Vegan Exception Clauses

[KaliMama]

I manbags. I wish my man carried one so I could put my stuff in it.

[vegankitty]

Vegankitty, some say triscolan, the common ingredient in anti bacterial soap:

A) only works if left on the skin for 2 minutes or more, not common for hand washers like me at least.

B) when exposed to chlorinated water turns into chloroform and other nasty stuff.

I have absolutely no idea if there is any truth to those rumors but I thought I'd point out that according to The Body Shop, not that I'm recommending them, tea tree oil in their soap acts like a natural anti-microbial agent. I buy Trader Joe's house brand of tee tree oil soap mostly because it is 100% vegan and dirt cheap like me ($1.49 for two bars IIRC).

I see they have a NYC store.

Thanks , I'll try it.(TJs here is ridiculously crowded-have to remember to go when they open.)

[Miso Vegan]

Tea tree is antimicrobial, and so is lavender and orange, among other essential oils. So there are many options besides triclosan (although Purell anti-bacterial hand gel uses alcohol, not triclosan).

And by the way, while tea tree oil is antimicrobial, killing bacteria, fungi, and viruses, triclosan only kills bacteria.

[panthera]

Mahk, thanks for the info. The whole issue is bothering more, now that we're discussing it.

up until the end of last year, when I drove trains, I stuck it in my 'train-driving bag' and used it in my meal break

this sounds like a perfect way of doing it. In fact, in fact, I can imagine myself keeping some at a desk or locker at work if I were working these days. Mahk, I would think that carrying around a baggie of soap slivers, particularly in a back pocket, would get messy pretty quickly, becoming a gelatinous mass.

I wonder if it's actually exactly the same stuff too, but at this early stage they are conducting a test to see what sells better in regards to the marketing of words like "vegan", "organic", "fair trade", "No GMOs", "locally grown", "bio degradable packaging", "country of origin has very little child slavery" etc. [] Once they figure out what their customers will fall for, er, I mean "care about", then magically there will be only one form of sugar they sell that will have all the "important" qualities. Just a theory.

I used to wonder about this in terms of greenwashing, and decided that even if I were being duped, I still wanted to make the statement that it was important enough of a consumer issue that they ought to pay attention to it, and that at least knowing that would encourage some companies to actually become more green.

Now, at this point in my life, I feel like it's more important to support local farmers, food producers, grocers, and business owners, even if they only offer vegan goods by accident.

I think this is great especially if you let them know that it's the vegan-ness of the product that is important to you!

It seems like at so many other forums (both vegan and non-vegan related) disagreements quickly devolve into name calling sessions, and I have yet to see that here. So, yay VRF!

Yes, I think VRF does this better than any other forum out there!

Vegankitty, some say triscolan, the common ingredient in anti bacterial soap:

A) only works if left on the skin for 2 minutes or more, not common for hand washers like me at least.

B) when exposed to chlorinated water turns into chloroform and other nasty stuff.

The overuse of triclosan is thought to be responsible for a lot of antibiotic resistance; I'd be surprised if it's all that effective these days, or at least it wouldn't protect against the more dangerous bacteria.

I'm really surprised that a doctor would recommend it (unless maybe they recommended a specific soap that has another kind?), considering that it actually can clear away beneficial bacteria, leaving us vulnerable to the not-so-nice ones.

Tea-tree oil is indeed supposed to be naturally anti-bacterial & anti-fungal. I don't know if it's the same deal, clearing away beneficial bacteria. I'm more inclined to trust it, though.

[LuC]

I manbags. I wish my man carried one so I could put my stuff in it.

i love man bags too! i bought the mr. his first man bag about 5 years ago and now he has more bags than i do.

[bumblebee]

My husband carries a "briefcase". Our 22 year old son carries a "satchel".

[vegankitty]

i don't know if this would be a vegan exception , but i know i feel guilty about it: cat food. I tried vegan food-they won't eat it.(Except the Ami dry , which is very spendy. I know you can take your kitties to get urinary ph levels if they are vegan , but even if my kitties would eat vegan food , i don't think i would subject them to monthly vet visits. Cats are carnivores and i feel that if i want to properly take care of them , i need to feed them meat.I do feel guilty and hypocritical doing it though.

[Emiloid]

Oh yeah... pet food. I have two non-vegan cats.

[Mahk]

Mahk, I would think that carrying around a baggie of soap slivers, particularly in a back pocket, would get messy pretty quickly, becoming a gelatinous mass.

Yuck. I see what you mean but I was hoping the air tight seal would keep moisture out. I'm not sure if body heat alone would make it yucky, but out of curiosity I'm going to go test some. Be back in a few minutes...

[Mahk]

OK, I tried it out. Of course I can't speak to all bar soaps but I was using my regular, Trader Joe's Tea Tree Oil.

I was expecting my vegetable scrapper to make slivers like it does on a carrot; it didn't. It produced more of a flake like powder similar to the consistency of my KAL brand nutritional yeast. Still quite usable though. I put some between my totally dry palms and rubbed vigorously for half a minute or so. It stayed solid! It would seem to me that the friction between my palms is much higher than normal body heat so I'm thinking back pocket use would also stay solid, but who knows.

[vegankitty]

Growing up we had a metal container with holes that you could put the ends of soap into and they would meld into a new bar.

[Chijou_no_seiza]

Oh! Mahk, they have that weird "butter slicing" contraption, you put in half the soap stick and then the "perfect" pad comes out. MAYBE You could cut yer soap in half, and then use the little device to chop it into small little soap rectangles! (See picture below)

I could work...

[Mahk]

I've never seen one of those before but I'd worry it may not be strong or sharp enough for cutting through a hard bar of soap. Soap doesn't "cut like butter" Thanks for the diagram though.

I just tried a cheese slicer. Same results: a powdery flaky consistency. Even a sharp cutting knife had almost the same results. I think it's my soap

[grog]

use a hot knife.

or a wire

[Miso Vegan]

Welp, I'm convinced. Vegans are freaks.