One of the difficulties with holding a strict
vegetarian standpoint from moral and environmental grounds is the failure to see beyond just the purely
dietary restrictions that have been placed upon one's self.
Many of the products that are used in every day life are animal products. Leather, an essential part of many types of clothes from backpacks, to shoes, to fetish wear comes from the skin of animals. To proclaim the awfulness of the treatment of animals followed by the wearing of their skin strikes me as either hypocritical or willful blindness. Also, do not forget about those who have a latex allergy and have to use an organic condom that is frequently some form of leather or intestines (its called Lamb Skin for marketing - see sheep gut condoms for more on this).
Continuing this thread, there are people who change their minds about the treatment of animals when their own life is at steak err... stake. Pig parts are often used as temporary replacements for human organs until a real human organ can be found.
Invoking ecological vegetarianism can place some reasonable restrictions upon diet, it is not sensible to rule out all meats. Yes, cows have been farting for millions of years now. However, to protest eating some pork, chicken, or beef when you know that they came from the farm down the road does not make sense. It is trivial to show that the meat on your plate is not contributing to the deforestation of tropical rainforests, and that the farm has taken measures above and beyond what is necessary to prevent fertilizer runoff from reaching watershed areas.
While it is true that many vegetarians do have good reasons at heart, it is necessary to put the beliefs to action for more things than what goes through the digestive tract of the individual. Vegetarian practices should affect the clothes worn, choices upon life support, birth control, and the entire consumer mentality. To make an action based upon one a belief only later to make another action that runs contrary to that belief shows that this belief is not thought out or taken to heart.