…I was not born into being a Vegan, thus I had to learn later in life- THANK YOU, MD COLLEGE’S PHILOSOPHY PROFESSOR MR. FINK!, & had to constantly figure things out, as I took it really slow to becoming Vegan, so I was never going back.
I make a big deal to represent & not sell-out on important things like this & was former shoe salesman (the original crew were awesome & best workmates, I have ever had) & former clothes salesman, so I had a lot of clothes that are not Vegan. To practice what is best for ‘Global Warming’ & rest of environmental & employment issues, I do not throw away clothes, thus never have to buy new clothes & I have been athletic thin my entire life, so clothes from HS. It is bad to just throw away clothes (some are well woren, especially, work shoes) or even donate, because they are not Vegan, for previous mentioned reasons.
Then there is issue of being representative/role model of what Veganism is, cannot always have time to explain it to all that see me.
How does other Vegans handle this?
As the other commenters said, most people don’t even think about it. It’s very much a vegan thought to have. And veganism is about not causing harm. There’s nothing you can do to cause any more harm by using those clothes. And yeah, just like the other commenters said, it might as well be a good conversation starter.
Thank you, repeat previous reply,
Just to check, you only see one other member that replied to me here, right?
Yeah I was just lazy and used the voice input which decided to go with plural 🤷
Okay, good it was not a problem.
Most non vegans don’t think about these things as much as we do and so they won’t even notice. If they do, I think that it is a good conversation starter to the actual realities of being vegan, and may make it seem more accessible to them.
WOW, thank you, this has been in back of my mind for years, yet, I never came even close to that awesome figuring it all out.
I don’t buy used non-vegan clothes or items but if i already owned them then i will continue to use them. They will naturally get phased out over time
Its easy to handle this once you are in your thirties and stop having friends. Jkjk
You are right to question these things and I think most Vegans go through this kind of struggle. The answer will be different for different people. I fall into the “no ethical consumption under capitalism” category and it helps keep me humble. So even if you find and commit to only Vegan clothes and shoes (there are a lot of great options now, this is definitely more doable than in the past) a truck which burns fossil fuels, requires destroying habitats to build roads and will kill thousands of insects on the way to deliver your shoes will still be your middle man.
Personally, I still wear my HS clothes as well. I have phased out nonvegan shoes and belts, but i did it gradually and naturally over years by just replacing ones that reached end of life with Vegan ones. Now, my car still has leather seats because I’m not perfect and while I would love if they were Vegan leather that wasn’t an option. Finding an honest car dealer was so frustrating and hard that haggling over interior materials like clothe was beyond my mental capacity at that point. I didnt even think of it until after the purchase. I’m sure Im the bad guy in someone’s book for that, but to me veganism isnt an endless checklist of dos and don’ts. Besides I’ve found people who make mountains over these molehills to be unpleasant company anyways.
Because we are a small group and humans love purity tests its important to keep in mind that reasonable people who are real Vegans will reach different conclusions.
Contrary to what most people said here, I do not bring these things up with people who are nonvegans. Nonvegans already perceive the barrier to entry to be too high and many of them think we look at them with judgment. Plus many do not know that I eat anything other than Caesar salad and blocks of tofu. So if they ask me what being a Vegan is like and I go on a rant about how I cant get the stylish running shoes I want and have to settle for these others, I have just raised the barrier even higher for that person and left all their biases unchecked. I’d much rather talk about the glory of homemade bread and fresh noodles that haven’t harmed a sentient being.
I do not have time to read all of that right now, sick as well & might sleep, but by Saturday. I will have one way or another. Erase this & replace my understanding reply.
