It is time to make a difference

Normally I am not one to blog about controversial topics, but I could not let this slide. I am standing on my proverbial soap box tonight. First, and foremost it is October--- Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is time to wear your pink and show your support to all the women in our lives that have dealt with this horrible disease. I realized this weekend that it touches everyone. My nephew Jaime, who is a special needs child, has a friend named Dylan. Dylan is putting on a spaghetti supper at their high school to raise money for Cancer research because one of his teacher's aids passed away from it years ago. Hearing all that he has done to put this dinner on shows the impact that one person--- any person--- can have for whatever cause that matters to them.

The other cause that I am passionate about is animal testing. I always thought I was doing the right thing by looking at packages before I bought them for the "this product was not tested on animals."  Little did I know that some companies can get away with printing this because the "final" product was not tested, not including all the steps to get there. After going to www.mediapeta.com, I realized that I was blind to a lot of the products in my own house. I am not expecting you to go into your medicine cabinet and throw everything away, or drive yourself crazy over this, because believe me, that is what I started to do.


What I am hoping for is that the next time you go buy shampoo or tooth paste you make an effort to see what company it is and pick the right product. The other thing you need to remember is just because the product itself wasn't tested on animals, who is that company owned by? For example, Toms of Maine is on the good list, but they are owned by Colgate who is on the bad list. Again, please don't freak out over this. If you have a general idea of what companies to look for you will be fine. If everyone is aware, hopefully these companies will have to stop testing on animals to keep making a profit.
Here is a list of some of the companies we should be watching out for: 3M (that is right, post-its), Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Aussie, Aveeno, Avon, Axe, Bic, Clairol, Crest, Green Works (I know, right? This is called "green washing" where a company labels itself as good for the environment. It's an advertising tactic), Nair, Neutrogena, Softsoap, Walgreens, Calgon, Chapstick, Clean & Clear, Dove, Garnier, Head & Shoulders, Mary Kay, Olay, Sauve, Woolite, Band-aid, Loreal, Colgate, Gillette, Herbal Essences, Maybelline, Oral-B, Vaseline, Iams Dog Food. Please go to www.mediapeta.com and check it for yourself. It is all about being aware and making the right decision.

Here is a list of some of the companies that DO NOT test on animals: Abercrombie & Fitch, Bare Escentuals, Almay, Aveda, Bath & Body Works, The Body Shop, Conair, ELF cosmetics, Crabtree & Evelyn, Liz Claiborne, LUSH, MAC, OPI, Physicians Formula, Revlon, Smashbox, Seventh Generation, Stila Cosmetics, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Urban Decay. Again, please go to www.mediapeta.com for a full list of animal friendly companies. Both lists have websites and phone numbers if you want to dig a little deeper.

Thanks for reading followers, and I hope this helps. I hope everyone will take this and make that change.