Jan 23

Welcome

Welcome, becomethevoice “BTV” was created to broaden personal awareness while choosing to be a voice for animal welfare, health and environmental issues.

Our food and everyday products are effecting our health and the planet, the more knowledge we have about our choices, the more successful we will be in our ability to survive, avoid suffering, illness and disease. The best way to do this is by developing healthier food production and choices, become better consumers and broaden our overall knowledge.

What appeals to me about a plant based diet is the pure fact that it isn’t just a diet, I feel it is a lifestyle choice: more of a way of life, a life based on a philosophy and purposeful principle. While there might be different motivations for people embracing a more plant based diet; health, environment or ethical the path and end result (avoiding animal products) are the same.

You don’t have to be  an activist, vegan or vegetarian to be  concerned, you just have to be a person who cares, a person who is living conscious, healthy and responsible. You get to decide what changes you want to make, and at what pace you want to make them. Your path is your own you decide how you are going to benefit from bringing awareness to the choices you are making.

Click here to read my personal shift in conscience living.

“Plant-based living denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practical–all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals, health and the environment; There are many reasons to choose a plant-based diet, but probably one of the most beneficial reasons is for your own personal health. A vegetarian diet, or even a “less-meatarian” diet, can have many positive health effects”





Jul 25

berry cream pie overnight oats

DEEEELICIOUS!

The Muffin Myth

berry cream pie overnight oats // the muffin myth

I’m a late comer to the overnight oats game. To be honest, I didn’t think they were going to be good. I pictured some sort of weird, tasteless, gruel-like goop that people were choking down for some reason unbeknownst to me. But let me tell you, I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

Folks, overnight oats are goooood. And they’re easy. And they’re convenient. They’re the kind of breakfast that I actually look forward to, and when I write out my meal plans I have to stop myself from scheduling them in each and every weekday morning. And really, there’s no reason not to schedule them each and every morning.

berry cream pie overnight oats // the muffin myth

I like this version because it’s sweetened simply with a bit of mashed banana, which also contributes to the overall creamy texture of these oats. For the liquid I’ve used a combination of almond milk and plain yoghurt, but this…

View original post 504 more words

Jan 1

Greater Awareness in 2012

At the present time, when most of us sit down to eat, we aren’t very aware of how our food choices affect the world. We don’t realize that in every Big Mac there is a piece of the tropical rainforests, and with every billion burgers sold another hundred species become extinct. We don’t realize that in the sizzle of our steaks there is the suffering of animals, the mining of our topsoil, the slashing of our forests, the harming of our economy, and the eroding of our health. We don’t hear in the sizzle the cry of the hungry millions who might otherwise be fed.

We don’t see the toxic poisons accumulating in the food chains, poisoning our children and our earth for generations to come. But once we become aware of the impact of our food choices, we can never really forget. Of course we can push it all to the back of our minds, and we may need to do this, at times, to endure the enormity of what is involved. But the earth itself will remind us, as will our children, and the animals and the forests and the sky and the rivers, that we are part of this earth, and it is part of us. All things are deeply connected, and so the choices we make in our daily lives have enormous influence, not only on our own health and vitality, but also on the lives of other beings, and indeed on the destiny of life on earth.

Thankfully, we have cause to be grateful-what’s best for us personally is also best for other forms of life, and for the life support systems on which we all depend.” ~Diet For A New America

Jan 1

Happy Compassionate New Year!

Sending blessings and peace to all free-living birds, fish, and animals being harmed, terrorized, and killed by toxic poisons spewed into their home lands, waters, and skies by both secret and blatant human activity.

May we humans think always of the harm we are causing our non-human animal relations, and may we recognize and respect their interests to live their lives freely and in autonomy and health on this beautiful Earth.

2011 has been a very good year for the welfare of animals, 2011 has influenced a lot of people to make better choices around food, product, health and overall acknowledment in the treatment of animals for food.

I look forward to what 2012 brings, I welcome 2012 with open arms in the hopes we will all continue on the same path to work together to bring a compassionate peacful earth where we all can respect all things living.

Here’s to a beautiful, evolved and compassionate 2012!

Please watch this amazing video “Victories for animals in 2011”

Dec 1

Top Lady Products of 2011 Healthier, Organic, Toxic and Cruelty Free

“Healthier, natural, organic & cruelty-free cosmetics, body and personal products”

Cruelty-free products and are NOT tested on animals. If we choose to poison our 
own bodies knowingly I guess that’s our business, though I do urge you to become more informed

Choose to be cruelty free because it’s the right thing to do. There is just no need to make animals suffer if the ingredients are nontoxic in the first place. Besides, we have willing and able humans who test our products.

Unfortunately cruelty is not the only reason, every day the average adult uses nine personal care products containing 126 potentially dangerous chemicals. Choosing cruelty-free beauty and body care products ensures that you’re only are helping to protect innocent animals, but reduces your exposure to toxic products that affect your personal health.

The skin is the largest organ of the body. It’s one of the most sophisticated sponges ever created. The last thing we should do is put potentially toxic ingredients on our skin the bottom line is what we put on the skin will make its way into the body.

Many of us are worried about the aging process and go to lengthy extremes to prevent it from taking place the easiest way in preventing aging is by avoiding synthetic chemicals, whether they are present in our diets or through the skin care products, we can help slow down the aging process by choosing more natural means.

The first step to reducing animal testing and personal toxic concerns is to read labels carefully and not purchase products that contain any of these toxic ingredients. Heres a list of toxic ingredients to avoid.

Listed below are some of my favorite products of 2011.

PUREOLOGY: Shampoo/Conditioner: Environmentally friendly with 100% Vegan ingredients and natural, organic botanicals.  Purology developers have a strong commitment to the wellbeing of the environment as well as providing a high end product. Sulphite free, vegan, enviroment friendly. Sold at salons. Not Tested on animals, earth friendly.

DR. BRONNERS MAGIC ALL IN ONE SOAP : Completely biodegradable and vegetable based, scented with organic oils, my two favorites the rose and the lavender, they leave my skin feeling clean, soft and have a nice light scent. Sold at Choices and health food stores. Not Tested on animals, earth friendly.

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Nov 25

Top Ten Things You Can Do To Keep Your “City” Kids Healthy

Top Ten Things You Can Do To keep Your Kids Healthy

1. Walk or bike your kids to school, or if that’s not feasible, ride on weekends–a family that bikes together saves the planet together!

2. Teach them about Farmers Markets, It’s so important bring awareness early in life. It’s fun to see where your food comes from.  Explain how food choices affect their health and environment. Be honest about where meat comes from.

3. Make sure their toys are PVC-free–keep them from breathing in any off gasing plastic softeners.

4. Don’t reward with toys. Try to teach them that happiness doesn’t comes from buying new things, and the planet doesn’t need the resource extraction, chemical-pollution and landfill clogging that comes with making and eventually trashing them.

5. Use natural shampoos, creams and soaps. What you put on your young one’s body is as important as what you put in it.

6. Feed them organic whenever you can afford it, so they get a pesticide, hormone, and antibiotic-free diet.

7. Say no to high-fat, high-sugar, chemical-laden processed foods. There are plenty of natural alternatives, even for packaged kids’ snacks.

8. Create a non-toxic nursery or kids’ room full of earth-loving children’s books.

9. Resist the urge to swaddle your babe in landfill-clogging disposable diapers. But if cloth is out of the question, get unbleached, biodegradable, chlorine-free throw-away ones. Like these.

10. Teach them to love nature: take them to the park, on little hikes, or picnics in conservation centres. Teach them that animals are nature, including house pets and that we need to respect them. When you teach a child to be kind to animals, you help pave the way to a brighter future for all living beings.

Nov 23

Choose The Top 6 Eco Packaging Suggestions

Top 6 Eco Packaging Suggestions

1. Choose renewable and recyclable glass. You don’t have to worry about the numbers because all glass can be recycled. If you’re worried about the amount of energy used to ship your glass contained products then look for local labels.

2. Numbers. If you must buy plastic know your numbers, check the bottom for numbers that tell you the plastics are recyclable, like #1 and #2. (See the City-by-City guide to learn what can be recycled in your city.)

3. Buy Dry Goods. If you’re picking up something like broth, the powdered kind goes a lot further than the canned. If you must buy canned make sure you look for BPA free cans, not all aluminum cans are the same;  producing recycled aluminum requires 95% less energy than producing aluminum from bauxite, an aluminum ore, but you wouldn’t know what one to choose because they don’t label cans, the bonus to skipping  cans is you can skip cancer causing BPA. If you have to buy canned choose companies you can trust to use BPA-Free cans

4. Buy in bulk, shop where they sell bulk and fill up your re-useable container, you can also use your own  your own coffee mug for your daily java at your local cafe, other places to re-use your container is at the salad bar! The choices are endless.

5. It’s in the bag! When you cart home all of your bulk goods please us a non-plastic bag! Use cloth bags  instead of plastic.

6. Good things come in small packages. Often foods like cereals that come in smaller boxes contain the same amount of, say, mueslix, as the bigger boxes that are just full of air. Compare product weight to be sure. Or you can make your own cereal from your bulk products you just bought. The bonus! you will know whats in it and it will probably taste better.

Oct 4

Top 5 Eating Habits to Heal the World

Top 5 Eating Habits to Heal the World

1. Support local growers, be it through farmer’s markets, farm-fresh food box deliveries or just keeping your eye out for local labels at the grocery store.

2. Go vegetarian or reduce meat/dairy intake–meat production uses up to 20 times as much energy as growing grain.

3. Choose fair-trade coffee, sugar, chocolate and anything else you can find fair-trade so you can be sure you’re not supporting “sweatshops in the fields”.

4. Buy certified organic to avoid pesticides and spare waterways, wildlife and workers troubled encounters with toxic pesticides.

5. Pass on resource-intensive, packaging-heavy fast food and heavily processed junk.