7 ways to… get into activism
Whether you’re a newbie vegan or have been around for a while, we’re here to help you to get started as an activist with our easy ideas
If you’re living and eating as a vegan, you’re already basically an activist. By refraining from the consumption of meat and dairy, you are actively refusing to contribute to animal abuse and cruelty, rainforest deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity destruction and many more issues. By purchasing vegan food and items, you are helping to fuel the demand for more vegan products, helping to grow the movement and encouraging more of the world’s population to transition.
But if you want to do more; if you want to take vegan living and eating further and use it as a springboard for doing greater good, then try your hand at some more direct forms of activism. This can come in many shapes and forms; here are seven easy ideas to begin.
1. Get social
The easiest way to get into activism, is to utilise social media and online spaces. This can be anything from signing and sharing petitions, resharing articles about veganism, delicious recipes and news articles about animal abuses, and respectfully posting relevant, vegan-friendly content on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
2. Join a vegan club
Each locality will have a variety of vegan and animal rights groups that you can join. As a member, you’ll be able to take part in a number of advocacy events, including things like organised protests, marches, fundraisers, educational stalls, volunteer work and ‘bear witness’ visits.
Groups usually also run social-nights and meet-ups, which offer a great opportunity to meet likeminded vegans, make friends and discuss those all-important ways to help animals and spread veganism. Simply search online for a group in your neighbourhood and get in touch with them to join!
3. Volunteer with Anonymous for the Voiceless Specialising in street activism, Anonymous for the Voiceless (anonymousforthevoiceless.org) is an animal rights organisation with groups all over the UK and rest of the world. Using local standard-practice animal exploitation footage, Anonymous for the Voiceless expose the public to what is hidden from them. The footage, combined with resource literature and on-hand helpers to answer questions, fully equip society with the knowledge they need in switching to a vegan lifestyle.
The group’s ‘Cube of Truth’ demonstrations are peaceful and simple — members wear black clothing and masks, whilst silently holding up animal abuse footage. The structured demonstrations ignite passer-by curiosity, leading them to a vegan conclusion through the footage and conversations with a value-based sales approach.
If you’re interested in joining in with a demo that’s local to you, visit their website.
4. Fundraise for animal rights organisations and sanctuaries
There are hundreds of organisations that rely on donations from the public to survive — animal rescue centres, sanctuaries, vegan charities, animal rights groups and individual activists. Get involved by running a fundraiser, donating the money you make to your chosen cause. Your money will enable them to continue to educate, save animals and run vegan awareness campaigns!
Here are some fundraising ideas:
• Run a vegan bake or crafts sale at your workplace, school, street or village hall
• Complete a sponsored run, walk or hike
• Carry out a sponsored silence
• Sell your unwanted belongings
• Do a sponsored bungee jump or sky dive
Once you know what you want to do for your fundraiser, set up a page on JustGiving and promote your efforts far and wide.
5. Hand out educational flyers
Print out vegan-friendly leaflets and posters for people’s letterboxes, to leave at libraries, colleges and supermarkets, hand out on the street or hang in public places. Your leaflets should educate your community on things like animal experimentation, the egg, meat and dairy industries, how to live and eat healthily as a vegan and climate change. Make your own content or head to Vegan
Activism’s website, where they have collated tonnes of resources that you can use and print (veganactivism.org).
6. Contact stores/restaurants around you about vegan options
Whilst most restaurants and supermarkets in the UK are great for vegan options now, in some locations they are still lacking. If this is the case for your local area, or anywhere you travel to, contact stores or eateries and ask for them to stock more plant-based items. By doing this, you are helping to create the demand — if enough people request for more vegan options, it will encourage more businesses to also do so. You can easily search for your local store’s contact details online — it only takes a few minutes to send an email that might help to make a change for the better.
7. Mentor people wanting to become vegan
Do you know someone who is interested in becoming vegan, but doesn’t know where to start? Offer to be their mentor. Give them support, answer their questions, provide them with shopping tips and cooking advice, as well as recipes and brands/products to look out for. Ultimately, make sure that you can be there for them if they struggle — this can be as direct as you want, either though face-to-face contact, email, message or video call!
Do you want to help strangers to become vegan? Volunteer to mentor for Challenge 22 (challenge22.com). If you’ve been vegan for more than six months, have empathy, patience and can motivate others, you are an ideal candidate — join their mentoring programme at challenge22.com/volunteer.
Challenge 22 gives aspiring vegans a free and supportive online framework for trying veganism for 22 days. It offers an interactive programme that provides a mix of personal mentoring and group support. Through a private Facebook group, mentees can share their experiences and learn from each other. The group is monitored by a wide range of vegan mentors, including dietitians, culinary experts, parents, students, fitness trainers and long-time vegans. The aim is that by the end of 22 days, each wannabe-vegan will be equipped with recipes, cooking tips and nutritional information that allow them to continue with a healthy vegan life.