Dede's Green Scene: Cruelty Free Celebrities! by Dede Tabak, July 16 2015, 0 Comments

We are always eager to learn how stars look their best. Recently, some celebrities have revealed their secret to looking glamorous—cruelty free beauty and cosmetic products. While there are more cruelty free brands available to consumers every year, including Josie Maran and Tata Harper, animal testing for cosmetics is still the norm for many of the products we buy. Over 80 percent of the countries in the world allows unnecessary testing on animals, and many of our favorite stars want this to stop.

Included in the list of celebrities who lend their voices to animals that cannot speak for themselves are Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Paul McCartney, Ke$ha and Jenna Dewan Tatum, all of whom are supporting the Humane Society’s Cruelty Free Campaign. This effort is fighting for the United States to join other countries that have ended animal testing, such as the European Union, India and Israel. Other countries that are making strides toward ending cosmetic testing are New Zealand, Brazil, South Korea and Vietnam. China is also getting in on the act, by lifting its animal testing requirement for certain cosmetics produced domestically.

"I truly hope that in this day and age, the United States will follow other amazing countries that have already banned cosmetic testing. We as a global leader have not done that yet. That is absolutely disgusting to me." - Jenna Dewan Tatum for the Humane Society

One of the biggest animal rights activists is comedian Ricky Gervais. Gervais is known for his wonderful television comedies, The Office and Extras. In 2012, Gervais partnered with the long standing animal rights organization, British Union for the Abolution of Vivisection (BUAV), to help launch Cruelty Free International, a global campaign against cosmetic testing on animals. Cruelty Free International is working with companies, governments and other organizations, to enact a worldwide ban on cosmetic animal testing. Celebrity ambassadors for Cruelty Free International include Mayim Bialik and Peter Dinklage.

“Animal testing for cosmetics is still allowed in most of the world. That means thousands of animals can continue to die for the sake of a new shampoo. We urgently need a worldwide ban on this cruel and unnecessary suffering.” - Ricky Gervais

Both the Humane Society and Cruelty Free International have campaigned for a United States ban on animal testing for cosmetics. In 2015, their hard work paid off when Congress introduced the Humane Cosmetics Act. This bill would end animal testing for cosmetics after a one year phase-in and would further phase out the sale of animal tested cosmetics in three years. The Humane Cosmetics Act has already gained support from beauty industry leaders like Paul Mitchell and the Body Shop.

If you would like to help, please sign the petition to support the Humane Cosmetics Act here. You can also support products that are cruelty free by buying cosmetics that meet the Leaping Bunny standard, created by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics. The Leaping Bunny Program website has a Compassionate Shopping Guide, which allows you to search for all kinds of products that are cruelty free. Additional information about the safe cosmetics we sell at EcoPlum and the chemicals they include, is available on here. It is everyone’s responsibility to be a smart consumer and purchase products that are good for the earth, as well as for us!