Here is a creative mind that has done something that I feel the world should sit up and pay note of. The reason? What she has discovered and documented will have you re-examining the things you buy, eat or ever think are perfectly animal free.

Christien Meindertsma has a fascination with raw materials, but three specifically. Namely wool, flax and pig. She says wool is her first love. One of her projects was designing these wooly jerseys and then pinning a tag to it. What does the tag say? It is the tag from the ship from which the wool was taken to create the jersey. Suddenly, this piece of clothing takes on a whole new meaning and you suddenly realize what goes into it. She also adds a picture of the sheep and it’s statistics and it makes you think just how much clothing you have that you have no clue which animal it came from and exactly what went into creating that garment.

Then there’s flax. Now this material is related to wool somewhat, but one of the first materials in Europe before any other. Meindertsma takes about this material and it’s uses  also in a variety of everyday things that we don’t quite realise it can be used for. Well… I didn’t know you could use it for some of these things. This plant, that grows in about 100 days and blooms for one day is used in the making of ropes that cam be applied to rugs. Interesting that the carpet you are walking on could be made of flowers you find in a field. Strange I tell you.

And lastly there’s pig. And this is where I get  bit freaked out. Meindertsma put together a book called Pig 05049 which essentially documents how the various parts of a big are used. Now you would think it a thin book because what could a pig be used for? Well, it’s a thick book and it’s worrying. From the skin to the bones, to the muscles, to the snout to the ears, we are talking everything and it’s used in more than just food. As in actual products.

I haven’t had a chance to read the book yet, but I’m getting there because I am intrigured by how much one pig can do. But for now,  take this lesson with you, think about the things you buy, what you eat and what you do. Chances are some animal has been used in the making of that product. I’m not saying go vegan or abstain from anything that might have a dog hair in it, but I am saying look at Meindertsma’s project as an in depth look into how the world is using animals in products and then not really saying anything about. Sweeping it under the carpet doesn’t make it go away.