Spring Meadow - Green is Beautiful

Inspired by this article on Vegan.com, I have been working on becoming more active in supporting animal rights, human rights, veganism and the environment on as many sites as possible. After I read the article, I have also joined new social networks, just so I can spread my opinions wider.

In the past, I have to confess that I haven't really felt at home on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. For instance, I think this is the third or fourth time I've joined MySpace, then deleted my account.

I have my favorite places on the web, where I feel I belong, where I enjoy hanging out, keeping in touch with my friends and so on. To some extent, I think I've become better at using my old favorites better, to get the word out.

After reading the article above, and this one, I have realized that I don't have to "like" Facebook and Twitter or any of the other social networks, but I can still use them to get my message out.

If you are passionate about animals, veganism or any other cause, or for that matter anything else (in my case, for instance writing, books, languages, history) you can start too. You can use social networks to get your message out, whatever it is. That's what those social networks are good for, in my opinion.

I won't try to argue in favor of this way of spreading the word, when others have done it so much better. If you're interested, read the two articles I mention above.

Then, if you want to do what I have, start sharing URL:s to petitions, free donation sites and more. The more you share, the more people can get informed about important issues and causes.

And while you're advocating your cause, you might find links to other interesting sites, funny images, food porn, quizzes etc. So I guess I don't have as much against Twitter and so on, as I thought I did. Or maybe they've just grown on me.

Wool means suffering for the animals. Don't wear their coat, get your own! Pledge not to use wool.

"I just signed the 2011 Boycott to Save Seals. As long as Canada’s commercial fishing industry slaughters baby seals, I refuse to buy Canadian seafood. If you care about animals, will you join me?

It is up to all of us to send the Canadian fishing industry a message they cannot ignore: Stop the killing of defenseless seal pups, or we'll put you out of business. Thanks for helping save seals!"

 If you're #VeganProud and on Twitter, why not join the crowd? Or just post anywhere. This site is a wonderful change from all the usual doom and gloom in the media.

I just read this really interesting article. Apparently, sheep are a lot smarter than people have previously believed. Other people. Not me. I've had the impression that many different types of animals, for instance rabbits, hamsters and gerbils are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for. Some day, I hope to be able to adopt a couple of sheep and hopefully some other 'farm' animals too.

Sadly, it seems the study mentioned in the article, was done so that scientists can do something about Huntington's disease, which apparently is a very serious neurological disorder. Sure, it would be great if that could be cured, but why should animals be sacrificed for that? Why not use patients already suffering from the disorder? It would give them and their families some hope and it might actually do them some good in the long run. If not, they don't seem to have a whole lot to lose anyway.

Please sign this if you care about chickens. More info on the website.

veganmatters:

Animals in Brazil currently have no legislation nor any national organization to protect them. Please sign this petition to show lawmakers that there is a demand for animal protection in this country. It only takes a moment to sign! Click here!

This site is in French, but I hope you can figure out how to use it. You can click five times on each link. When you've clicked five  times, you're redirected to a list. If you have time, it would be great if you could click on all the links.

I just love these little guys (and girls)... :)

This article tells about a proposed Bill of Equality (in the UK) that will give vegans the same legal protection as religious groups. At first the idea struck me as quite far-fetched, but then I thought, why not? In many ways the values behind veganism (and animal rights) resemble religious tenets. That's definitely something to consider in other countries too.

If you've ever wondered about what vegans eat, wonder no more. This great article will tell you. I'd like to add nuts, almonds and seeds to the list. They're just as healthy and important as everything else, not to mention tasty.

Brazilian Domestic Animals Action - WSPA International

Brazilian Domestic Animals Action - WSPA USA

This list is good. Maybe you can think of other ways too? And let's not forget our own health, the environment and so on. All good reasons to go vegan. :)

"It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life."
PHIL OCHS

As you might or might not know, this blog/homepage has been around for years, but maybe you're wondering who the blogger is (or in this case the bloggers are)?

Wonder no more. Hi! I'm Camilla, one of the people behind this blog. I'm vegan and have been for a number of years, before that I was ovo-lacto and before that pescatarian (though at the time I didn't know there was a name for it). As a child, of course, I was omni, but struggling with it, from the age of six, when I found out that there was no difference between the muscle tissue in my body and that in the bodies of animals. So that was why I started my path towards veganism. My love for animals. Soon I discovered all the other pros of being veg. Now I can't think of a single drawback.

For years I've also been concerned about the environment, ecology etc and human rights, feminism and so on.

For the future, I'm dreaming of a much greener lifestyle. A green, cruelty-free lifestyle to be exact. Some day I hope to live in the countryside, preferably in the woods, growing my own food, with solar panels on the roof and hopefully a mini wind power plant nearby. By then, I hope my family is a lot bigger than it is today. Right now it consists of only three humans and a number of non-human family members.

In fact, maybe we could start a vegan village! Maybe... Still, if you can dream it, you can do it, as someone once said (more or less).

If you want to grow your own vegetables (or whatever you like) composting is an important part of your gardening. Basically, any vegetables or fruit etc that you eat, produce peels and so on, and those are ideal for enriching the soil in your garden.

I found this a while back and I thought it was great. Very true.

Speak French? Interested in becoming a vegetarian? Then this might interest you.

I just read an article about surviving the end of civilization. It seemed to mix serious and joking advice. Personally I found a couple of the points either impossible to follow or simply ridiculous. So I added a few of my own, so my list would contain ten points too. My points are more serious, but I claim no expert knowledge. Take these points as they are, just general advice that should be useful even if society doesn't come to an end.

1. Collect supplies - food and more
2. Get crafty - no demand for bloggers, fashion gurus or celebrities
3. Build a greenhouse
4. Make a garden and grow vegetables, fruit, cereals and so on.
5. Collect rain water
6. Get solar and wind power
7. Move into the woods (or some other isolated spot) or gather your family, friends and relatives - so you'll have friendly neighbours
8. Get some environmentally friendly and low energy transportation - like bicycles?
9. Build a wall or grow a thick, thorny hedge
10. Collect valuables for trade - gold and so on.