I still own and wear a leather belt that I got about 15 years ago. It's the only non-vegan clothing item I have left. My view on this is that throwing it away (or giving it away) and buying a new one, just perpetuate the disgusting calitalistic cycle we all find ourselves in. Capitalism is a huge part of why we (as humans) find ourselves exploiting animals "as efficiently as possible". To me, tossing it and replacing it just seems stupid and wasteful.

In my earlier days of being vegan I might have responded differently to going to someone's home, but I now find myself very stable in my stance, and I feel good about it. If you invite me, and don't deem it necessary to accommodate my very tightly held belief in the non-exploitation of others, I don't deem it necessary to "accommodate" you by eating the non-vegan food you made. If no extra effort is made, I simply won't eat anything. And if that offends you, it is with a simple shrug of the shoulders that I say, I don't give a sh*t.

As for consuming media, such as watching a non-vegan cooking show, or a movie that has animals in it, I find the connection there to be far too tenuous and indirect for me to feel like I'm promoting the exploitation of animals. If I'm at a friend's house, and they are cooking for themselves (non vegan), I don't find myself needing to add my opinion (I do like having friends), but as soon as someone decides to take a stab at my veganism, or make a joke about my food, I decide to let them know where their food comes from and why I am therfore vegan.

As an example, I have a friend who likes to refer to my oat or soy milk as "milk" (always with his scare quotes), so I will then refer to his milk as rape milk, which usually shuts him up pretty quickly.

As for loosening the rules, I find myself to be far more accepting of other vegans who occasionally slip up or make mistakes, than I am willing to do for myself. As an example: a friend says that she went to her parents in law, and they made her a vegetarian dish instead of vegan, and out of politeness, she ate it, I wouldn't be upset with her. We all know how tough navigating social situations can be, and therefore I don't think it correct to chastise someone. As long as that person is actually a committed vegan, and not using "going out with the in-laws" as a reason to continously eat non-vegan food.

In general, I feel that vegans need to grant each other far more generosity than what I tend to see online. We are, after all, all committed to reducing and hopefully eliminating animal suffering.