Can you be 100% vegan?

Tracy Huesso: not really. you are right many things come from cows. plastics, drywall, wallpaper, antifreeze, cosmetics... all come from cows. but you can be "the best that you can"

Jene Licausi: It's possible to be vegan. That's why this section existYou just have to find out what's vegan. there will be stuff in normal shops and vegan shopsGood luck

Antonia Boomershine: Cutting out some non vegan products helps more animals than cutting out none at all. :)

Jeff Frizzell: no. you're going to breath in the occasional dust mite at the very least. veganism is a goal to aspire to rather than a destination you arrive at.

Darnell Cutliff: Well there's lots to think about here.1. Your friend is right in that animal slaughter byproducts are used in many of the things you use every day: glues in book bindings, electrical transmission, your dentist's latex gloves, car tires, organic fertilizers and on and on.2. Can you be a little bit vegan...or a little bit! pregnant? Not according to many vegans: it's all or nothing.3. What about the animals killed in the fields for the veggies and grains you eat? Is their life less valuable than a cow's?You'll just have to make up your own mind about what to call yourself....Show more

Jesusita Dykhoff: Great question, and an important one. Thanks for expressing your concern for animals; you're right, animal cruelty is abhorrent -- and it is abhorrent in 100% of the cases it is inflicted under. While we could split hairs on which instances of cruelty are (allegedly) justifiable in the name of the "greater good," I believe that most of us would conclude that the conditions under which animals are bred, raised, confined and finally killed are cruel -- without any qualification. Even the most ardent consumers of animal products (including most, I hope, who've answered this question) will concede that, however reluctantly. This piece here is essential to understand: while *nearly everyo! ne* acknowledges the unending assault on animals, only a fract! ion eventually choose to align their actions with their conscience. One (and by far, the easiest) way of doing so is to remove ourselves from the daily transaction of death by abstaining from animal products.Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, it is simple, but it isn't easy. It isn't easy because:a. We live. In the course of living, we breathe in microbes, we walk and accidentally step on bugs, we drink water brimming with germs, we drive and run into an animal, we build a home and spray on poisons to keep pests out, etc., etc., etc.andb. Animal products are ubiquitous (meaning, they are everywhere and in seemingly nearly everything). None of us lives (or even could live) completely divorced from our world - whether you consider that world to be ecological, biological, social, domestic, consumerist or environmental. We are part of this world and we have no way to transcend its limitations, physical or otherwise. To tear away the various webs we are entrenched in is to ! be dead.Given then that killing animals (however inadvertently) is a de facto attribute of living, perhaps we could consider it to be a baseline of sorts for our purposes, or a "neutral harm" zone. Harm because, well, we do harm (however inadvertently, by the very act of staying alive), and neutral because the harm is unintentional and unavoidable.From this starting point, you could choose to:a. Take precautionary steps (such as wearing a mask so as not to breathe in tiny organisms) to minimize the harm we cause. b. Remain in the "neutral harm" zone, be mindful of our actions (such as the food we consume) and the consequences thereof.c. Intensify the harm (with unnecessary abuse).I hope we would agree that choice "c" is the most blatantly unconscionable. Choice "a" is commendable, but impracticable and difficult to the point of being paralyzing. Veganism, to me, is choice "b." Living, as is, without swaying towards either position a or position c, is veganism. The pro! blem is, I believe, when we confuse veganism with choice "a." Choice "! a" is a very, very difficult to meet. There are a brave few who try, at a tremendous personal price to themselves.Going back to the point I tried to make earlier, we have no way of divorcing ourselves from our society, even if we lived in woods someplace distant, we'd still be interacting with our immediate environment. And the *very act of interfacing with our environment carries the potential for harm to other beings*. The ONLY WAY to live AND not harm other beings would be if the environment itself underwent a radical change. If the environment ceased to host microbes in the air, or in the water, or in the food.Think of the society as your environment. Think of your family who partakes animals as meals as your environment. Think of the corporations who supply us our goods while jeopardizing our air and water supply, and our health as your environment. Think of your teachers who tell us that dairy needs to be a mandatory constituent of our food as your environment.! Think of your friends who enjoy animals performing in circuses as your environment. The ONLY WAY to live and not harm other beings would be if the environment itself underwent a radical change. If the environment ceased its needless killing, if the environment devised alternatives to using animal products, if the environment put in resources towards the care of its lesser beings. Then and only then, could we get closer to living without harm.But up until then, stay neutral, stay alive and you'll stay vegan (despite the harm -- the harm not caused by us, but imposed upon us by our environment). And yes, in my eyes and in my belief, that is 100% vegan....Show more

Adan Alipio: Being vegan is about striving to cause less harm to animals. We live in a meat eating world and do the best we can; there is no perfect.

Toby Women: Yes you can be completely vegan and there are many web sites and magazines on the topic.

Ayesha Genova: I am a 70-80% raw vegan fo! r healthy reasons, which seems I mostly shop in the fruit and vegetable! section.. Start there. Instead of meat, eat legumes and nuts. Substitute meat is an alternative but pricey. It's doable, affordable and delicious. Although I don't quite understand your statement of cows being made out of animals.

Colby Millberg: The concept of being 100% vegan is not about consuming absolutely no animal products. It's about reducing the harm we fund in the ways that we can. The concept of veganism is not based on perfection but based on making mindful choices to minimize the harm we create by our choices. That's all.

Ezekiel Kadner: different places have different policies. Not everywhere stuffs body part into every conceivable item. That's not to say care isn't needed, it's just not everywhere in everything. Like shopping bags, tyres, glue, sutures etc. Don't rightly know what's up with that, actually.

Loriann Carrigan: If you intend to never use or kill animals, in any way, the only way you MIGHT be able to do it would be to go live! naked in the wilderness somewhere. Even then, it's still doubtful.

Caroyln Ebach: Yeah, animal products are in a lot of things, but the thing is, we use animal parts for trifling things, like roads, metal, plastic bags, books, etc. But just because you'll never attain perfection, doesn't mean you shouldn't put forth a noteworthy effort.I see veganism as an action, not a status. You may heal people, but you're not a doctor.

Woodrow Neyman: if u move into the middle of the forest with nothing not even the clothes on ur back

Moises Rupinski: no, because nothing in this world is 100 % sure... It is terrible what they are doing to animals and sad because it's happening everywhere, but you can do something, going vegetarian, then vegan, it's a first step. Then make a list of all vegan products including cosmetics, makeup, clothes etc. You can find a list of all animal byproducts in things and avoid them, trust me there's a subtitute for everything and there's ! always a choice :-)

Sharron Salin: your stomach is always digestin! g itself which is meat

Maria Devenney: Technically, yes. But if you're going to be a true vegan (i.e. not using any animal products ever) you'll be in trouble. If you're bitten by a snake you'll need antivenom. You know how they get that? From animals. You'll also have to have very good general knowledge on various ingredients and their actual origins. Often you'll find products made of some chemical-sounding substance which is actually from an animal.

Anibal Scheid: I can't remember where i read this, maybe it was in the Vegetarian Times, but they said that its virtually impossible to be 100% vegan. It might be the prescription drugs, or the over the counter medicine, or the sugar added to your soy milk, but there is just so many little things to be aware of. Maybe all you can be is 99%. or 90%. Those are still worthwile and attainable goals. Anyway the conclusion of the article was not to worry or stress and for each "vegan" to just do the best that they can. ! You can still "save" tens of thousands of animals lives during your lifetime....Show more

Nedra Oltz: Just do the best that you can.