Meet Andrea Rose | Animal and Earth Advocate , Co-Founder of Living With Harmony, a Colorado non-profit

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrea Rose and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrea, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?

I consider myself to be a person with integrity and this principle is a governing force in my life. This also means that several other principles come into play, such as respect, loyalty, compassion, kindness and justice. I find it difficult to say that just one principle matters most to me, because they are all interrelated. You cannot practice one, without several others becoming involved. I don’t take this lightly because I try to apply these principles to every aspect of my life. Once I identified my moral compass, I found it easy to make decisions because they either supported my values or went against them. Ever since the youngest age I could remember, once I learned about something, I found it impossible to go back in time and pretend that I didn’t know.  I always say,“once you know something, you can’t unknow.” I would get a nagging feeling in my heart if I tried to ignore a feeling that something was not the right thing to do, or if I tried to cut corners on something to avoid doing what I knew to be right. I feel very fortunate that I have an inner drive and it helps me approach each day with the attitude, “how can I make a difference today?”

This started when I was 14 years old, when I became a vegetarian after reading about the miserable lives that most farmed animals endured. At age 18, after talking with a dairy farmer that confirmed the knowledge that baby calves are necessary by-products that I tried to ignore, I was able to further refine my vegetarian lifestyle by eliminating all animal products from my life, wherever possible. Years later, after learning about the environmental crisis that we are facing with all of the chemicals and toxins, air pollution, plastic pollution, resource depletion, loss of habitat, species and deforestation, I adopted a lifestyle where I actively and consistently try to reduce my impact through active learning, my daily actions, purchases or even lack of them. Furthermore, I understand that many people struggle with trying to do better once they learn about something, because it doesn’t come as easy for them. I try to help others find what gives them the drive and motivation to do more for their health, for animals, to conserve resources and the foreseeable future of the planet.  While tabling at an event, someone asked me why I cared so much about the environment and why I have dedicated my life to standing up for it when there isn’t much we can do.

Why this matters to me is because we are losing a significant number of irreplaceable species, fauna and habitat, solely due to human activities. Our current daily consumption habits and preferences are simply not sustainable on a planet with finite resources, which are dwindling fast. One of the main reasons for habitat loss around the world is animal agriculture, so I thought it was important to mention that since our preferences are ingrained in our culture and psyche, that it isn’t something that we want to think about as a cause for the demise of our planet. I make it a point to try to encourage people to do better on preserving our precious resources and that starts with an awareness to what is occurring and why. A staggering thought that keeps me going is that only 4% off the mass of animals on this planet is estimated to be wildlife, while farmed animals, companion animals and humans account for the other 96%!  I keep thinking that I want to fight for a world that still has elephants, rhinos, penguins, polar bears, dolphins and all of the other majestic animals that make up our story books. Wild animals need habitat and resources to live, so I will keep fighting for the future that I want.

After learning about several ways to reduce our impact on the planet, I realized that there weren’t any organizations that pinned personal responsibility on people and what we have been conditioned and socialized to do. I would ask myself why there weren’t any groups doing anything about this to the magnitude that we need right now. We need to change some of our behaviors and attach a sense of urgency to them, even if they are against popular opinion, or seem inconvenient. I realized that I am somebody who cares passionately about this and who can make a difference. That is when I decided to start my non-profit, Living With Harmony, along with my co-founder, John Pierre in 2014. The reality is that we are all responsible for the mess that we are in, but we are also all part of the solution.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I have been interested in helping animals my whole life, starting with removing a baby bunny from a cat’s mouth when I was about 5 years old. I consider myself to be a lifelong learner, who is inquisitive about life and who is always seeking to acquire new knowledge and skills, especially when it comes to self-reliance and in the kitchen.

With that being said, when I started preparing to start my non-profit, Living With Harmony, in the years prior to our inception. I took classes in gardening, completed a composting class and then later, the Colorado Master Gardener’s program. I started gardening at the community gardens that are available, thanks to Growing Gardens, a local non-profit. Lastly, I went back to school and earned my veterinary technology degree so I could serve as a licensed veterinary technician.

Our non-profit is also a small animal rescue, with several companion animals who need special care or veterinary care. I am fortunate to be in a position where I have the skills and the resources available to provide care and a permanent home for them. I try to apply a more holistic approach to health, vitality and longevity that doesn’t always involve medications or treatments per se, but also a clean lifestyle that includes the use of supplements, proper husbandry, nutrition and care and most importantly of all, avoiding plastics and chemicals that can cause harm, especially after a lifetime of use. I also apply these concepts to the animals in our care to help them live their best lives possible.

Something that is always difficult is to lose animals in our care. A coping mechanism is to always remind myself that they had a much better life than they had before they came to us and that helps with the sadness when losing them. We all only get one life, so we need to work and remind ourselves that every day matters and to make sure that we don’t cut it short for others. We can give our best and have to realize that we did the best that we can do.

So, my “career”on paper has been in the veterinary/animal care field since 2003, but my life’s work is so much more than that. My mantra is that activism is our rent on the planet, based from an Alice Walker quote, so I would say that my career is really a lifelong activist.

I wouldn’t say this path was easy, but I will say that my drive and passion has helped push me through. Especially when I went back to school in my late 30’s and had to figure out how to get through that, while working on other projects. This has to be one of my greatest accomplishments, following starting Living With Harmony in my 40’s.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

If I had a best friend stay for a week, I would be sure to spend ample time in the mountains and trails around Boulder. We would explore the urban areas on foot and through biking to make sure we could take all the beauty in. Colorado has so much to offer and every day feels like a vacation of its own. I would plan the week–long visit in the summer so we could check out the local farmer’s markets, such as the Boulder Farmer’s Market. While we were downtown, we would be sure to visit the Dushanbe Tea House, which is one of my favorite places in Boulder.  I would make sure that we sat outside at the creekside patio to get the full experience.

I would share the experience of shopping at some of my favorite local businesses and thrift stores, such as Pig + Pearl Secondhand. We would also visit some vegan restaurants and try out the RTD bus system, relaxing and catching up on the way. I would also prepare some of my favorite vegan meals so my friend could experience some of the culinary delights that I have been working on.  Hopefully, my friend would appreciate seeing our community garden and would enjoy spending time there too.

The animals also need to be cared for, so they would definitely be spending some time with some of the rescued animals in our care as well. This special friend would appreciate some of the same things that I do and that is why she is my best friend.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I was really moved and inspired by the book, “The Good Life,” a story about how a couple (Scott and Helen Nearing) left their busy lives and careers on the east coast to move to Vermont (and then Maine) to start a vegan homestead and live a full life that was more sustainable and that was kinder to the planet. This took courage, dedication, faith and a LOT of hard work. They did this for almost 60 years before passing in their 90’s and have since left a legacy. Their final home, “The Good Life Center,” is still an educational center today. https://goodlife.org/

The Nearings serve as an inspiration for me to stay on the path and to share this knowledge with others, who may live in a more urban setting and who are not able to follow a similar path or lifestyle. I try to motivate, inspire and educate my peers who live in my community because we can all be doing better and we have to start somewhere. I say that we have to start with ourselves, then our closest loved ones and family, co-workers, community, neighbors, etc… This is how we challenge the status quo and help to normalize new ways of thinking and doing things. We need to change the narrative to, ‘what can I acquire or gain from the world? to “how can I give back and earn my keep on this beautiful planet?”

I would also like to shout out to John Pierre, my friend and co-founder, who took a chance with pursuing this dream and has gone on this journey with me throughout the decades. (www.johnpierre.com)

Website: www.livingwithharmony.org

Instagram: livingwithharmony

Facebook: livingwithharmo

Image Credits
Please feel free to swap out what you want for the FEATURE photo. Thank you!