The label ‘vegan’ does not only apply to foods. In fact, everyday items you probably have at home can also contain sneaky animal-based ingredients!
But no need to worry. This list of 12 surprisingly non-vegan products will help you avoid accidentally buying items involving animal cruelty!
Related: 12 Startling Non-Vegan Foods to Blow Your Mind
1. Money
Avoiding all products that contain animal substances is nearly impossible for vegans in the United Kingdom.
British £5 and £10 notes contain tallow. This by-product of the meat and dairy industry usually comes from cows or sheep, and is used in various household items (such as candles).
According to VeganFriendly, Australian and Canadian bank notes also contain tallow!
I’m sure that he fact that the money you use isn’t cruelty-free by default is one of the more unconventional arguments in favor of cryptocurrencies.
Related: Is Crypto Bad for the Environment?
2. Tattoos
Finding completely vegan tattoo parlors is more difficult than you think…
Many popular tattoo inks contain animal products, such as carmine (a red coloring made from crushed up beetles that’s also commonly used in your favorite candy).
Other common animal-based ingredients in tattoo inks include animal fats, charred bones, and glycerin.
3. Paintballs
Paintballs pose a tricky engineering problem.
They must withstand high velocities without bursting open prior to hitting their target. Additionally, they have to be soft enough to only cause light bruising (instead of serious tissue damage!).
Paintballs have a thick but elastic outer shell made of gelatin. Because gelatin is derived from pork or cattle, this fun free-time activity technically isn’t vegan (sorry…).
4. Botox
Botox injections are one of the world’s most popular cosmetic procedures. But that makes it far from cruelty free!
Oftentimes, the anti-wrinkle substance is prepared using an egg-base. Additionally, Botox batches are always tested on animals (usually mice or rats).
In Europe alone, 400,000 mice are killed each year for the production of Botox (1).
5. Facial Masks
On your next spa-day, it’s worth thinking twice about what you’re smearing on your face.
Check the label of your favorite facial mask for “Placenta Polypeptides Protein”. This ingredient consists of placenta, derived from the uterus of slaughtered animals (the thought of which is not so relaxing…).
6. Toothpaste
Besides being occasionally tested on animals, conventional toothpaste often contains glycerin.
Glycerin, a sugar-alcohol made from animal products, petroleum, or plants, also is a common ingredient in other toiletries ( soaps, moisturizers, and other skin-care products).
7. Instruments
String instruments, such as violins and cellos, rely on horsehair to produce their beautiful sound. The hairs are used both for the actual instrument strings and their bows.
Additionally, the animal-based fats tallow and lanolin are commonly used for greasing-purposes in instrument care. This includes non-string instruments, such as drum heads and bagpipes, as well).
8. Shampoo
Many conventional shampoo brands use keratin in their hair products. Keratin is an animal-based substance made from ground up hooves, animal hairs, or feathers.
9. Winter Jackets
Surprisingly many fashion-labels actually still use real fur to line the hoods of their warm winter jackets.
Bizarrely, sometimes real fur from exploited minks is cheaper than the faux alternatives! With such low prices, you can only imagine what the production process must look like…
Additionally, be sure to double-check whether your favorite jacket if filled with down. The feathers used come from tortured and slaughtered birds.
10. Laundry Detergents & Bubble Baths
Upon inspecting your laundry detergent’s ingredient list, you may find it mentioning “fatty acids”.
Sadly, this doesn’t indicate whether those fatty acids are derived from animals, from plant-based oils, or a mixture of both. The same goes for your relaxing selfcare-Sunday bubble bath.
11. Steroids
Using modern technology, many steroids are produced via chemical synthesis.
But since a large quantity of steroids are sold though illegal channels, it’s hard to trace the exact origins of the performance-enhancing substances. Since steroids can be found in animals, plants, and funghi, it’s hard to say whether specific cases are vegan or not (2).
Fun fact: The first steroids were derived from horse urin!
12. Perfume
The dried secretion from beaver glands, otter genitals, and wildcats is a common ingredient in fine fragrances (and even in vanilla-flavored foods!).
The production of this secretion is especially cruel. Wild cats, for instance, are held captive in tight cages and whipped in the genital area to produce the desired scent (3).
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References
(1) https://www.altex.org/index.php/altex/article/view/1138
(2) https://www.vegetarianbodybuilding.com/vegetarian-bodybuilding-steroids/
(3) http://www.veganbaking.net/articles/tools/animal-ingredients-list