Our treatment of animals has a strong, collective effect on the well-being of our planet. When it comes to veganism, many people feel intimidated by the seemingly-strict diet and lifestyle. Making simple, vegan gestures, however, doesn’t have to feel extreme.

In fact, I would argue that compassion towards the difficulty of maintaining a vegan lifestyle is the gateway towards encouraging one another to make more vegan choices of food, household products, clothes, animal care, and so much more.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at ways that vegans and nonvegans alike can work together to build a more sustainable, vegan-rich lifestyle.

What is Veganism? A Brief Look at the History of Veganism

Those interested in the vegan community may be surprised to learn that veganism isn’t just a diet. It is a belief system that is comprised of many different key elements. From food, to clothing, to animal consumption, you might be amazed by the intricate structure in which vegans have designed their ideology. To get a full understanding of the meaning of veganism, take a look at some of its fascinating history.

In modern times, we saw a shift in vegetarianism that occurred through defining the vegan movement. This took place in 1944, when Donald Watson founded the Vegan Society and helped coin the term “vegan.” The Vegan Society organization officially defines veganism as:

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 animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.

As you can see, veganism is a philosophy, rather than a diet. While each vegan has their own outlook on veganism, many share the same foundational lifestyle choices.

• Avoidance of any animal foods, including sea creatures such as fish and shellfish
• No dairy, eggs, or honey
• Avoidance of materials made from animals, like leather, fur, wool, silk, pearls, feathers, etc.
• Refusal to use products tested on animals
• Boycotting of animal entertainment facilities

The Difference Between Veganism and Plant-Based

The whole-food, plant-based diet (WFPB) is a movement that emerged after the vegan movement, and it is one you are likely to see mentioned across a multitude of platforms. Coined by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, plant-based diets are meal plans that consist of as few processed foods as possible. Unlike veganism, the WFPB diet is entirely based on one’s health, rather than the welfare of animals, although many who follow the WFPB diet are often in alignment with many vegan attitudes regarding animals.

Those following a WFPB diet eat fresh, raw, and unrefined foods that do not contain any animal products. This lifestyle is full of healthy, balanced meal plans that can be even healthier for one’s body than a vegan diet, which doesn’t necessarily translate to a healthy diet (Campbell). Many vegan products, for example, are made with lots of processed foods, are high in sodium or fats, or lack nutritional value.

WFPB diets both begin and end with food, which is why the environmental impact of changing one’s lifestyle in other areas might fall short. In other words, clothing, household products, animal entertainment, and more are not taken into account when it comes to a WFPB diet because it is solely about the diet.

That’s why incorporating as many whole foods into one’s diet while also taking into account the environmental impact and welfare of animals is the most effective way to preserve our wildlife.

Choosing Vegan Products and Services

Veganism can be applied to many aspects of one’s life. Most things that you use, consume, and support can be mindfully selected to have minimal, ecological effects. The following section includes a detailed guide on how to select these goods and services with veganism in mind.

Agriculture

Within the agricultural sector, farmers can take part in more sustainable business practices by reducing the number of animals purchased by the meat and dairy industry. In Australia, an initiative by Vegan Australia has been proposed to move to a vegan agricultural system. I think it worth applying a similar approach to the United States. This new, vegan-inspired agricultural system includes designating land that was previously used for animal grazing to plant-based produce instead.

Indeed, many farms have begun to incorporate permaculture techniques to their practices, naturally reducing unnecessary monocultures meant for feeding cattle and transforming their land into ecologically-sustainable habitats for native plants and animals. Veganic World has created a directory where you can find these vegan farms all over the world. Our support of farms that utilize more vegetable-rich, sustainable agriculture leads to reductions in harmful pollution, risk of drought, and greenhouse gases (Moving).

Clothing & Apparel

The clothing industry is wrought with unsustainable business practices. This is largely in part due to the stages in which clothing is produced. From collecting natural and synthetic materials, manufacturing it, shipping those materials to clothing companies, creating them into clothing, to then putting the products on the markets to be bought, there are many steps along the way that make it hard to identify the sustainability of the final product.

Purchasing sustainable vegan clothing often is a good indicator that the company values having an ethical, environmental impact. Vegan clothing shops also tend to have direct partnerships with the manufacturing companies or even do the manufacturing themselves through the use of up-cycled or used clothing.

There are a few steps you can take to make vegan clothing and apparel choices:

1. Purchase second-hand vegan clothes and apparel. If you want to buy a customized item or can’t find exactly what you are looking for, try finding a vegan shop that up-cycles its products.
2. Avoid wearing items that showcase animal mistreatment. Instead, promote sustainable messages on your articles of clothes and accessories.
3. Avoid both new and secondhand animal byproducts like leather, wool, silk, fur, pearls, or ivory, as purchasing these items secondhand takes them off the market for people who aren’t aiming to live a more vegan lifestyle, which may lead to their purchasing of newly made products sourced from animals.

Cleaning Goods

It’s well-known that most cleaning goods on the market contain a number of toxins. When these ingredients enter our water sources, they can have negative effects on the wildlife that lives there. Wildlife is also affected when toxic cleaning products are consumed by insects and small mammals, which are then in part consumed by larger predators. It doesn’t take much for the intricate food chain to feel the effects of unsustainable toxins.

One thing that we can do to negate these unintended side-effects of extremely powerful cleaning products is to use vegan cleaning products. The best part is that you might already possess the ingredients for making many DIY vegan cleaners.

Vinegar- You can use vinegar for an endless amount of household chores. It can be used for mopping, cleaning counters, removing mild stains, to help clean laundry, and to clean car windows to name a few.

Baking Soda– Also known as sodium bicarbonate, this popular cooking item is a great abrasive that can be used to get rid of tough scum. It can also be used in combination with vinegar to unclog sinks or bathtub drains.

Rubbing Alcohol– Instead of using strong chemicals to clean your house, you can easily sanitize your home with rubbing alcohol.

Hydrogen Peroxide– Hydrogen peroxide can be used to clean stains out from carpet and upholstery (Koteen). Always test in a small, less-noticeable space prior to using on delicate materials.

Lemon Juice– Yes, even lemon juice is useful for cleaning. Lemon juice contains citric acid, which is a natural bleach (Smit). Simply squeeze a few tablespoons into your wash to touch up on dull-looking clothes.

Borax– This sodium compound is very effective at pest control. If you’re experiencing an infestation, natural options such as this one can help prevent cats, opossums, birds, and other insect-eating predators from being poisoned when they consume an insect that has eaten borax.

Cosmetics

The cosmetics industry is known for animal testing and vegan-unfriendly practices. Thankfully, more and more companies are incorporating sustainable methods to the creation of their products. When selecting cosmetics, which can range from make-up, to toothpaste, to hair care, to body soaps, look for cruelty-free and vegan labels to certify that the product has not been created using inhumane testing.

For more information on cosmetics, take a look at our guide to sustainable cosmetics.

Entertainment

Places like zoos, aquariums, carnivals, and amusement parks often utilize animals in captivity for profit. Avoiding the use of animals in the entertainment sector helps condemn the unconscionable act of profiting from suffering animals. Not only do animals suffer in captivity, but the amount of power, water, and food going towards the maintenance of confined wildlife is unsustainable. To top it off, tourism also increases the production of nonrenewable waste and careless pollution.

Instead of visiting places that deliberately use animals for entertainment, choose instead to support regional rehabilitation facilities, animal sanctuaries, and nonprofits whose goals involve rehabilitating species back into more natural habitats.

Food & Drink

The most well-known sector of veganism is food and drink. Choosing a more whole-food, vegan diet is better for your health, and it’s also better for the environment. There are numerous studies indicating that incorporating more plants into one’s diet creates a healthier body: one study from the Adventist Health Study 2 showed “decreased rates of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to nonvegetarians” (Orlich).

When it comes to food and drink, familiarizing oneself with vegan alternatives can smooth the transition to a vegan-rich diet. Let’s go through a list of many known and less known foods and beverages that aren’t vegan:

Meat, including seafood	Legumes, nuts, whole grains
Dairy	Soy, almond, cashew, oat, hemp, walnut drinks
Eggs	Chia seeds, apple sauce, tapioca starch
Honey	Maple syrup, Stevia, agave (if ethically sourced)
Wine, liqueur, and some beers	Vegan wine, Kombucha
White (and sometimes brown) sugar	organic sugar, unrefined sugar
Gelatin products: Jell-O, marshmallow, gummy candies, fruit snacks	Agar agar, vegan candies and snacks

Landscaping & Yard-keeping

Vegan gardening involves not using toxic chemicals and pest control, manure, or animal byproducts. Instead of using blood, bone meal, and waste from slaughterhouses, which encourages the continuing of animal suffering, alternatives such as vegetable compost, mulch, and organic rock matter are used.

One organization called Gentle World incorporates vegan fertilizers, such as “lime, gypsum, rock phosphorus, dolomite, rock dusts and rock potash,” though they state that these alternatives are not renewable resources and should therefore be used sparingly (Gentle World).

Pets

You might be wondering if owning pets is vegan. Thankfully, pet companionship can and is considered vegan. Depending on the quality of life of your pets, the foods you feed them, and whether or not you adopted one or chose to buy from a breeder, however, the choice to have a pet can actually be frowned upon by the vegan society. With approximately 1.5 million cats and dogs euthanized in shelters across the United States per year, buying pets from breeders instead of from shelters contributes to that number (Pet).

In addition, vegans tend to strongly support the spaying and neutering of pets, although this is a subject that can sometimes be up for debate. The argument is that deliberately allowing pets to breed when there are already so many that have to be put down in shelters promotes the suffering of those animals.

Pharmaceuticals

Unless medically necessary, many vegans choose to use natural alternatives to a number of ailments. Get in touch with a naturopathic doctor to see if there are any substitutions for common medicines that you take. There may be alternatives that can have similar effects to the medicines you are already taking without the negative toll that comes with medications that contain synthetic drugs, are manufactured by unsustainable methods, and/or contaminate our waterways and soil, affecting natural habitats.

Schools

Teaching future generations how to live more sustainably starts at the home and is then broadcast outwards through socialization. Therefor, school can be a great way for children to learn about healthier ways to eat. School cafeterias rarely have a vegan option for students, and while you can choose to simply send your child to school with a vegan lunch prepared at home, there are countless students who don’t have the privilege to choose what they eat.

You can take action by getting involved in your school’s politics. Consider joining the PTA or the school board to get direct access to the inner-workings of your child’s school. In addition, you can write to the school board or ISD to aid in the shift towards healthier meals for children. Even if petitioning doesn’t elicit immediate change, it can set the tone for future changes.

Things to Keep in Mind

One argument against veganism is how it will initially impact the unsustainable system in place. While it is true that an abrupt, global shift towards vegan practices will cause suffering in animals due to an oversupply and lack of demand in the meat industry, a slow and gradual shift to vegan practices allows the system to naturally accommodate for the shrinking demand in animal products, ultimately benefiting both animals and humans alike.

Philosophies don’t normally change overnight, so don’t be afraid to contribute your part in shifting the perspective by making small, daily changes towards more sustainable practices.

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Citations

Campbell T. Colin. “Living a Whole Food, Plant-Based Life.” Center for Nutrition Studies, Mar 3, 2017. https://nutritionstudies.org/whole-food-plant-based-diet-guide/. Accessed 6 Sept 2020.

Davis John. “Were There Vegans in the Ancient World?” World Veganism- Past, Present, and Future, International Vegan Union, Jan 4 2012. http://www.ivu.org/history/Vegan_History.pdf. Accessed 6 Sept 2020.

“Find a Farm.” Veganic World. https://veganic.world/find-a-farm/. Accessed 6 Sept. 2020.

History. The Vegan Society, https://www.vegansociety.com/about-us/history#:~:text=They%20settled%20on%20’vegan’%2C,early%20members%20Mr%20George%20A. Accessed 6 Sept 2020.

Koteen Katie. “Vegan on a Budget: Make Your Own Cleaning Products, Guaranteed Cruelty Free!” Well Vegan, 28 Feb 2018, wellvegan.com/budget-vegan/vegan-budget-make-cleaning-products-guaranteed-cruelty-free. Accessed 7 Sept 2020.

“Moving to a Vegan Agricultural System for Australia.” Vegan Australia. https://www.veganaustralia.org.au/moving_to_a_vegan_agricultural_system_for_australia. Accessed 6 Sept 2020.

Orlich, Michael J et al. “Vegetarian dietary patterns and mortality in Adventist Health Study 2.” JAMA Internal Medicine, vol. 173,13 (2013): 1230-8. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.6473. Accessed 7 Sept 2020.

Smit, Nico et al. “The hunt for natural skin whitening agents.” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 10,12 5326-49. 10 Dec. 2009, doi:10.3390/ijms10125326. Accessed 7 Sept 2020.

Sterbenz Christina. “13 Surprising Things That Are Partly Made From Animal Products.” Business Insider, Mar 24, 2014. https://www.businessinsider.com/15-surprising-things-that-contain-animal-products-2014-3. Accessed 6 Sept 2020.

Wescombe J. Noah. “Communicating Veganism: Evolving Theoretical Challenges to Mainstreaming Ideas.” Studies in Media and Communication, vol. 7, no. 2, Research Gate, July 2019,  doi:10.11114/smc.v7i2.4367. Accessed 6 Sept 2020.

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