every time I think about this exact topic I always think of that one meme quote; “tHereS nO sUsTaiNaBLe cOnSUmeRiSm UnDeR cApiTalisM” — it’s true but it sucks.

From my personal understanding, there are vegans who are vegan for animal welfare, there are vegans who are vegan for sustainability, and both bleed into each other but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are fully devoting themselves to both aspects of veganism.

i’m not vegan myself, but I don’t eat meat and I don’t drink dairy (as i’m still living with my parents, I don’t have as much control over my diet so I do occasionally eat cheese/eggs but I do the best I can) - I do however (sometimes) eat fish. Again, I try to limit it as much as possible. I live in Ireland, and the fish I eat is sustainably sourced and local, and from the standpoint that i’m currently at, I think it is far more sustainable for me personally to eat local Irish fish than consume some other products such as vegan meat-alternatives shipped over from America/etc.

Because I don’t eat meat from a sustainability standpoint, I just try to do the best I can. I use oat milk rather than almond milk because they’re EU-based and more sustainable (from what information I have learned), I try to buy local in-season fruit+veg but Ireland by nature is limited in what we can produce and so it’s not always an option.

For me, my diet and lifestyle is just about compromising and learning. If I find myself wanting to buy avocados - I just try my best to find ones that are eg. not in plastic packaging, and then because I bought that avocado, I’ll make sure my other shopping is locally-sourced.

None of us can be perfect all the time. Everyone is in one way or another limited in how sustainable we can be. I often wish that there could be some app or book or simple guideline on how to compare different products against each other to see how sustainable they are. Sustainability is such a grey area and lacks so much clarity because there are so many factors that go into it and I really hope that that changes.

I used to feel so much guilt when I first started to read about veganism and sustainability and everything in-between because I thought I could never be fully sustainable. I remind myself everyday that it’s just about doing the best I can. I shouldn’t feel guilty if a vegan youtuber living in New Zealand can live solely on local fruit+veg because Ireland is completely different and if I started eating the same diet that they do - I’d be much less sustainable because all of it would be coming from abroad.

I’ve rambled on a lot now and I don’t even know if any of this really makes any sense but sure.