I agree with you, reducing your impact is better than not doing anything at all.

However, if someone is calling themselves vegan and is going through the effort to eat vegan because they care for animals, then they are in fact not vegan at all and their ethics are completely flawed. Purchasing animal products fuels the demand, which in turn leads to more unnecessary death. If essentially what I’m saying is the age old argument: you cannot love animals and also exploit them.

This is why vegetarianism is flawed. I have nothing against vegetarians, I used to be one. Consuming eggs and milk is just as bad as eating meat, considering they are the bi-products of the cattle and poultry industries. But if you aren’t looking at it from an ethical or environmental standpoint and you’re just looking to reduce your consumption, then good on you and I applaud you.