Might the ink in the print on packaging and labels, the glue used to keep cardboard boxes closed, and the adhesive on envelopes, for starters, be non-vegan?
Do you have sources detailing what animal products, or products produced using animal products, can be found in packaging?There are animal products hidden in a lot of products, and until primary animal agriculture is a thing of the past, the side-products of animal use will find their way in to these products. This is due to by-products from a large industry tend to be cheap. Striving to find packaging and other items that do no not include any potential animal products is admirable, and will eventually become a greater focus in main stream veganism in the future, but for now the fight against the primary use of animals is the focus as it is the primary driver for animal agriculture.
IE. The only reason why glues, inks, solder flux etc have animal by-products in them is because there is a massive animal agriculture industry caused by demand for primary products (meat, eggs, dairy, etc).
If you can find packaging that does not involve animal by-products, then great! And share that info with us here! By try not to let that interfere with the big fight, as IMHO this may end up creating a negative result (EG other people seeing veganism as "too hard" and making it less accessible to them)
The "possible and practicable" part of the definition is there for this very reason. If it becomes about purity, then it will be stuck in the water and not change the world for the better, for both humans and non human animals.
For reference, veganism is:
"A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude-as far as is possible and practicable-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 and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."
Of course people still make bone char and isinglass filters even though I completely avoid them (which is not expensive to do and it is not difficult). It is the same for meat and leather. All I can do is my part not to demand it, thereby also making the alternative to the animal product increasingly more attractive for a company to sell - and therefore a manufacturer to use - instead, like how Guinness as you say have abandoned isinglass filtration, and supermarkets are selling more plant-based milk, as more and more units of the alternative are more profitable to sell in place of the animal-derived units.I'm sure other people in this thread are already addressing this, and from what I've seen they have, but I'll add my two cents.
We live in a highly complex, interconnected world, both naturally or ecologically, and via business, agriculture, etc. SO, when you actually abstain from the most harmful things (eating meat, eggs or dairy, and avoiding buying new wool, leather or fur) you actually are affecting supply and demand in a substantial way. The dairy industry is currently so hard hit in the US, they're mad at vegans for using the word "milk" to describe soy and nut or seed milks. This is awesome.
Also, if you have the time, money and resources, sure, please buy ink or shoes or sugar or wine that doesn't use negligible amounts of extraneous animal products (like bone char, fish bladders, or insect dyes) ...HOWEVER, just know, as long as people eat meat and fish and blah blah blah, there's going to be bone char and fish bladders used in refining. It's going to exist anyway, and again, please, if you are privileged enough or have been vegan long enough to use vegan ink, your efforts ARE worth it, because companies like Guinness do sometimes change.
I'm all for only buying 100 percent vegan products if you can, but this reminds me of pet food arguments. ..vegan cat food is expensive and hard to find, and pet food is made of cast off animal parts from human food anyway, so to deny carnivore animal companions meat or dairy based foods, which are merely a cast off from a greedy capitalist human society, seems like literally denying the dog scraps from under the table for no apparent reason. Maybe I'll change my mind some day, but being an environmentalist as well as a vegan, I doubt my attitude towards first world waste will change any time soon.
Point taken.soap often has gelatin-I use soap in public bathrooms.