Are you shy, introverted, or a newly turned vegan and wish to get the word vegan out? If yes, I’ve listed down 10 easy ways of doing activism where you don’t have to interact with people but can still reach out to them.
1. Online vegan activism
You can do activism by creating content and sharing it on social media like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Running a blog just like I am doing can also be done. You can also review vegan businesses online, sign and create petitions, provide online mentoring, and run fundraisers. I have a separate post on the online vegan activism topic.
2. Leafleting
Leafleting is a way of reaching a larger audience in less time. You have to give out an information leaflet and request people to read it once they get free or go home. It just takes a few seconds to give the leaflet away. If you do outreach in a public place, you can easily give away 1000 leaflets in 2 hours. If you’re not comfortable doing activism in public, you can pass on the leaflets to your friends, relatives, and people at your workplace. Please check with a vegan NGO if you need leaflets.
3. Video Outreach
The reach is less and takes more time, but it’s effective. If you’re doing video outreach in a public place, you’ll be able to talk to 4-5 people in 2 hours. The method is to show a video on a tablet, mobile phone, laptop, or through a virtual reality set to people, talk to them, give them a leaflet and keep in touch with them by taking down their contact details. You can do this individually if you don’t want to do it in a public place. As a newly turned vegan, start with the people you’re comfortable with.
4. Sticky note activism
We can do this type of activism in 2 ways:
1) Get stickers with vegan messages and stick them on your phone, laptop, bag, bottle, cupboard, doors, etc. You can stick them on the walls of public places too so that they can reach more people.
2) Another method is to go to a supermarket and stick the stickers or sticky notes on animal products. The notes can have different messages written on them. This one is a little risky method of doing sticky note activism.
5. Chalktivism
Chalktivism is activism using chalks. If you love art, go, get some colourful chalks and write a message on the footpaths and roads. You can draw cute animals too. Use your creativity and enjoy activism.
6. Writing messages on dusty windows
While you’re taking a stroll, I’m sure there must be cars around you that haven’t been driven for days. There’s an excellent opportunity for you to write messages on dusty windows so that people notice them.
7. Painting messages on stones
Again, if you love art, use your creativity and paint beautiful messages on stones and drop the stones where people will notice them. For example, keep the stones in the plant pots where artificial stones have been kept to make the pot look beautiful.
8. Support local vegan businesses
Make a purchase, spread the word, and review the products if you like them. Make more and more people aware of veganism and vegan businesses, especially those that are mission-driven.
9. Wear your activism
Wear Tees with vegan messages printed on them. This is how businesses market their products, so why can’t we grow our movement using the same trick? Please check with your local vegan activism group for such Tees, or you can get the design printed as you want.
10. Request local cafes/restaurants to offer/introduce vegan options
There must be a few non-vegan restaurants/cafes where you go regularly and get your dish veganised. Talk to the people there, tell them what the word vegan means, why you always get your dish veganised and request them to introduce vegan options. If you don’t get a chance to talk to them, leave a review saying ‘please offer vegan options’ so that they’ll Google about veganism and vegan food.
Please give these forms of activism a try and do your bit for the animals. Happy comfortable activism.
– by Vaibhavi Lonkar, one of our long-term volunteers. You can check more of her work here: Guide to everything vegan
