rivers. Recent studies by Rodriguez and his team suggest that the colouring is a trait of sexual selection. Males that are larger and well fed have brighter colours, a feature that attracts females.

                                                                           

The bats build tents from heliconia leaves where they roost during the day (Credit: Emmanuel Rojas Valerio)

Rojas Valerio explained that the colony we found will leave their roost at sundown to travel nearly a kilometre to the riverbank for figs, and only figs. "They don't always come back to the same tent," he said. "They make many houses where they can stop along the way. But always in heliconia leaves."

It is nice to be able to bring a nice story once in a while!

The blog song for today is: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams 

TTFN

Here's How Much Plastic Trash Is Littering the Earth

 

 

 

The extent of plastic pollution has reached a level that is impossible to ignore; we have covered Earth in plastic — from the heights of Mount Everest to the depths of the Mariana Trench.

We produce around 335 million metric tons of plastic a year. And about half of that plastic is for single-use products, like water bottles. But it’s not just plastic water bottles and bags littering the landscape, though we have plenty of that. Every year, 8 million tons of plastic wash into our oceans, harming wildlife and natural ecosystems. And tiny pieces of plastics, or microplastics, are found in the oceans, soil, and even the rainwater. It’s no surprise that they are also contaminating our food and drinking water.

The following infographic from ClimaDoor explores the extent and impacts of the plastics with which humans have polluted the Earth. It also shows what kind of waste is showing up and some of the different species that it affects — from our rivers and mountains to our beaches and oceans.

Although the thought of cleaning up our plastic-covered Earth is daunting, we can stop adding to the existing mess. Replace single-use plastics with reusable items. Learn which plastics your local recycling provider accepts, and avoid purchasing plastic items that you can’t recycle. And let companies know that you expect their products and packaging to be sustainable.

                                                                                                                                                                      

It looks pretty awful doesn´t it! This is why I am so against plastic and am trying to show others how serious this whole situation is.  Please try to use less plastic,change to glass containers when possible, make your own product, think about alternatives before buying and gradually we may be able to slow down the horrendous problem that we have all made.  Humans are the only living things on this earth that use plastic so we can only blame ourselves to the mess we find ourselves in.

Plastic is not our friend!

The blog song for today is: "We can be heroes" by David Bowie

TTFN

Daily use contact lenses - Don´t flush them away! Not a good idea!

I wear glasses for reading so do not wear contact lenses, I don´t fancy putting anything in my eye! but there are millions of people around the world who do wear them! I admit that it is real pain when my glasses fall off my nose when I bend down and in other pratical situations!  I came across this really interesting report about them.

                                                        

When you think of plastic pollution, you probably imagine discarded straws. And water bottles. And bags. Some people are also focusing on something smaller — teeny weeny items millions of us use everyday. Contact lenses, when improperly discarded, likely create contaminating microplastics.

To help prevent microplastic pollution, responsible disposal is important.

Don’t Flush Used Contacts

That’s the advice from a trio of scientists at Arizona State University. They teamed up to study the effect of contact lenses that are washed down the drain or flushed down the toilet.

The study reveals that:

• Fifteen to 20 percent of contact lens wearers dispose of the lenses down the sink or toilet.
• With an estimated 140 million people in the  world are wearing contacts, about 10.2 billion  lenses are flushed per year.
• At wastewater plants, contacts likely are too small to be filtered out and removed.

“The study showed that wastewater plants fragment them into microplastics, which accumulate in sewage sludge. For about every two pounds of wastewater sludge, a pair of contact lenses typically can be found,” according to an article about the project on Arizona State University’s website.

Tossing used lenses in regular trash is preferable to flushing, explains Charles Rolsky, a Ph.D. candidate who worked on the research project. Even better, recycle.

There are recycling services available in the US and the UK, but as of yet not here in Spain.  

In the UK there are two, below is one of them:

DROP-OFF LOCATIONS ONLY

The ACUVUE® Contact Lens Recycle Programme

                                                                                       

So until we have the choice of taking them to a place to safely dispose of them, they have to be thrown in with the ordinary rubbish into the green bins.  Maybe any of you that wear them could speak to the optician who you  buy them from and see if they can maybe get something up and running, unless this is already happening in Ciutadella and because I don´t use them I don´t know of it!

 The blog song for today is: " Chain Reaction" by Diana Ross

 

TTFN

Home Made cleaning Stuff - Washing up liquid! First attempt- The Castile Soap Method

         

 

This was a lot of fun to make and I didn´t make too much mess! I had a recipe which I found and all the necessary ingredients so I thought I would give it a go! 

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons of Castile Soap

450ML warm water   

2 Teaspoons of Vegetable Glycerine (I used Agar Agar)

2 Tablespoons of White Vinegar

10 drops of essential Oil (Any)

 

Method:

Put the soap in the bottle you will be using to store the washing up liquid (I,m calling mine Pixie) and the warm water and stir to mix.   Add the glycerine and mix well.  Add the vinegar and mix until smooth then finally add the essential oil.  Put on the lid and shake to mix.

 

The only thing I found was that because I was used to ordinary shop bought liquids which produce bubbles, this one didn´t produce hardly any at all.  However, it did clean nicely and left my hands feeling nice and soft.  

 

I will report back after I have been using it a while to update!

 

The blog song for today is: "Friends will be Friends" by Queen

 

TTFN                           

What can I take to the Recycling point and is there a charge?

  

This is a list of all the things that you can take yourself to the Recycling point on the Poligono of Ciutadella or any of the others on Menorca.  As you can see there are some things that you have to pay for, but it looks relatively cheap. 

The problem is that some people don´t want to pay anything at all, even if it is a small amount and either dump it in the green bin or fly tip it somewhere.  I can just hear them saying "We pay for them to take our rubbish away so we shouldn´t have to pay at the Recycling point" The problem with this is that we pay for our rubbish collection for mainly organic stuff and not any old crap that people can´t be bothered to take to the recycling point.  

It is up to us to try to keep down the amount of waste, be it by using less plastic, making new things out of old ones, taking unused items to the local charity shop to name a few.

On the list is old paint, and on a previous blog I wrote about how to recycle old paint!

There are so many opportunities to get rid of stuff correctly that I am amazed that still people have a problem with it.

The blog song for today is "The importance of being idle" by Oasis

TTFN

Testing products on animals - Less and Less companies are doing this but we need more to stop!

Over the years I have been a keen supporter of various activist groups dedicated to the wellbeing of all animals.  PETA, IFAW, WWF and RSPCA are a few that I follow.  We have seen a lot of improvements but also a lot of terrible actions, in the name of research and fashion.

Here are some of the recent victories that have been achieved with the support of ordinary people like you and me, just a simple action of signing a petition can help!  We as consumers have so much power.

This next one is of particular importance to me and I am proud to have been involved in securing the victory, along with millions of like minded people.

L’Oréal Group Bans Badger, Goat, and All Other Animal-Hair Products

After hearing from PETA and nearly 80,000 of our supporters, personal-care brand Baxter of California banned badger hair. And now, its parent company, L’Oréal Group—the largest cosmetics and beauty company in the world—has banned badger, goat, and all other animal-hair products from its global brands.

L’Oréal Group is among the nearly 100 cosmetic, paintbrush, and shaving companies around the world that have turned their back on an industry that forces badgers to live inside cramped, wire cages before workers bludgeon them and slit their throat. But despite this cruelty, some companies continue to sell items made from badger hair. Please urge Blick Art Materials and others (to find out who they are please visit the PETA website) to follow suit and ban badger hair now.

Karl Lagerfeld and PVH Bans Exotic-Animal Skins

Karl Lagerfeld and PVH’s iconic brands, including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, banned exotic-animal skins after learning from PETA that in the exotic-skins industry, workers handle ostriches violently, electrically stun them, and slit their throats, as well as cutting open alligators’ and crocodiles’ necks and jamming metal rods down their spines. PVH joins Brooks Brothers, Jil Sander, Chanel, Diane von Furstenberg, Vivienne Westwood, and Victoria Beckham—among numerous others—in making this compassionate decision. We’re asking all brands that still sell exotic skins to ban these products of extreme cruelty. Please urge LVMH to follow suit and shed exotic skins from Louis Vuitton and all its other brands immediately.

This next one is a huge achievement:

Taiwan FDA Eliminates Cruel Food Safety Tests on Animals

The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) updated its health-food safety testing regulations, which will now prioritize widely recognized non-animal test methods—a landmark move that follows PETA’s recommendation to accept animal-free test methods approved by international regulatory bodies. With the TFDA’s adoption of our recommendation, there should be little to no health-food safety tests on animals in Taiwan going forward. 

For more information on companies that do and don´t test on animals visit the crueltyfreekitty.com

 

 

Along with fake cruelty-free claims come fake bunny logos that aren’t affiliated with any official organization. I’m going to show you how to tell if the bunny logo you see on the packaging is legitimate or lying to you.

Step 1

First of all, there are only 3 bunny logos a cruelty-free shopper should trust. The first step is therefore recognizing the logo: if it’s not one of the 3 logos below, proceed with caution!

Many companies use arbitrary illustrations of rabbits to indicate that their product is cruelty-free. While this doesn’t mean the company in question isn’t truly cruelty-free, you will have to research it and ask them the right questions.

The 3 bunny logos you can trust are the following: the Leaping Bunny logo, PETA’s cruelty-free logo, and the Choose Cruelty-Free logo (independent Australian organization; especially look for this symbol if you live in Australia!). Any other symbol or logo of a bunny is unofficial and has not been accredited by a reputable cruelty-free organization.

If you are worried about buying cleaning products that are tested on animals, are harmful to us and the environment then I have some recipes on here for making my own cleaning products, which use only organic products, save money and also the added bonus of  not buying more plastic! 

The blog song for today is: "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane.

 

TTFN