Agreed. For as little as I'm able to handle it sometimes, living => suffering. I figure it's my job as a sentient being to live my life in a such a manner so as to cause as little suffering as possible, and so as to relieve as much suffering as possible.

For me, that means mindfulness of what I consume and make use of, and that means starting with a vegetarian diet. Are plants living things? Yes, but I've got to eat something, and eating plants is about as cruelty-free as I can get.

Regarding animal products, I tend to split along the lines that define kashrut; that is, if it's freely given and doesn't hurt the animal to give it (wool, milk, honey, etc.) then I have no problem respectfully making use of that product, provided it was grown or harvested in a respectful and humane manner.

However, if it's something that's not freely given (a big juicy t-bone, f'rinstance) then I don't use it unless I'm personally accountable for its taking. That is, I'll eat a fish if I catch the fish, and I'll ride a Brooks after I raise and process a beef and send the leather to Brooks for final shaping.

(And as for those leather boots and that belt I bought years ago? I'll use them until I can't any more, then find an environmentally- and socially-responsible non-animal replacement.)

Easy? Not really.
Mindful? Yeah.
Do I mess up sometimes? Sure.
How do I handle that? As gracefully as I can.

--October (Vegetarian, drifting toward vegan, and very concerned with these sorts of issues over the last few days, for unrelated reasons)

[Edit: And don't even get me started on the topic of trying to find dressy non-leather shoes that don't look like either superchunky Doc Martens or hemp-o-matic sneaks. What a mess...]