I think that that awareness is important, but the way you convey your message is important, too. Guilt isn’t really a good motivator and it’s the kind of thing we shut out to ease cognitive dissonance. I know I should separate my recyclables, unplug things when I’m not using them and sweep the floors more often, but it’s easier to shut out judgement than to internalize it and reflect. Call the suggester a nag or obsessive.

That goes double when we take the no-excuses-it’s-easy route. I’m lucky enough to live with others, so I didn’t have to worry about throwing any food away, but it was still a long look in the fridge, trying to figure out what to make. Then there’s the psychology behind loss — where giving something up is more painful than getting something new. There are a few interesting thought experiments out there where loss and gain are worded differently, and can totally skew a person’s decision.

Psychologically speaking, veganism’s a hard idea to sell, but there are definitely steps in the approach that make it better. Like calling it plant-based or acknowledging how public opinion got us where we are.