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As a rider of many years experience, wearing protective clothing has become virtually second nature. No-one wants, nor intends to come off their bike, but sometimes it just happens. If the unfortunate event does occur, then you want something to minimise skin loss, bruising and breakage as much as possible. And as a vegan, the search for suitable products has become quite exhaustive, if not demanding.

Helmets
A pretty straight forward search at several motorcycle accessory shops. Find some recognised brands, then try  several models and styles until you find one that is both snug fitting  and comfortable, and preferably one that offers good peripheral vision as well.

Jackets
I managed to source 2 suitable jackets; there is quite a large range of suitable ‘textile’ jackets offering varying degrees of protection from Kevlar linings to impact absorbing ‘body armour’, and varying considerably in price as well. At the moment Australia doesn’t have a ’star rating’ system to help identify those with good wear/abrasion resistance, so it’s still a bit of a hit & miss affair – costing more doesn’t mean better; some higher priced clothing, both textile and leather failed European CE  compliance while cheaper brands passed. (continue reading…)

something to consider when thinking about what to eat for your next meal …

… and it’s not much different here in Australia, or anywhere else in the so called ‘developed world’.

In the past year, over 56 billion animals were slaughtered for food globally; all for less than 6 billion humans. Apart from detrimental effects on human health, and the animal suffering caused, the effect on the environment is devastating and totally unsustainable – see the UN’s FAO 2006 report ‘Livestock’s Long Shadow’ (or download the .pdf files).

The eating of meat is a choice, not a necessity !
A conservative calculation/estimate is there are around 600 million vegetarians on Earth, with approximately 30 million of then being vegan, which really dispels the myth of meat being necessary (method of calculation is here).

Making the choice not to consume meat is making a decision not to condone, nor participate in un-necessary acts of exploitation, cruelty & abuse which ultimately result in the brutal killing of a sentient life.

Go Vegan – it’s better for you, your health, your wallet, the animals, and the environment – it’s a Win – Win decision !