Some celebrities go all out and support various causes and put their money where their mouth is. Then there is Gwyneth Paltrow.

Gwyneth Paltrow Wearing (And Promoting) FUR

Ms. Paltrow who is in the uber popular Summer flick Iron Man, is a vegetarian/vegan who cares about what she puts in her mouth. But apparently doesn’t give a hoot when it comes to fashion that is cruel on animals.

Gwyneth Paltrow is sporting fur in a recent ad campaign for an Italian company called Tod’s. She has caused quite a stir with this move, and i for one don’t get it. It’s not just about the fact that she is wearing FUR, she is promoting FUR.

To me the move is totally un-progressive and is like taking 20 steps back. In a time where celebs are all shooting from the rooftops look at me, “I’m Green”. Gwyneth Paltrow is shouting, look at me, “I Don’t Care”.

US Olmpic swimmer Amanda Beard has decided to don her birthday suit for PETA, to support anti-fur work. Amanda says she is grossed out and appalled at how some can buy and use fur, knowing how it is acquired. “It is gruesome and gross”, she says.

The poster is available at the PETA website.

Source: [Ecorazzi]

Looking for an eco friendly and stylish pair of sneakers for your brother, uncle, boyfriend, or dad? You need to know about the green line at Simple.

Simple is by far a trendsetter when it comes to mens fashionable and sustainable sneakers, sandals, and casual shoes. Their designs are hip, fresh, with just enough of an edge. Case in point, the ecoS Black Vegan Sneaker.

This ecoS sneak is made with the following green features:

-The men’s ecoS contains no animal byproducts, or even regular animal products
-This shoe is vegan friendly and veggie friendly
-Hemp uppers
-The sidewall of the ecoS is made from a recycled bike tire
-Organic cotton linings
-Recycled PET (that’s recycled plastic bottles) laces
-PET pedbeds
-Outsoles used to be a car tire
-100% post consumer paper pulp foot forms

As you can see plenty of eco cred. The ecoS green sneakers are available online at AO, for about $

This vegan soap bar, is as much a work of art, as it is good for you, and good for the environment.

The Pea Green Soap Bar from Lush, is made with all natural ingredients, and is suitable for vegans.

In their own words:

Sandalwood, benzoin and tangerine wash you out to sea. Colored by chlorophyll, Beautiful Pea Green soap is very green. It’s made in a big block which looks like a deep freshwater pond with flowers and leaves floating on top. Fortunately, it doesn’t smell like one. It does have a dark green scent (for those of you who smell in color), with sandalwood, benzoin and tangerine providing the delicious fragrance. This soap was inspired by The Owl and the Pussycat who, you may remember, went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat.

This darling (and good for the Earth) pea green vegan soap is available @ Lush, for about $9.

Vegan cosmetic company LUSH, is THE place for cool and happening vegan soap bars. If you’re looking for an online retailer that carries natural and cruelty free vegan shower essentials, look no further than Lush.

Above is their charcoal vegan soap bar. The charcoal serves as a mild exfoliant, it also contains licorice root, which serves to heal skin naturally. The LUSH Charcoal and Licorice Soap is suitable for Vegans as well.

There is something about charcoal soaps that feel almost super clean, this is one of my fave types of soap bars. I own quite a few different brands of it. Let me know which brand you like and why?

Available @ LUSH, for about $11.

How exhilarating a concept, a blackberry infused all natural bath bomb. It is suitable for vegans, as it contains no animal by products.

The vegan bath bomb is perfect for long soaky baths, or romantic rendezvous for two. The bath bath bomb is a product of Lush, a vegan cosmetics company. This particular scent is aimed at uplifting and soothing achy muscles and tired minds. Right up my alley, let me go get one…right now.

Available @ Lush, for about $7.

In NYC, a new line of vegan shoes from a young innovative designer named Gina Ferraraccio is launching.

photo credit - [breathe design]

Gina, a Washington DC native, set out to create a line of cruelty free and environmentally friendly shoes that are comtemporary, fresh and stylish. I would say she has reached her goal with her new line called Cri-De-Coeur.

Each shoe is hand made in a Portugal factory using only all natural materials that include cotton canvas, sueded microfiber, and non toxic water based glues.

Cri-De-Coeur also has a partnership with CarbonFund, which offsets all their carbon emissions by planting a tree for each pair sold. Go green and check out this beautiful vegan shoe line.

Are you headed out of town and are wanting to eat at a vegetarian restaurant? Or maybe have some friends coming to visit this weekend, who are vegan?

Have no fear, Happy Cow is here.

Happy Cow is a portal of vegetarian restaurants from around the world. It is a comprehensive resource for anyone looking for a local or out of town veggie eatery. They have over 8,500 listings, and they do a good job of updating the portal.

Searching is EASY

You can find a vegetarian only restaurant, a vegetarian friendly restaurant, or a health food store. Search by miles, zip code, country, search by type of food, and/or by keyword. You can also read reviews submitted by members, and submit one yourself.

Much more relevant than going to Google, try it out.

It was only a few years ago, where finding super hot vegan footwear, including sandals, was abit of a challenge. But with the green and eco movement at full speed ahead, it is now not so difficult in netting fabulous vegan footwear.

Below are 3 vegan sandals you should know about, from varied eco designers. One is

Vegan T-Strap Eco Sandal by Cri De Coeur

leather-free, canvas t-straps, tree planted with each pair sold

Vegan Hemp Sandals from Po-Zu

hemp uppers and lining, 65% coconut husk/ 40% natural latex soles, 100% vegan

Pana Vegan Sandal by Natalie Portman Te Casan Boutique

100% vegan, expensive but….absolutely beautiful

Over at my vegetarian blog, i am having a groovy vegan giveaway. Do head on over for the details. It is very easy to enter, and although the freebie is geared towards vegans and vegetarians, anyone can join it.

To win the vegan freebie, you have till Thursday, July 10 @ midnight to enter. The prize winner will be announced on Friday, July 11th at my vegetarian blog.

Good luck to all.

This shoe has been quoted as being the Ultimate travel shoe, it’s a lightweight shoe that will fold down to being virtually flat, but when you need it to wear it will spring right back into the ready to wear position. These shoes are available at Love Those Shoes and would normally cost around $160, but at the moment there is sale on and they are only asking $80 for them!

Laser feature a Fly-Lite sole, an active casual construction designed for all-day comfort.

Main features of the sole:

Kalso Negative Heel Technology

Gelron2000 impact absorbing memory Gel and anatomic arch support

Roomier forefoot area allowing toes to spread out and relax

Ultra lightweight air blown E-Max outsole for a light ride

Deep grooved, flexible sole for natural foot rotation and movement

Latex rubber sole for extra grip

Other details:

Colour: Black

Upper: Perforated neoprene stretch micro fibre

Detail: Soft padded collar. Lazer is also Earth’s ultimate travel shoe - an everyday ultra lightweight casual that packs completely flat and bounces right back into shape.

Adjustability: Elasticated around the ankle and the upper plus extra adjustability with sports laces

Support: Mid arch support

Ethics:

Dedicated to protecting the environment - Earth storage boxes, shoe inserts and torsion control shanks are made from recycled materials

I’ve written before about leather alternatives shop, MooShoes, and most likely will continue to do so, as they keep coming out with great stuff. Their latest is this hip vegan handbag from Matt & Nat.

This is a faux leather bag, i like the yellow mustard colored one, and it is the classic bowling style type. Which means it will hold loads of stuff, such as mags, cosmetics, heck maybe even some small books.

Available through vegan shop, MooShoes.

Price: $160

Stumbled upon a neat blog by a fellow veghead, this one is named SwankyVeg. Gotta love that name.

The blog is run by an Ali Berman, who from her About page, was at one time a big time model. She started the site to showcase shoes, accessories, and other veg goodies for vegetarians. She knows how hard it can be to find stylish cruelty free shoes in most stores, and sometimes even online. So she decided to do something about it, and that is how her site came to be.

In her own words,

Swankyveg.com is a website for fashion obsessed veggies. You want the latest trends, but don’t want to spend hours searching for the vegan version of the boots you saw at Barneys

Swankyveg.com gives you info and links to the best deals, new accessories and always cruelty free items no matter what your budget, for your busy and compassionate life.

Do pay her a visit, when you get a chance.

As Russell Simmons talks about the environment and veganism, he mentions that when god said have dominion over animals, he did not mean for us, to abuse 10 billion farm animals every year”. 

Russell Simmons was talking to CNN when he uttered these words, and he is simply stating a truth. We do not need meat to live or survive. And meat is something that proliferated in the 50’s, prior to that it wasnt so highly consumed.

Those who eat meat, eat it simply because of the taste of it. Not because of health reasons or because of nutrition. To output the amount of meat that is in demand now, billions of animals have to suffer and die horribly. All in the name of taste and convenience.

Russell is clearly a compassionate being and i for one am glad he is talking about his views, as he does have a ton of fans. The more who hear the awful statistics, the better chance of claiming more vegetarian diets.

Bonus points: Feel free to adopt “Meatless Mondays“, and create a veggie meal tonite.

via - Vegans World Network

On the latest issue of the Small Business Edition of Business Week, a series of entreprenuers were profiled known as antipreneurs.

These small business owners are anti-big and anti-TRADITIONAL advertisting. They aim to make a profit as any other business, just not at any cost. They value their customers, they value where they operate, and they value most of all, being socially responsible.

One of the businesses showcased is vegan shoe shop, Moo Shoes. They are small, women owned, based in New York, and market cruelty-free products (vegan shoes). Below is what they have to say about how they present their product. 

Antipreneurs do pay careful attention to how their products are presented. Moo Shoes, a $1.2 million New York vegan shoe store with five employees, has made its shop a community hub for information about the vegan lifestyle and about animal cruelty. This spring, Moo Shoes hosted Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a national agency for stray and abused pets. Best Friends set up pens and cages in the store with about 20 homeless dogs and cats. Customers learned about the agency and the strays, and two cats were placed in city homes. “We care about animals, and getting animals homes is important to us, though not directly related to the shoes,” says Moo Shoes co-founder Sara Kubersky.

Moo Shoes have been written about here on Keetsa a gazilllion times, i love their stylish and funky designs. I love this type of company, those who successfully mix profit with compassion. Moo Shoes also tends to support smaller artists, as they give the sustainable shoemakers a venue to market their wares. In turn they too are able to meet the demand of animal lovers who prefer not wear leather and other animal-based materials.

How do they get the word out?

Moo Shoes places ads in vegetarian magazines (e.g. Vegetarian Times) and other non traditional media. As you can imagine they go where there customers tend to be located. They support animal organizations and preach the gospel of cruelty-free living.

They are well known (and respected) in the the community in which they serve, this is how they get the word out, and how they stay relevant.