Episode 04 - Cruelty-free

What is Cruelty-free?

At least 115 million animals are used in experiments worldwide every year. Cruelty-free means that the ingredients and final product have not been tested on animals. Cruelty-free does not mean vegan, and this is something that vegans often take issue with. So, it is possible for a cruelty-free product to contain non-vegan ingredients like beeswax, gelatin or collagen.

Cruelty-free does not necessarily mean that the product is ethically produced. For instance, British YouTuber Rowan Ellis drew attention to the lack of attention to human rights in cosmetics. She was criticizing a trend from 2016 called “how cruel is my makeup bag”, where YouTubers would essentially check whether their makeup products are cruelty free. Rowan made the point that cosmetics supply chains often are complicit in child labour, slavery/forced labour, and human trafficking.

What is Animal Testing?

Two animal tests used for cosmetic products are the Draize eye and skin irritancy tests. There was a really good description of these tests in an academic article by Delcianna Winders:

“The Draize eye irritancy test usually uses rabbits because they are docile, their eyes are much more sensitive than human eyes, and they are unable to tear, which can wash away the test substance. Typically, a young rabbit is tightly restrained in a box so that he is unable to move his neck or rub his eyes with his paws. Clips sometimes hold his eyelids open. Anesthesia is not generally administered. A researcher applies a concentrated substance to the outer layer of the eye – one of the most sensitive parts of the body – and observes it over a span of days or weeks for responses such as blindness, bleeding, hemorrhaging, and ulceration.

For the skin irritancy test, a researcher shaves and often abrades [scrapes] a rabbit’s skin. To abrade the skin, adhesive tape is repeatedly applied and ripped off until several layers of skin are exposed. The researcher then applies a highly concentrated test substance to the raw area over a period of days or weeks and observes it for corrosion, weeping, inflammation, and other forms of irritation. At the end of both tests, the rabbits are generally killed”

— Winders, Delcianna. (2006). Combining Reflexive Law and False Advertising Law to Standardize “Cruelty-free” Labeling of Cosmetics. New York University Law Review 81: 454-486.

The animals most often used in cosmetics testing are rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, and rats. Dogs, cats, and non-human primates are used in medical research.

Animal testing has been in practice since the early 1920s. In 1938, the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act mandated animal testing to establish the safety of any new drug. The law was established after more than 100 people died from a poisonous drug called Elixir Sulfanoamide.

The cruelty-free movement was established in 1898, but it didn’t start to gain real momentum until 1980, when Revlon committed to stop using the Draize test. In 1996 animal protection groups formed the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, which manages the Leaping Bunny certification program in the US and Canada. Since the 2000s, there have been successes in establishing cruelty-free laws. As well, consumers are increasingly demanding cruelty-free products.

Is Animal Testing Necessary?

Animal testing for cosmetics is often considered to be unnecessary, given that there are many ingredients which are known to be safe, as well as non-animal testing methods. There are more than 7,000 safe ingredients that cosmetics companies can choose from to formulate their products, and these don’t need to be tested at all. There are also alternative testing methods that make animal testing in cosmetics unnecessary. Also, animal toxicity tests are not really that accurate anyway. Kyla Found this neat article about using lab-grown skin to test instead, which is both awesome and super creepy.

The public is increasingly concerned about animal testing. More than half (52%) of Americans opposed animal testing, according to a Pew Research Center survey from 2018. Younger people oppose animal testing at higher rates (56%), as do women (62%). In contrast, only 40% of American men oppose animal testing.

Cruelty-free Laws

The EU animal testing Directive (2010/63/EC) specifies that companies must not test on animals if an alternative method is accepted under EU legislation. Cruelty-free laws are also in place in India, Vietnam, New Zealand, Israel, Norway, and Taiwan. The US and Canada don’t have laws like this, although there is a bill under consideration in Canada that would ban cosmetics testing on animals. There are also American state laws in California, New Jersey, and New York requiring that available non-animal safety tests be used before resorting to animal tests. China still requires animal tests for imports, which is a big barrier. If a brand is sold in mainland China it is not cruelty-free.

Cruelty-free Labels

These labels typically apply to cosmetics, personal-care products, and other common household products. The two strictest cruelty-free labels are the Leaping Bunny and PETA Cruelty-free labels.

The Leaping Bunny label, which is managed by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, has standards requiring: no animal testing and no ingredients tested on animals after a cut-off date. They have a supplier monitoring system to ensure suppliers are compliant

PETA’s Cruelty-free Label/ “Don’t Test” Lists certify that products and ingredients are not tested on animals. A company that claims not to test on animals but that doesn't appear on PETA's list may have eliminated tests on animals for finished products but not for ingredients (source).

Cruelty-free Mobile Applications

There are essentially three cruelty-free apps out there: Cruelty-Free (Leaping Bunny), Bunny Free (PETA), and Cruelty-Cutter (Beagle Freedom Project).

Cruelty-Free is the Leaping Bunny App. The reviews on this app are pretty negative, for functionality reasons and because the app leaves out companies that don’t test on animals. The app also, controversially, includes subsidiaries with parent companies that test on animals.

Bunny Free is an app that allows you to search companies to see whether they are on the “Do Test” or “Don’t Test” PETA lists. You can also browse companies by their cruelty-free status, as well as other options (e.g., vegan, working for regulatory change). The functionality on this app is a bit better, but it is still not great.

Cruelty-Cutter is an app that allows you to scan barcodes to determine the cruelty-free status of products. This app has the best functionality by far, according to reviews (and Kristen’s personal experience). The downside with this application is that it includes some cruelty-free companies that have not registered with PETA’s or Leaping Bunny’s list. Beagle Freedom Project “independently researches” companies and “requests statements”, but they aren’t a formal certification standard so they wouldn’t do independent audits or anything like that. The list seems reasonably reliable, though.

Episode 03 - Ethical Teeth

One of the earliest lessons we learn in life is how to brush our teeth. We spend about 1,460 minutes every year meticulously scrubbing those pearly whites. Given how much of our time is going to dental hygiene, how could we calibrate this daily habit to match our values?

Toothbrushes

It pays to think about the sustainability of your toothbrush, since this is a product that you replace fairly regularly. It is recommended to replace toothbrushes about every three months, which means that you will go through a dozen of them every three years.

Waste-free mavens (like Trash is for Tossers) point to the virtues of bamboo toothbrushes. And they’ve got a very good point. In the US, somewhere between 1 billion and 3.5 billion toothbrushes are thrown away annually. That accounts for approximately 50 million pounds of plastic waste every year. The waste from discarded toothbrushes ends up in landfills and oceans. As such, toothbrushes are a significant cause of plastic pollution in our oceans. In total, between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean annually. Bamboo toothbrushes, unlike their plastic counterparts, will biodegrade if properly disposed of in a compost bin. There are plastic toothbrushes made from recycled materials (like this one), but ultimately these will still contribute to plastic waste.

On the sustainability front, toothbrushes with bamboo shafts are an easy choice. You can also buy bamboo toothbrushes with replaceable brush heads, which would reduce the amount of bamboo that you are consuming and disposing. Bamboo toothbrushes are now available in many grocery stores, as well as natural foods stores. You can also buy them online, but this often requires more packaging.

Things get a bit trickier when we move to the bristles of the toothbrush. There are some trade-offs. Vegans especially should take note: as this article highlights, you will have to choose between a fully-compostable toothbrush with pig hair bristles and vegan toothbrushes that use one of two nylon compounds for the bristles. The trouble with nylon is that it will not break down in a consumer compost bin.

Nylon-4 has been demonstrated to be biodegradable in lab studies, but it is not compostable. Nylon-11 is made from castor oil and can be recycled, but only if you remove them from the bamboo handle with pliers and find a nylon recycling facility.

My current toothbrush is from Brush with Bamboo. 

For the curious, we looked into electric toothbrushes and found this interesting article that compares electric vs disposable toothbrushes. Between the disposable heads, the batteries, and the energy usage of an electric toothbrush, we’ve decided we land on the side of disposable, especially if the handle is bamboo.

Toothpaste

Here’s how toothpaste works:

Toothpastes contain mild abrasives that scrub away plaque, which is acidic and breaks down the enamel. Fluoride strengthens/protects tooth enamel (the outer layer of the tooth). Some toothpastes also include: detergents (make the toothpaste foam); humectants (e.g. glycerin; these help the toothpaste to retain moisture so that it doesn’t try out); preservatives (prevent the toothpaste from growing bacteria); and flavouring/colouring agents.

If you’re interested in looking at the recipes Kyla used to make her own unsuccessful toothpaste, you can find them here and here.

What’s the deal with fluoride in toothpaste?

A lot of vegan and waste-free toothpastes out there do not have fluoride. This has to do with concerns about the health risks of fluoride, which are largely unsubstantiated. Fluoridated toothpaste has been shown to be safe and effective in preventing tooth decay. Too much fluoride can be bad - you shouldn’t be swallowing your toothpaste - but if used appropriately fluoridated toothpaste is a safe and effective way to prevent cavities.

The prevalence of fluoride-free toothpaste also has to do with regulatory rules. Essentially, whether or not toothpaste is fluoridated is a key determinant in how toothpaste is regulated. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration requires that toothpaste with fluoride in it be regulated as a drug and a cosmetic. Toothpaste without fluoride is regulated as a cosmetic. Cosmetic products don’t require FDA approval before they go on the market, whereas drugs do.

In Canada, if you put fluoride in toothpaste (and some other things), it has to be regulated as a “Natural Health Product” - which is the pathway for non-prescription health products like vitamins. Natural health products are a subset of the wider category of drugs. There are specific rules about the concentrations you can use, what safety statements need to go on the product (e.g.: do not swallow), etc. Toothpastes without fluoride are regulated as cosmetics. Producers of non-fluoridated toothpaste have to represent their product as a cosmetic. So, for example, a “kills germs” is a drug claim but “kills bacteria that cause odour” is a cosmetic claim. Natural health products require a licence before they can be sold, whereas companies just need to notify Health Canada that they are selling a new cosmetic. Cosmetics have to be safe, but regulation is complaint-based. So, it is more onerous to sell a fluoridated toothpaste, which is perhaps why so many waste-free/vegan toothpastes don’t have it.

When discussing fluoride in tap water and food, Kyla cited 123dentist.com, Metro Vancouver, and Epcor. When she decided to try adding cacao as a fluoride replacement, this is the study she was basing that information on. We don’t think there has been enough research to count on this as an actual alternative, and she probably added the wrong ingredient to get the benefits anyway, but she figured what the heck and tried it for fun.

Dental Floss

Dental floss is another product for which cruelty-free and waste-free objectives often clash. You can get waste-free dental floss made with silk. Silkworms are boiled alive in silk farming. So, if animal welfare is important to you, this may be a no-go.

There are vegan dental flosses, but they are usually made with nylon (a petroleum product which is difficult to recycle). And because it can’t be composted, nylon floss can end up in the ecosystem where it may injure or kill animals. So, nylon dental floss, too, is less than ideal for animal welfare.

I was able to find a brand that is both vegan and compostable. Flosspot Gold is made from corn fibre and coated with candelilla wax. It comes in a small jar, which you can refill. Flosspot Gold is less readily available than the silk Flosspot, which might make it difficult for you to find. You can buy it online, but none of the companies I was able to find have a plastic-free packaging guarantee. Sustain commits to reducing and reusing packaging where possible, so you may wish to go with them. If you are in Alberta, the Apothecary in Inglewood may also be an option.