This is not our average post, but a short and quite sharp and straightforward announcement! Visit our shop while supporting our fundraiser! We are so happy to announce that our Very Very Much Shop is finally open for business! To start it off in a …
Do you celebrate your vegan anniversary? Is this even a thing? Yes, it is! And it even does have it’s special name – veganniversary!
You have made a wonderful decision of going vegan. Good for you, we applaud your decision. But what’s next? Let us share some simple tips to help you!
Pat yourself on the shoulder for making that amazing decision. Summer is the easiest time to start your vegan journey. The new beginnings are sometimes hard and full of challenges. Let us direct you through the obstacles, which may arise. Please take a look at our short to-do list after making a decision when transitioning to a plant-based life. Please know that this list is in random order. You will find what is more important to you, so you can tackle that first. If you have anything else to add, please let us know, we would love to update this list.
*Start clearing your pantry, fridge, and freezer – read the labels and take all out which is not made of plants. But please do not trash the food. Look for donation options via community fridges, food banks, especially if you have lots of unopened products. If you have opened items and feel comfortable giving them away, please put everything in a box. Put it on the curb, or by recycling collection areas and your food will find a new home fast.
*Plan your meals – in the beginning, it may hard to find what to eat. That’s why you should have ideas for the first weeks. Find inspiration from Elephantastic Vegan.
*Tell your friends and family about your decision on going vegan – tell them your story. Add whatever you want to share with them, now when you are on your plant-based journey. Perhaps sharing this link from The Spruce Eats helps them to understand you better from the eating perspective.
*Educate yourself constantly – read more. Follow vegan news, check new recipes, visit vegan forums – the vegan community is there to help you.
*Meet other vegans – post on Instagram, follow fellow vegan websites, reach out in your neighbourhood groups – the people you meet there will always offer you support and help to answer your questions.
*Ask help from us – we are always here to help people transitioning to vegan and share personal tips on their righteous path.
We will break these points to separate articles and help you find more information behind all these suggestions. So, please check back weekly to find more information.
It may not be easy in the beginning, but which beginning is easy ever? So stay true to yourself. Remind yourself of the reason for you going vegan. Think of the values, the lives of the animals in whose death you are not participating, and of what it means to you. We are creatures of habits, we can change if we want to, it takes time, but it can be done!
Welcome to the wonderful vegan family!
20 days later after participating in a 30-day minimalism challenge to have fewer items – what was the outcome?
After watching this video – you will know more than enough about Tru Earth laundry eco-strips and you will be sold. We definitely are!
If you haven’t heard about minimalism, then it is your time to jump on and find out what a fun thing is a 30-day minimalism challenge!
We chose a word to describe this new year. It is action. In addition to that, we will challenge ourselves. Just trying to enjoy every day as much as we can – share, love, laugh. We are volunteering, saving, and sharing food, not spending any money, and trying every day to get something out of the freezer. Plus we are not eating animals. A huge help while saving lives and mother Earth.
We live in a cute, but not so spacious apartment. Ever since we moved in – things just appeared. We are trying to get rid of them, as we do not want to clean, arrange, move them or just be afraid that something is going to fall on us. In other words – we want to get rid of stuff. Hence, the 30-day minimalism challenge is exactly for us.
This game or challenge is created by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus, who we know mostly as the Minimalists. They are challenging people to get rid of stuff, which clutters their homes in a fun way.
The minimalists recommend finding a friend, family member, or co-worker who’s willing to minimize their stuff with you next month. The idea is very easy: each person gets rid of one thing on the first day. Two things on the second. Three things on the third. So forth and so on.
We started our minimalism challenge on the 20th of January and have been on it for two weeks, including today.
While thinking of getting rid of stuff, we may think on small items in our drawers and toiletry cabinets, but The Minimalists share their tips, so basically, anything goes:
Collectables.
Decorations.
Kitchenware.
Electronics.
Furniture.
Bedding.
Clothes.
Towels.
Tools.
But just be warned that one person’s 30-days minimalism challenge includes getting rid of 465 items! If you have too many things, then you can take the challenge again next month 😉
Giving away few things in the first week may be not so complicated, but it will get harder each day. I started with a little basket that was just sitting there on the counter and doing nothing. Gone!
Be persistent and go through ALL drawers, closets, pantries. Do not forget anything. Look around you and ask if this is what you really need? When was the last time you used this item?
We are doing this just to challenge ourselves and to get rid of things, so winning is not our goal here. But originally the idea is that whoever keeps it going the longest wins. If both of you make it to the end, then you are both winners.
Share your success on The Minimalist’s social media using #minsgame hashtag.
We have been gathering the things at the moment to a cardboard box and since today we are starting to actually take the things out. Our plan is to put together a box of small things, which may be of interest to passersby’s in a busy street. Then we will share the photo with our nearby friends and see if they want anything.
Some of the bigger things we are getting rid of we have been trying to sell or trade for months, so we know that selling or trading doesn’t work. Since we do not throw things in the garbage, but share instead with friends or strangers, putting out a cardboard box with a sign free – works the best for us.
So, donate, sell, share or put out, it is up to you. We didn’t do that what the Minimalists recommended – every material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day. But we are confident that we do not want any of those things, and they will leave our household sometime soon. I wouldn’t have been able to take these photos to show our success so far.
Find out more how to “play” the 30-day minimalism challenge from The Minimalist’s YouTube channel:
Also we recommend this very inspirational video, which definitely gives you good tips on what to get rid of:
The 30-day minimalism challenge is not over for us. Though we didn’t take photos of everything we are getting rid of you can still get a little overview of what we have been giving away. We will share more photos in our follow-up post. Not sure if we can take it until the end, but we will try our best.
Jump on board! Let’s do it!
We have been throwing some challenges this year: Veganuary and volunteering. Perhaps you are ready for more?
Do you need anything? Just ask. Mutual aid is based on asking and helping each other’s goals come true! Get to know more about it below.
As luck has it January is known as Veganuary. Therefore it is very easy to try to be vegan for a month! Our three tips will help you!
So you have made a wonderful decision of wanting to try being vegan for a month. No matter how long you can hold on to it, your choice is very much worthy of applause. Even if you manage to be vegan just for one day, you will save 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forest, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one animal’s life. Isn’t that great?
But month being vegan does sound much nicer, eh? With the help of a wonderful vegan calculator at Vegancalculator.com, you can do some easy math. So during one month of being vegan, you would save the following:
There is more than one reason to try going vegan for a month at least. Below are some things to keep in mind though when going vegan. These few tips will help you out during the most difficult few days and weeks.
Now think about why you want to be vegan for a month? Is it for the health, the animals or environment or some other reason? Though the most popular reasons are health and compassion for the animals, the others around you, especially meat-eaters can be threatened by that. As they think you are trying to be better than them. Or they will just do not get your sudden wish of loving animals of all kinds. The third reason why people go vegan is for the environment. This is half less popular than the previous answer. But this is actually the most acceptable cause for those who are not vegans. Environment affects us all, and making conscious choices about your eating habits, may actually make others also want to question theirs.
Being vegan is connected to saving CO2, forests, and water. In a year a person who only eats plants will save:
Striking numbers, right?
When you do not consume animal products you leave out of your plate, you’re not eating so much. it is really important to replace the missing food items with others. Think of tofu, tempeh, beans, mushrooms, etc. Vegans tend to eat more, as the meals made of plants are less calorically intense. So you need to compensate for what you are missing. If you really love cheese, deli slices, and some other animal products, do not worry. There are a wonderful variety of all kinds of spreads, cheeses, and mock meat. Another good way how to eat properly is to google for vegan meal recipes. You will find a galore of breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas. Whole grains, legumes, and starches are your friends now. You need to consume more of these food items to obtain more energy!
It is very important to stay on track when just started with a vegan lifestyle. Our lives are oftentimes so busy that we do not have time enough to prepare our meals and snacks. That’s how we may grab a muesli-bar which has some milk powder in it or a pastry made of eggs and butter. Believe us, we know that there are not many vegan-friendly snack options always nearby. Be one step ahead and prepare a little snack bag. It may consist of nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and dark chocolate bits. Most of the potato chips are vegan and so are Oreo cookies. Let us recommend once again our favourite snack – peanut butter or peanuts and banana. Oh, they go together so well, giving you a sweet and salty, soft and crunchy experience. And this combo is oh so filling.
Starting with something or changing habits may not come overnight. If you started this journey because of health issues, you may see some changes overnight or you may have to wait for the results. Do not give up, just enjoy your path. The easiest is to cook food yourself and make your favourite homemade meals vegan. If you need help vegan websites and communities are there for you. Remember, plan a bit ahead, as every beginning is a bit bumpy. As an article we read about becoming vegan – it is a journey, not a race.
Perhaps now you want to be vegan longer than just a month.
Read more about our other article on Veganury here.
Get help from this vegan starter kit at Veganuary.com
If you’re still not sure what to expect, read more by Maggie Kelly about her experience of going vegan for a month at Bodyandsoul.com
Statistics of the vegancalculator.com are listed here.