Written by PETA
This week, we approached the city of Ashland, Ohio, with a little business proposition after we learned of the city's efforts to find a more cost-effective way to run its curbside recycling program.
We sent the director of city services a letter offering to offset the program's costs by paying to place our Lettuce Ladies' "Vegetarians Do It to Save the Planet" ad on the city's recycling trucks:
With all the bottle-sorting going on in Ashland, its citizens might be interested to learn that they can cause far more damage to the Earth with the foods they eat than they can by chucking some bottles onto a garbage heap. In fact, the production of 1 pound of meat generates the same amount of greenhouse-gas emissions as does driving an SUV 40 miles. Of course, we're not suggesting that anyone stop sorting those bottles, but why not also try a meat-free diet that won't hurt animals or the environment?
Written by Jennifer Cierlitsky
The whole world is coming out of hibernation for spring. What better time to get outdoors and get active for animals? There are all sorts of demos happening. Check 'em out!
Can't get enough photos of demos? Well, stay tuned, because we're only too happy to share! In the meantime, why don't you upload a few photos of your own?
Written by Lianne Turner
We've been busy countering KFC's offers to fill potholes in various cities across the country with our own proposal to pay double to fill them ourselves. We're excited to announce that at least one mayor is seriously considering our offer.
Mayor Michael O'Brien of Warren, Ohio, is currently thinking about allowing us to fix his city's potholes, but he wants to run it by KFC before making a final decision. Hmm, is he trying to start a bidding war?
As a nonprofit, we might not be able compete with dollars against a money-hungry company that can't even spare a few cents out of each bucket of chicken bits that it sells to improve conditions for the very animals it profits from. That's why we've offered to "sweeten the pot," so to speak, with a free vegetarian meal for the road crew—on any day that Mayor O'Brien chooses.
If he agrees to this, the mayor won't just be doing right by 1 billion chickens; he'll show that he's invested in the health of his city's employees and the well-being of his city's environment. I can't think of a better ending to "Meat's Not Green" Week than that.
Written by Shawna Flavell
Artist and designer Edgar Lituma Soto doesn't waste a moment in his stunning animated video short, "Chicken Hormonio," which makes it clear that chickens who are raised for KFC are bred and drugged to grow so huge that they can barely stand.
Written by Karin Bennett
The other day, I told you about vegetarian extreme fighter Jake Shields. You know what else is extreme? Professional arm-wrestling!
Specifically, vegan professional arm-wrestler Rob Bigwood is pretty awesome.
He had a special sponsor for this weekend's Big Apple Grapple—yes, us! And, we have to say, we're pretty proud—Rob took second place on both arms in his class! Check out the video.
Look at those guns! More importantly, look at the shirt! Way to represent, Rob; you've done animals proud!
Written by Amanda Schinke
On Monday, a group of eighth graders at Colony Middle School in Palmer, Alaska, tormented a young moose on school grounds until the moose became so frightened that he repeatedly hurled himself into a fence until he died.
School officials won't disclose what the students did to provoke the moose's suicide, but we know one thing for sure: Bullying and violence toward animals often leads to or is part of an existing pattern of bullying and violence toward humans.
PETA has contacted the school's principal, Mary McMahon, to request that Colony Middle School allow us to help it incorporate a humane-education program into its curriculum immediately. The only way that the school's officials can prevent future tragic incidents is to teach their students to be compassionate toward animals.
Hopefully, Colony Middle School will take us up on our offer to help students cope with this crisis and learn to respect all living beings.
Written by Liz Graffeo
As a huge fan of Bones, I was giddy to learn that Emily Deschanel is an environmentalist who puts her money where her mouth is—literally—by eating a vegan diet.
We couldn't think of a better person to feature smack-dab in the middle of "Meat's Not Green" Week than Emily and, luckily, she was able to take time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions.
Here Emily is in her own words:
Do you have any animal companions? I don't have any animal companions right now. My amazing dog Snookie passed away a year ago. She was 17 years old. I miss her. She was super sweet and smart. I'm not ready for another animal in my life right now, especially because I wouldn't have the time to take proper care of them (we work 16- to 17-hour days). I look forward to the day I can bring another animal into my home. They enrich our lives so much! Of course, I would adopt!
What made you decide to go vegan? In high school, a teacher screened the documentary "Diet for a New America" based on the book of the same name. It exposes the dirty business of factory farms: the cruelty that the animals experience, the dangers of a meat-based diet to your health, and the devastating environmental impact. I decided to go vegetarian on the spot with the intention to go completely vegan when I was ready. It took me two years. I've never looked back.
What are some of your favorite vegetarian foods? I love anything Dave Anderson makes at Madeleine Bistro in Los Angeles, and I love the food at Candle 79 in New York City. I'm obsessed with cookies from Sun Flour Bakery.
I don't really cook for myself right now since my schedule is insane. I look forward to the day I can pick up my Veganomicon cookbook and go to town!! I also indulge in raw chocolate on a daily basis.
If you could make people wake up to one issue involving animals or one particular form of cruelty to animals, what would it be and what would you wish for? In my experience, the issue that is avoided the most is [raising] animals for food, specifically factory farms. Nothing makes me more upset than when someone says they don't want to know about the horrors going on. Ten billion animals every year in North America have to live and die in horrible ways; the least we can do is hear about it. I have hope, though. More and more people are going veg and vegan. Look at the popularity of Skinny Bitch and PETA as an organization and how they have changed people's minds about animals and food. It is so much better than it was almost 16 years ago when I made the switch to being vegan.
*****
Looking for a little more Deschanel? Check out her vegetarian testimonial and then click here to learn more about meat's impact on the environment.
It seems like anywhere Mike Ness goes, he leaves his mark. As the frontman for Social Distortion, he's one of the most influential men in punk rock. As a solo artist, he's blazing a trail on the alterna-country scene. However, while Mike has made a huge impact on the music world, his impact on good ol' Mother Earth is smaller than most people's. That's because Mike knows that meat's not green and that by keeping animals off his plate he's doing the single most effective thing anyone can do to reduce his or her carbon footprint.
Mike Ness is the most recent celebrity to sit down with PETA for a "Meat's Not Green" photo shoot, and he even took the time to answer a few questions about why he's doing his part to make the world a better place. Check out his video below and then head over and check out the ad.
Here's the deal: A Buffalo man is all upset that two Brooklyn entrepreneurs plan to put a slaughterhouse in the back of the building in which his Subway franchise sits. He says that the odors creeping in from the slaughterhouse would scare away his customers. We see it a bit differently.
We're the last ones who want to hide slaughterhouses where nobody will have to think about—or actually see and hear—the animals they're blithely eating, so we've written to Buffalo to say that PETA supports the creation of this slaughterhouse, with just a couple of modifications: Erect a glass wall to allow the public to see the terrified animals who are being slaughtered, install a sound system to broadcast the animals' screams, and open the facility to school and other tours with an elevated walkway running right through it.
I suspect that this could hurt business at a lot of restaurants in the Greater Buffalo area. But buck up, Subway man. What you lose in meatball and cheesesteak sub sales, you gain on the Veggie Delite sandwiches and perhaps by adding a Gardein "chicken" sub or other super-delish vegetarian alternatives!
Written by Jeff Mackey
When you saw Kia's new commercial, "A New Way to Roll," a few questions probably popped into your head: How did they train these hamsters? How long did they make them run on those wheels? Do hamsters even like soul music?
Well, have no fear: The hamsters in this commercial are computer-generated—no vigorous training or particular taste in music necessary! That means that when this commercial comes on and the Soul car rolls in, you can rock out with the hamsters to the funky beat guilt-free. We love this ad so much that we've decided to give Kia Motors America—and its creative ad agency David&Goliath—PETA's GOODY Award. By creating an ad that takes advantage of animated animals instead of dragging real ones into the process, Kia and David&Goliath have set a progressive example for other companies to follow.
Please comment below if you've recently seen an ad that depicts animals in a positive or negative way. We'll consider it for our GOODY Award or BADDY Award (for ads that stink) faster than you can say, "CGI rules!"
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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