We may have wrapped up the holiday season, but shopping for goods never ends. If you support the ethical treatment of animals and engage in cruelty-free shopping, is it fair to assume this is a sustainable act that also helps the environment?
Cruelty-free means no animal testing Companies like L’Oreal, Lancome, Maybelline, Neutrogena, Olay, and Pantene conduct animal testing primarily for legal compliance, especially in markets like China, which banned animal testing on locally manufactured products in 2014 but did not ban products imported INTO China. These companies also test in order to assess the safety of new ingredients, to support marketing claims, and to mitigate liability for harmful products. With new animal-free alternatives emerging, many companies have switched to cruelty-free practices, but novel ingredients often still involve animal models despite ethical concerns and availability of non-animal models.
When is cruelty-free better for the planet? Companies justify having to do animal testing to make them “safe” for human consumers because their products contain potentially harmful chemicals that might cause sensitivity or irritation. These very chemicals are harder to filter and process when washed down drains and can wind up polluting ecosystems. Ingredient lists on cruelty-free household cleaners and toiletries are typically much shorter, with words that are recognizable and easier to pronounce. Hundreds of green companies like LUSH, Natures Organics and The Body Shop create safe new cosmetics by selecting from more than 8,000 widely available raw ingredients that already exist and have been tested in the past rather than turning to newly developed substances that have been newly animal-tested.
Products that don’t require animal testing -- or are safe enough that human volunteers are willing to test them – typically generate less pollution. Cruelty-free brands often use plant-derived ingredients, so fewer toxins reach air and waterways to pollute ecosystems. The caveat is that they don’t necessarily use sustainable processes, ingredient sourcing, or manufacturing that create less pollution. Furthermore, cruelty-free products might not test on animals but still use products with excessive plastic or packaging that leave a substantial environmental footprint. For true sustainability, look for brands with refillable, recycled, or biodegradable packaging.
Don’t assume that a “vegan” or “cruelty-free” label means a product is sustainably packaged, or likewise, that a “natural” label means it’s ethically sourced. This is where layered certification helps!
When shopping, look at labels with a winning combination of multiple certifications that ensure products are both cruelty-free and sustainably sourced. For example, you might see a Leaping Bunny certification along with the Vegan Trademark and the FSC, which will all provide strong assurance for ethical sourcing, cruelty-free ingredients, and environmental packaging. Check out seals like the following.
Cruelty-free certifications:
The familiar Leaping Bunny logo is the international gold standard for no animal testing by the company, labs, or suppliers, with independent verification.
PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies seal certifies no animal testing but is considered less rigorous than Leaping Bunny.
The Vegan Trademark guarantees no animal ingredients as well as no animal testing.
Vegancert signifies no animal products or testing and includes packaging.
Sustainable sourcing certifications:
Ecocert provides certification for 150+ standards in the food, farming, forestry, textiles, cosmetics, and eco-products sectors worldwide.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification is for wood/paper products and ensures sustainable forest management that protects both ecosystems and workers.
The Rainforest Alliance certification, marked by a green frog seal, focuses on conservation in farming communities and meet standards for sustainable agriculture, environmental protection (like healthy forests), better farmer livelihoods, human rights, and climate resilience, ensuring responsible sourcing of products like coffee, cocoa, and tea.
Fair Trade Certified and Fairtrade International certified products meet rigorous social, environmental and economic standards
GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is the leading worldwide standard that ensures organic status for textiles as well as environmentally and socially responsible processing.
Shopping Cruelty Free: Getting Started
According to Cruelty Free Kitty, truly cruelty-free companies “must not test any finished products or ingredients on animals, nor must it work with suppliers or third parties that use animal tests. It must also not sell its products where animal testing is required by law.”
If you are daunted by the prospect of starting from scratch, one recommendation is to replace products like toiletries or make-up as they run out, one product at a time, with cruelty-free alternatives. You can also focus on category, like kitchen cleaners or laundry detergents, to make the change more manageable.
Just remember that a cruelty-free product is equated with no animal testing but it might still contain animal ingredients like beeswax or sheep’s lanolin. If you are strictly vegan, be sure to look for a vegan certification to ensure that no animal products are used.
Check labels for vague terms like “fragrance,” which can encompass harmful petrochemicals and harm the environment. Don’t count on a product’s website to provide transparency. Go to a reputable website like those below, and remember to look for the additional certification that indicates sustainability like the ones listed above.
https://www.crueltyfreekitty.com
https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/approved-brands/
Sources and Further Reading:
Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash
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