“You’re Not Saving the World”: Why I’m Still Vegan

I’m vegan, and I have been for eight years. Somehow, that fact seems to invite commentary.

One of the responses I hear is some version of, “You know you’re not saving the world, right?”

And they’re right.

My choice to not eat animal products is not going to single-handedly stop climate change. The entire world is not going to suddenly become vegan because I am. I’m not even arguing that everyone should become vegan. For many people, completely changing their diet may be unrealistic, inaccessible, unhealthy for their individual needs, or simply not something they want to do.

But I’ve never understood why my inability to solve an entire problem means I shouldn’t contribute to solving it at all.

I try to make sustainable choices because I want to be able to look in the mirror and know that I did what I reasonably could. Veganism is one of those choices for me. For someone else, it might mean eating less meat, wasting less food, buying fewer unnecessary clothes, taking public transportation when possible, or simply being more conscious of what they consume.

Individual choices alone will not solve climate change. But “I can’t fix everything” is a pretty terrible reason to do nothing.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this mentality extends far beyond environmentalism. It applies to anti-racism too.

One person standing up to a racist comment is not going to end racism. One student educating themselves about another culture will not eliminate discrimination. One person questioning a stereotype will not dismantle centuries of prejudice.

So, should we just stop trying? Of course not.

When someone makes a racist joke, we don’t say, “Well, calling it out won’t end racism, so there’s no point.” We understand that doing the right thing still matters, even when one action cannot fix the entire problem.

Anti-racism depends on that idea.

You don’t have to fix an entire problem for your contribution to matter. You just have to decide whether you want to contribute to the problem or contribute to the solution.

I know which one I want to choose.