To reiterate: how can you “grow your own ethics [and morals]” if they are derived solely from social dogma? You believe in Demonstrative Morality so you can’t possibly grow your own ethics. Perhaps you need to reword the question or re-examine your beliefs.

Over the last couple of years I have managed to change my wardrobe
little by little. I can now proudly say that I own no leather, silk, wool, or p.v.c. It’s actually become managable and affordable for me to become eco-concious of my cosmetics, household chemicals, and clothing, as well as cruelty-free.

I’ve had a vegetable garden for about two years now. It’s encouraging to know that eating out of it reduces my carbon foot-print. What I can’t
grow I buy from the local farmers market.
My exceptions are cashews and snacks like lunar bars. I’m in no way perfect but am happy that the light-bulb clicked some 6 years ago. Not bad for a guy who once lived off of burgers, and quick- pik pizzas.

I do still need to work on travel. Although I drive a hybrid I’m aware that I don’t park it enough. Hopefully I can keep my new years resolution to walk or at least take public transit as often as possible. Well just being honest with myself public transit sounds more realistic. I like to run long distances. After five to ten miles I’m too lazy to do a lot of walking the next day :O

P.S. Gnocchi goes well with sun-dried tomatoes and bengal lentils ):D

I’ve still given up beef. Our eggs are from uncaged chickens. We’re boycotting Wal-mart. We’ve talked about greening our investments. But I have a long way to go. My wife inspires me, and I could write more long paragraphs about the things I see her changing. But I’m not her.

Sometimes I know what the right thing for me to do but still find it hard to do it, like finally giving up eating my mother’s Yorkshire Puddings. I never eat eggs or milk, except once a week when I eat my mother’s cooking. I have tried to kid myself that my motive is entirely unselfish based on the fact that I don’t want to offend my dear old mum, but I never succeed Bella.

This year I will finally buy some new vegan and environmentally friendly clothes having at last worn out all of my others. This year I have learned to bake vegan puddings and cakes. I had not really thought about how my holiday money is spent, so maybe next year I should make it a goal to look at my personal banking and holiday destination more closely.

I’ve also been trying out many other products, such as quinoa and amaranth, that I hadn’t tried before. And experimenting a lot with mixtures of different grains, seeds, nuts and dried fruits – in breakfast cereals, cakes, breads and pancakes, etc. I’m always looking around for more things that I haven’t tried before.

I have a wonderful new partner living with me now. She’s a non-vegetarian, but she probably only eats non-vegetarian food a couple of times per week. Being from southeast Asia, she uses tofu a lot in her cooking. Last year, I would probably have eaten tofu like maybe twice. The last five or six months, I’ve eaten it nearly every week.

I’m consciously trying to keep my weight at a steady level this year. Sure, I want to lose a few kilograms, but, as that’s not happening, I’ll settle for just not putting on any more weight.

As for growth in my personal ethics, I am increasingly aware of how egocentric I have been in my purchasing habits and taking steps to overcome this. I am more aware of the impact my everyday decisions have on other sentient beings, the more I recognize how many everyday items are made from animals or animal products. I was surprised when I found out conventional film for cameras is gelatin based and have recently changed over to a digital camera. It is a small sacrifice too, to give up glossy photo paper as this usually contains gelatin. I have even changed my art brushes to synthetic brushes as the bristles are usually made from sable, squirrel, hog, ponies or goat hair.