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Most animal rights activists do not consume animals directly. We don't eat them, wear them, or use products derived from them. At least we try very hard not to, endeavoring to live lives consistent with our value of compassion. What we may not realize, however, are the many ways in which we harm animals through our lifestyle and consumption choices. I'm not talking about cosmetics or household products tested on animals; seasoned animal advocates usually make the switch to cruelty-free products fairly easily and quickly. I'm talking about all those products (including cruelty-free personal care products) that indirectly harm animals.
Take coffee. Most animal activists I've met drink coffee, and many drink a lot of it. Unless labeled as shade-grown and organic, that cup of Joe is likely to have come at great expense to animals. First, tropical rainforests (which are home to more than half the species on Earth) are destroyed to create coffee plantations.These farms are inhabited by only 5 percent of the animal species who had resided in the same spot when it was a lush, verdant rainforest. Because so many insect-eating birds and insect-eating insects are displaced or destroyed, the plantation owners resort to pesticides that kill countless species, not just the target pests. After the coffee berries are picked, they are crushed to remove the pulpy flesh that surrounds the bean. For each pound of beans, two pounds of pulp are removed and often dumped into rivers, consuming oxygen needed by fishes. There are also costs to animals involved in roasting, shipping, packaging, and brewing the beans, although these environmental impacts are even more indirect, and so are perhaps easier to ignore.
What about soda? Does a carbonated, sugary beverage harm animals? Unfortunately, yes. If that soda comes in an aluminum can, the impact to the environment (and consequently to the wildlife who depend upon it) is significant. Bauxite mining and smelting for aluminum are extremely energy-intensive and polluting, and the dyes used on the cans are toxic as well. If the container of choice is plastic, the cost...