The best thing to give up this Lent is plastic, not chocolate

https://metro.co.uk/2018/02/14/best-thing-give-lent-plastic-not-chocolate-7312789/?fbclid=IwAR0z0SdgIgcIXj57tdh9UZ6sGqhcnVbFlNpsFPk6JkeKfwQX7uR_dJBtvq0

By Miranda Larbi Wednesday 14 Feb 2018

For as long as I can remember, I’ve gone plant-based for Lent. Being a full-time vegan now, however, I thought I’d dial the change back a bit and simply give up vegan chocolate this year. After all, Vego is life. And then I went to the Lush Summit – the annual convention hosted by the cosmetics brand – and realised that giving up chocolate would benefit no one but myself. Never one to shy away from the big environmental topics, a major focus of the Lush summit is the ocean and our role in the destruction and regeneration of ocean life. And most of that centres around our absurd use of plastic.

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It’s not just the fact that plastic doesn’t biodegrade; plastic pieces attract cancer, hormone-disrupting, diabetes-causing chemicals the longer they stay in the sea. And that plastic then enters the fish we eat, the water we drink and the salt we use. The bioaccumulation of plastic – the fact that it’s getting into our food chain – should freak us out. You can cut a huge amount of your own exposure to it going vegan… but you’ve still got to drink water and use salt for seasoning. And vegan or not, we should care that we’re needlessly poisoning animals and ecological systems.

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