Birthday Activism: Making Each Year Count

In the past, I wasn’t particularly keen on celebrating my birthday. As a child, of course, it was always exciting to commune with friends over plates full of greasy pepperoni pizza and frosting-covered yellow birthday cake. But as I got older, the thought of organizing a party to celebrate yet another passing year just seemed…well, sort of unimportant.

Then I turned 25, and everything changed.

My 25th year of living was perhaps the most exacerbating time of my life. Full of disappointments, setbacks and life-altering tragedies, it was as though the Universe had sent a Category 5 hurricane to devastate the very foundation of my existence. At the time, I tried with all my might to resist the brutal storm, to hold on to the few remaining precious scraps of truth that had once sheltered and protected me so. But the world is stronger than the individual. Eventually my grip gave way, and I was thrust violently into a whirlwind of chaos and destruction, left only with a prayer that I would emerge unharmed and with a greater sense of purpose. I’m happy to report that the prayer was answered.

When the winds let up and the darkness faded, my perpetual uncertainty had been replaced with clarity, determination and pure, unleaded gusto. I knew deep down that my life had been clear-cut to make room for something greater than I had ever known. Sometimes destruction must occur before creation can ensue.

Some call what I experienced a quarter-life crisis, but for me it was greater: it was a bloody war brought on by an internal regime change; a personal reformation of the highest order. It was the forced carving of the first sentence of the second chapter of the rest of my life: “And when he awoke, he saw the world for what it was: a vast plain of endless possibilities, a canvas from which to freely create, a world in which to forever change.” It was then that the tradition of Birthday Activism was born.

Birthday Activism is quite simply the act of leveraging one’s special day to help further a cause and create change. And since my 27th birthday is on Monday, April 12, I thought I’d share my homemade recipe for Birthday Activism with you.

Here’s how it works: about two weeks before the big day, start thinking about issues that you find meaningful. For me, veganism is the cornerstone of my ethical make-up and the nucleus of my belief system. I’m also incredibly passionate about the power of citizen action, volunteering, and effective change. So, naturally, I chose to highlight those ideas for my birthday.

Now that you’ve identified your cause, start brainstorming about projects that might complement your issue. Remember, it’s YOUR birthday! This gives you incredible bargaining power with friends and families. You’d be surprised at what individuals will do when asked the right way.

For Birthday 25, I got a large group of friends to volunteer at a local soup kitchen in New York City. Birthday 26 was spent learning about the plight of farm animals at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. This year, I asked all my Facebook friends to go vegan for the day (so far over 200 have agreed), and I got a group of 15 to attend an orientation at New York Cares, thus empowering them to volunteer throughout the year.

The third and final step is to promote your birthday activity. Use Facebook, Twitter or make a few good, old-fashioned phone calls to get people excited about the project. Don’t feel bad about asking anyone and everyone to take part. Volunteering is a lot like getting a massage: it feels fantastic and everyone knows they should do it once in a while, but rarely does one take the initiative. In fact, by participating in Birthday Activism, you’re not only receiving a gift, but also giving one equal in value.

Now, don’t worry—it doesn’t have to be ALL about service. After the project, I always make sure there’s something fun planned nearby at a bar or restaurant. But truth be told, years later my friends aren’t talking about the vodka soda they had that night; instead, they’re reminiscing about the lives they helped touch and the good they helped create.

We may not be able to control how many birthdays we get in this world, but we do have the power to make sure each and every one of those special days truly counts.

My Top Ten Eco-Lifestyle Changes

By Colin Beavan

1. Stop eating beef. Worldwide, beef production contributes more substantially to climate change than the entire transportation sector. Plus, a diet with no or less beef is better for you anyway.

2. Give up bottled water. The production of plastic water bottles together with the privatization of our drinking water is an environmental and social catastrophe. Bottled water costs more per gallon than gasoline. Plus, the health consequences of drinking water from plastic are not clear.

3. Observe an eco-sabbath. For one day or afternoon or even hour a week, don’t buy anything, don’t use any machines, don’t switch on anything electric, don’t cook, don’t answer your phone, and, in general, don’t use any resources. In other words, for this regular period, give yourself and the planet a break. Keep your regular eco-sabbath for a month. You’ll find that the enforced downtime represents an improvement to your life.

4. Tithe a fixed percentage of your income. Currently, many of our societal health and welfare services, at home and abroad, are tied to consumer spending which, in turn, depends upon planetary resource use. But the idea of buying stuff to help people is crazy, especially when you consider that our consumption is harming the habitat that we depend upon for our health, happiness and security. If you want to help, don’t go shopping. Just help. Commit to tithing part of your income to the non-profits of your choice.

5. Get there under your own steam. Commit to getting around by bike or by foot a certain number of days a month. Not only does this mean using fewer fossil fuels and creating less greenhouse gasses, it means you’ll get good, healthy exercise and we’ll all breathe fewer fumes. A city with pedestrian and bike traffic is a lot more pleasant to live in than a city filled with vehicles.

6. Commit to not wasting. Wasting resources costs the planet and your wallet. Don’t overheat or overcool your home–a few degrees make a huge difference. Let your clothes hang dry instead of using the dryer. Take half the trips but stay twice as long. If your old cell phone works, consider not getting another. Repair instead of rebuy. The list goes on and on.

7. Build a community. Play charades. Have dinners with friends. Sing together. Enjoying each other costs the planet much less than enjoying its resources. Let’s relearn to joke around and play in ways that cost nothing to our pocketbooks or our planet.

8. Take your principles to work. The old adage “the cost of doing business” can no longer hold true. We must act as though we care about the world at work as much as we do at home. A company CEO or a product designer has the power to make a gigantic difference through their business, and so do the rest of us.

9. Dedicate a day’s worth of TV viewing to eco-service each week. The average American watches four and a half hours of TV a day. Take one day off from the tube each week and join with others to improve our planet. Voluntary eco-service is a great way to find community who support your values, and is also a great way to learn about environmental issues and quality of life issues that go along with them.

10. Believe with all your heart that how you live your life makes a difference to all of us. We are all interconnected. We make a difference to each other on many different levels. Every step towards living a conscious life where we consider the consequences of our actions provides support to everyone else—whether you know it or not—who is trying to do the same thing. We are the masters of our destinies. Let’s act as though it is so.

Blog Power

This Meatless Monday we’re happy to introduce vegan blogger, Laura Beck. She’s here to share her love of blogging and the enormous amount of vegan knowledge and community at your fingertips!

Laura Beck, Vegansaurus Blogger

I don’t want to sound totally nuts but seriously, blogging has changed the world. Blogs are our newspapers, our travel guides, and sometimes our best friends. (I’m not speaking about myself with the best friend thing, of course, I totally have two best friends. Only one is a dog.) But blogging has changed our relationships and given us a better chance of interacting with like-minded people. This is a really good thing for vegans. Before, you might have been adrift in a sea of “Go Vegan” pamphlets without a friend to turn to (or a friend who wasn’t all, “OMG. Where are you going to get your protein? You’re going to die!” Thanks, friend.) and that’s where blogs come in. Any vegan with access to a computer can find a community. Having a safe, non-judgmental space in which to talk about being or becoming vegan, if only on the internet, is important.

When I first became vegan, there weren’t really any San Francisco vegan blogs. Lacking the upstart to create my own at the time, I started writing reviews on Yelp. On Yelp, I wrote about vegan restaurants, meat-mouth restaurants that catered to vegans, and sometimes, restaurants that were straight jerks to vegans. Pretty soon, I was getting emails from vegans all over the San Francisco Bay Area, thanking me for my reviews and asking my opinions on other places. After that, I was the most popular person ON THE INTERNET. I kid, but I was the most popular person on Yelp, in terms of page views and “fans” (people who follow your reviews). Yelp even contacted me because they couldn’t believe that the person with the most fans was a loud-mouthed vegan lady. I knew I had to take this show on the road and start my own San Francisco vegan blog.

Running a vegan blog is ridiculous amounts of fun. I highly recommend it. You can write about whatever strikes your fancy, and there are people out there who will relate to you. And another cool thing? You quickly find that there are vegans in all corners of the world! Traveling to Texas? Check out Walking the Vegan Line. Want to read about delicious food being consumed daily? Read Cafe VegNews. Want to get information about the latest vegan news? Look no further than Vegan.com. Combine these blogs with message boards on VegWeb and the PPK, and you’ll be learning about new places to eat, destinations to travel to, and foods to cook, all day long. Put all that together and you have the world’s best guide. Forget you, Lonely Planet. There’s a truly mind-boggling amount of information in the blogosphere. You begin to develop your own tastes. Who do you think is funny? Who’s got the best recipes? Who’s totally insane?

Now is one of the most exciting times to be(come) vegan, even if you live in the middle of nowhere. Because there are other vegans who live in the middle of nowhere and together you forge a tribe of amazing vegans who can take over the world OR START A VEGAN BRUNCH GROUP! This is a great way to meet (in person! scary! but awesome!) other vegans in your area and try each others’ recipes. The power of social networking via the internet makes this possible. Congratulations, you’ve just learned to survive (and thrive!) where you live. It’s inspirational and exciting to learn there are other fat vegans, gay vegans, vegans recovering from cancer, vegans who hella love fashion: whatever you are, there are more of you. And there is definite power in numbers: it strengthens your faith, it helps you fortify your beliefs, and it makes it easier to say no to your grandma’s award-winning lasagna.

One of the other exciting things about vegan blogging is that it draws in those who are vegan-curious. They might be too shy or nervous to approach a vegan and ask them what it’s all about, but they can read a blog and learn about how awesome vegans are. (Because it’s true, we are awesome.) It’s a great form of outreach, and it’s something you can do curled up on the couch with your dog or cat next to you. In fact, it’s practically mandatory for a vegan blogger to have a rescued cat or dog so I suggest you get to the shelter fairly soon. More advanced bloggers might consider investing in a vegan cupcake tattoo but we’ll get to that next class.

So right now this very minute, go to Blogger, or WordPress, or Tumblr, and start a blog. DO IT. Especially if you live in Toronto, because I’m dying to go there and need to know how to eat the whole city empty.

Laura Beck blogs at Vegansaurus.

Vegan Knitting

Hooray for Meatless Monday! Rather than focusing on our plates, we’re taking a look at our knitting needles today. The holidays are around the corner and who doesn’t love receiving a new scarf or pair of cozy mittens made by a loved one?  Knitter, blogger, and vegan, Emily Kearney is here to give us the scoop on cruelty-free yarn and how to get started with this super cool hobby! Read on to learn how to create wonderful handmade gifts, join a vibrant crafty community, and pick up this meditative activity while caring for the animals.

Photo by Bittersweet Blog

Four years ago, I began to work as a paraprofessional at a public school based on the Waldorf philosophy. My job was to support a child with a disability through first grade, which is the point at which Waldorf students learn to knit. As an assistant, my job was to help my student lend a hand to others. This meant, naturally, learning how to knit myself.

It’s difficult to describe the way I felt when I learned to knit. It was as if my hands had been meant to move according to the rhythms of knitting all along. Indeed, there’s a fine knitting tradition in my family: many of the women in my extended family (then and now) have made beautiful items with fiber crafts. Although I never had a chance to meet some of them, I can get to know them through the heirlooms they left behind.

As a vegan, knitting is more challenging for me than it is for typical knitters. I usually have to figure out an appropriate substitute yarn when the yarn suggested for a pattern contains animal fibers. I have to pay attention to the drape and stretch of plant fibers (depending on the type of garment) so that I don’t end up with a sweater that reaches my knees after it’s washed. I often have to purchase yarn online when local stores don’t stock a lot of vegan yarns. And inevitably, I deal with questions such as “But conventional cotton is so much worse for the environment than wool – aren’t you worried about that?” or “You don’t use wool? I can’t knit with cotton – it’s so rough on my hands.”

So I decided to start a blog, Vegan Knitting to share the knitting projects I work on and share information with others who want to use animal-free yarn for ethical or health reasons.

Luckily for us, these days there are a whole variety of yarns out there to choose from that can satisfy both the vegan and the environmentally-minded. Vegan yarns can be made from cotton, linen, soy, bamboo, rayon, nettle, acrylic, microfiber, nylon, and elastic. A number of companies—such as Blue Sky Alpacas, South West Trading Company, and Crystal Palace—feature a line of vegan yarns.

In current economic times, many knitters are following the theme featured in the last series of Brenda Dayne’s Cast-On podcast – Make Do and Mend. This motto was used in the UK during WWII to inspire households to use less new materials and find ways of reusing those on hand. It is possible to be a prolific knitter without spending a lot of money on yarn. It’s also possible to find an animal-fiber yarn, if necessary, without contributing to the animal industry at all.

Here are some surefire strategies:

-Talk to family and friends – they’ll often have knitting materials from a relative or an abandoned try at knitting languishing in a closet.
-Look at your local charity or thrift shop – you’re almost certain to find enough some needles and yarn at very low prices. Scan through sweaters at the shop to look for solid colors with non-pilly yarn. These can be unraveled, washed, and reused. Clear instructions can be found at Neauveau Fiber Arts.
-Search for “recycled yarn” on both Etsy and Ebay for colors and fibers at very low prices.
-Join the “ISO and Destashing” group on Ravelry to see what members are selling. You can post for donations for charity – which is how I made all of the necessarily animal-fiber projects I made for Afghans for Afghans.
-Look for these brands at your local craft or yarn shop: Lion Brand, Berrocco, Takhi, or go to Knitpicks. And look for rescue farms that sell the animals’ fleece and handspun yarn, such as Homestead Wool and Gift Farm.

If you are interested in knitting but haven’t done it before, there are several things you can do to make it successful:

-Get a copy of Stitch n Bitch by Debbie Stoller. For professional video guides of basic stitches and techniques, check out Knitting Help. For videos of more specific stitches and tricks, search for the terms on YouTube.
-Start with a project you like. A 50 stitch wide scarf on size 5 needles with skinny cotton yarn will never get finished. You’re much better off starting with something manageable in a short amount of time, such as a potholder, coaster, skinny scarf, or a small bag. Choose a pattern that demands size 8-10 needles, not too big, not too small.
-I can’t emphasize how important it is to knit with others. Find a local knitting group and start going. Don’t be intimidated about bringing your garter stitch scarf on big needles when other people are knitting intricate lace shawls on teeny tiny needles. Others will be happy to help you with your knitting, and you’ll learn a lot just listening to them talk about their projects. You can look for a local knitting group on the Stitch N Bitch website or within the Ravelry groups.
-Join the knitting social network website, Ravelry. You can list your completed projects and those in progress, browse the largest online collection of patterns and yarn, and see what others have made with the patterns or yarn you like. On the forums, you’ll be certain to find someone to answer your “I dropped a stitch!” questions at 3 am.

I am proud to be part of the vibrant and supportive virtual vegan knitting community. Through groups on Ravelry and inspiring blogs like Bittersweet Blog, Vegan Craftastic and Blind Purls, I hear about new products, get great advice, and participate in fun swaps. Knitting socks without wool is even trickier, so check out Vegan Sock Knitalong, and my comprehensive list of vegan sock yarn.

When I’m knitting, I feel like a different person. It connects me with people I love, connects me with new friends who share my passion, and is an important part of my efforts to life a sustainable and cruelty-free life.

Emily Kearney is a special education teacher who lives in Portland, OR with her husband and new kitten.  She loves to spend time in her garden, read, knit, watch film noir, and cook.  She’s been vegan for nine years.

Navigating The World Wide Veg

I confess: I’m a die-hard surfer. No, not the big wave COWABUNGA kind. Although I live six blocks from the Pacific—I spend way more time surfing the web than I do at the beach. I’m a bona fide Internet junkie. What’s worse? I’m a vegan Internet junkie.

I stay awake into the wee hours of the night energized by my insatiable curiosity for all things veg, googling search terms like “vegan sources of alpha-linolenic acid” or “how to de-seed a pomegranate.” I read the menus of veg eateries in towns I never plan to visit. I scour for the perfect pair of vegan boots to complete my fall wardrobe. I eat up all the gossip on veg celebs. I drown myself in the latest and most critical medical literature. I admit: I once even took a virtual tour—via a You Tube video—of the inside of a vegan’s refrigerator.

And, my addiction doesn’t get put on hold in AM. As Associate Editor and Web Editor of Vegetarian Times magazine and Vegetariantimes.com, it’s part of my job to keep my finger on the pulse of the ever-evolving World Wide Veg (WWV) and to contribute to it—Vegetariantimes.com offers the world’s largest collection of nutritious and delicious vegetarian recipes!

It’s no newsflash that technology has does wonders to make the universe a smaller place. No matter how far apart we live, we are citizens of the same global veg village. That’s the real beauty of it: we’re in this together, connected by the information highway. The WWV makes it easy to connect with uncountable like-minded vegheads across the globe, sharing veg recipes, news, etc. It’s about being inspired and inspiring others, using technology as fuel to spread the good gospel on vegetarianism and healthy living like wildfire.

Because you are reading this blog right now, you’re probably already just as tangled up in the WWV as I am. We could all use a little help navigating the WWV. Below, please find my list of hot clicks. This list is by no means a “Best Of”; it’s just my suggestions of not-be-missed WWV destinations. Check ‘em out, and pretty please with an organic cherry on top leave comments sharing the gazillion and one I missed!

Vegan Radio is a bi-weekly vegan broadcast and podcast, available for download as MP3 files subscription through iTunes. This show will simultaneously keep you laughing out load and well-informed on all things veg, with news and commentary delivered by three of the most likeable vegan radio hosts imaginable plus a guest lineup including the most inspirational voices of veganism such as Raw Foods Goodess Ani Phyo, Vegan Triathlete Brendan Brazier, vegan body builder Robert Cheeke, and co-author of Skinny Bitch Rory Freedman.

@veganhelp on Twitter makes it easier than ever for vegans to help want-to-be vegans make the transition. This twitter “bot” simply reposts tweets from users it believes want to go vegan so others can respond to their inquiries. Example: “RT @TheVeganRD Need a cookbook recommendation for someone just starting to go vegan. She likes to cook, doesn’t always have time. Has a 3-year-old.” All you need to do to lend your advice to others is follow @veganhelp on Twitter and respond to tweets by clicking on the bit.ly link.

Obamafoodorama Want to have something interesting to add to the conversation at the next dinner party you go to? Obama Foodorama—“A Daily Diary of the Obama Foodscape, One Bipartison Byte at a Time”— covers all things red, white, and foodie, from a brief history of the White House cupcake habit to the groundbreaking White House kitchen garden.

Locavore iPhone App makes it a no-brainer to eat local and in season, making it easier than ever to stick to a 100 mile diet. Locavore automatically detects which state your in, tells you what foods are currently in season (i.e. papayas, eggplant, oranges), offer food pics, locates farms and farmers’ markets near you, and more. Available through the iphone App store.

Meatlessmonday.com is a global movement to cut back on meat consumption for both health and environmental reasons. The campaign has a long history in America; it was launched during WWI, resurrected during WWII, recreated in 2003 as a public health awareness program, and has gained world-wide momentum in the past year, with the help of supporters like Paul McCartney and his daughters Stella and Mary. Join the movement!

Vegetariantimes.com allows you to search over 12,000 tasty vegetarian recipes by ingredient; by specialty diets such as gluten-free, vegan, and low-cal; by ethnic cuisine, by holiday, by season, etc. You can even print your shopping list! The site also offers a free downloadable Vegetarian Starter Kit, Editor’s Picks of top stories, a super helpful Ingredient Substitution Guide, a must-read Editors Blog, and more. Plus, you can find VT on Facebook  and Twitter, posting mouthwatering recipes and foodie news updates.

Meetup.com A simple search for the word “vegan” on Meetup.com yields a whopping 755 groups; a search for “raw food” yields 656 groups! As the website’s name implies, these groups “meet up” with like-minded pepes around the globe. Meetup groups are as diverse as the cities and towns they meet up in, from the Vegan Outdoor and Adventure Group in Westminster, CO, to the Boynton Beach Raw Foodies in Boyton Beach, FL.

Vegetarianstar.com Extra! Extra! Read all about Alicia Silverstone’s book launch party for her new book, The Kind Diet, or the release of Kosher Vegetarian, starring Natalie Portman. Vegetarianstar.com is a star-studded blog that reads like a newspaper, dishing out a healthy portion of celebrity vegetarian gossip and news. Eat it up!

Veganbodybuilding.com The athletes featured here showcase plant protein’s power to build muscle and fuel endurance athletes. Got a burning question? Veganbodybuilding.com’s Forums discuss everything from Martial Arts to Vegan Dating. Plus, where else can you order a grass green headband embroidered with VEGAN in bold all-caps or a sunshine yellow TEAM VEGAN tank top?

And, of course, Crazy, Sexy, Life!!!

P.S. Please leave your comments sharing your fave WWV destinations below!