Written by PETA
… by going vegan. Sure, we at PETA sing the praises of electric cars, but hybrid car owners who load bags of revolting meat and dairy products into their trunks need to start humming a different tune.
That's why PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman has written a letter to James Hunt, chief of Boston's Environmental and Energy Services, offering to buy space on the city's planned electric-car charging stations for PETA's "Meat's Not Green" ads.
The raising of billions of animals to become meat-lovers' main courses is a main contributor to environmental destruction—it's a leading source of greenhouse-gas emissions and causes water pollution and topsoil erosion. The meat industry runs on enormous amounts of fossil fuel and water—and the denials of those who ignore the fact that each package of meat represents immense, intense animal suffering.
Will PETA's ads grace electric-car charging stations in Boston? We'll keep you updated.
Written by Karin Bennett
Move over, Smart car: There's an even smarter car in town. Unlike some so-called "green" carmakers that offer leather seats and trim, Wheego Electric Cars will not use a stitch of cow (or any other) hide in any of its models. That's why we go for Wheego, and we're awarding it our Proggy Award for the Best Green Car Company of 2010.
Including real leather in a car that's touted as "eco-friendly" is pretty fake (yes, we're talking to you, Smart car). Most leather is chrome-tanned, even though the Environmental Protection Agency classifies chromium as a hazardous waste. Studies have also found that groundwater near tanneries is tainted with everything from arsenic and lead to cyanide and PCBs and that human cancer rates are higher in those areas.
If you want to green your ride this Earth Day, why not give leather-free Wheego a spin?
Written by Paula Moore
Next week's historic presidential inauguration is being touted as the "greenest" of all time, so of course, we at PETA will be there in all our green glory!
Tomorrow, we'll already be on the streets of D.C. handing out fur coats to the homeless. Yep, you read that right. See, fur does nothing to raise a person's social status. On the contrary, only if you have nothing do you actually have any real excuse for wearing someone's cast-off fur. Next—to show our appreciation to all the fur-free folks attending the inaugural festivities in the cold—we'll be serving free hot soy cocoa in PETA cups printed with the message, "Thank you for not wearing fur."
If you'll be in D.C., keep an eye out for PETA staffers and members dressed as foxes, raccoons, and rabbits and wearing pins that read, "Be Fur-Free."(Yes, they'll pose for photos.) If that isn't enough excitement for you, the peta2 "not-a-nugget" chick, "cows," and "pigs" will also be working the crowds with signs reading, "Yes We Can: Go Vegetarian!" They'll also be handing out copies of our free "Vegetarian Starter Kit." Even if you don't spot a PETA mascot, you'll probably catch a pedicab adorned with PETA's anti-fur ads.
As you know, fur is anything but green, folks. It's treated with chemicals (to keep it from decomposing, ewww), and the production of the ugly stuff pollutes rivers and streams with tannery runoff. It also takes 15 times the energy to produce a fur coat than it does to produce a faux-fur one. Then there's the business of ripping animals from their natural environment and killing them painfully. We're thinking that if Styrofoam isn't allowed, then fur certainly has no place at the inauguration.
So, here's to a truly green inaugural celebration.
Also, if you would like to donate your "change of heart" fur to us, click here. We'll make sure it is put to good use: We send donated furs to animal sanctuaries so that rescued animal orphans can be comforted by them. We also cut them up for refugee children in war zones and use them in educational displays.
Written by Missy Lane
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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