Natalie Portman has designed a line of vegan footwear for Té Casan and will donate the proceeds to the Nature Conservancy.

How nice. This should give us warm, fuzzy feelings for Natalie, if she wasn’t a smoker.

Vegetarians who are smokers are hypocrites. They will look down at you for eating an animal that was killed, then light up to slowly kill themselves.

At least the animal-that-is-now-dinner died quickly and left a tasty corpse.

Natalie, who is also a spokesperson for PETA, probably became a vegetarian at 8 years old because she is pro-animal. Good enough reason.

There are many reasons to become a vegetarian: health, animal rights, the environment, religion. Smoking is contrary to all these reasons.

First, if you become a vegetarian to live a healthier lifestyle, smoking has to go, too. Smoking kills. Smoking causes diseases. Smoking gives you a lovely rasping cough and yellow fingernails. None of this is healthy.

Smoking causes cancer, heart disease and respiratory problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking causes 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men and 80 percent in women. Smoking causes cancers of the bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, kidney, lung, pancreas and stomach.

Killing an animal causes people to have food to eat and clothes to wear. Sure, it not so good for the animal, and we eat too much meat that is bad for us – but it beats smoking.

Obesity is bad, too, but being a vegetarian does not mean you are not obese. To be fair, obesity does cause hypertension, osteoarthritis, dyslipidemia (high cholesterol), type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, respiratory problems and some cancers, according the CDC. All these can lead to death, too.

But eating is something we need to do; smoking is not. We can eat meat and not die before our time. Smokers check out early.

And why would we want Natalie to check out early?

Second, if you become a vegetarian for the sake of the animals, think about the human animals you are hurting by smoking. Smoking hurts the smoker. Smoking hurts those around the smoker. Secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer, too, according to the CDC. Secondhand smoke also increases the chance for heart disease and respiratory problems, especially in children. Secondhand smoke has been linked to sudden infant death syndrome – and you thought a cow dying was sad.

Third, none of this is good for the environment. Why do you think cities and states are banning smoking? It’s not that they don’t want the taxes smoking generates. It’s because smoking creates an unhealthy environment for everyone in the environment. More than 126 million nonsmoking Americans are forced to breathe secondhand smoke. It also costs the governments to take care of the health needs of smokers, who don’t need to smoke.

Yes, smoking and nicotine are addictive, but all addictions can be broken. Desire and want are different from need.

Cigarette butts are really bad for the environment. They are not biodegradable. They have been found in stomachs of fish and birds – so be careful when you eat fish and birds. The butts also end up in the water supply.

Finally, Natalie may have initially become a vegetarian for religious reasons. It is often easier to be a vegetarian than to be kosher. Those preparing food usually understand what is vegetarian and what is not. Kosher? Not so much. Sure, you will get french fries cooked in animal fat, beans that have been ham hocked and vegetable soup made out of chicken stock, but eating kosher is complex. Try eating out at a restaurant that keeps meat and diary separate – it’s almost impossible.

“[T]he weak eat only vegetables.” Romans 14:2

Natalie, kudos to you for putting your money where your mouth is and creating this line of vegan footwear.

Now quit smoking.