Apr7

Vegan Revolution

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Everyone knows “that one vegan” who cannot stop talking about their veganness and who posts incessantly on FaceBook and Instagram about their vegan life. And no one likes that vegan because it gets pretty old pretty fast (although I can totally understand the excitement now that I’m one too). I don’t want to be that vegan, but at the same time, I’m so passionate and excited about it that sometimes it is hard to hold myself back. I am trying to find a balance between taking over my friends’ lives with veganness and functioning as a normal human being, and so far this balance has resulted in me keeping my mouth closed a lot of the time until I can let my vegan thoughts fly free in my vegan friend circles, which mostly consists of me, my roommate Audrey, and my friend Bridger.

However, I recently received two pieces of information that have caused me to decide to open up and start my little part in the vegan revolution:

  1. My mom sent me an email claiming that Tioga Pass (which is an entrance to Yosemite in the Sierras) is at SIX PERCENT of normal snow pack. Six percent, people!
  2. I got an email asking for any students interested in doing a talk for our annual Westminster Thinks BIG event which happens in the fall.

Can you believe that Tioga is at 6% of average? Climate change is real and it is happening now! There is no time for us to sit around twiddling our thumbs and calling climate change a “myth.” Climate change is impacting our lives as we speak, and it is our duty to do what we can to decrease our atrocious impact on Earth and to slow this whole process down.

So, with that alarming kick in the pants, I applied to do a talk at Westminster Thinks BIG, which is basically Westminster’s version of TED Talks, where students and professors and alumni give a short presentation on their big ideas and passions. I am pretty passionate about this whole environmentalism through veganism thing, so I think it is time to start spreading the word as much as I can to at least get people thinking about the consequences of their diet. I can eat a clean vegan diet all I want, but that alone will not return Tioga Pass to average snow pack. This has to be a group effort, and by group I mean a national and international effort, so it’s time to start doing my part right here on my little liberal arts campus in the middle of Utah. Changing the world is a pretty daunting task, but with each new person who cuts back on meat and animal products, we get one step closer to that goal.

6 responses »

  1. I completely understand how you feel, knowing you are pretty lonely vegan in your circle of friends and acquaintances, you tend to keep it to yourself, while others don’t have issues sharing “normal” non-vegan stuff. Well, we can’t be heard if we don’t speak up, so go for it! 🙂

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  3. Go, Zoey! Wonderful that you have signed up to do the Big talk. I do think you are sufficiently passionate! I hope you will forgive me if I don’t go totally vegan, but I do share your concern for climate change.

    Up here in the NW, snow pack in the mountains is less than 30% of normal. Many of the ski resorts have only been open here and there, when the snow is deep enough. Apparently Mt. Rainier has a “snow play” area that was only open one day this winter, and then they finally closed it, for lack of snow. Some say this is an El Nino year, but I don’t think you can contest that there our climate is changing. Love, Aunt Marjenta

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