Veganuary – Who, What, Where, When, Why and How?

You’ve heard of Dry January, but, the campaign that is stealing the show this opening month of the year is Veganuary.

But what exactly is it? And why should you take part?

Who?

Veganuary is a charity that is aiming to get people eating a Vegan diet this January in the hope that it may change their habits for the rest of the year. Anyone can take part. You might be thinking that it seems tough, especially if you have a family to feed, however, cooking Vegan meals for them means that you’ll be seeing the benefits on a much greater scale, and it may be easier than you think…

What?

It’s simple; eat a Vegan diet for the whole of January. That means no meat, no fish, no dairy, and no poultry – nothing that comes from an animal. The charity themselves hope that this will inspire folks like yourselves to change, or at least adapt, your diet for the rest of the year, but if not, then the benefits of just one month are worth it alone.

READ MORE: Check out these 22 Vegan restaurants in Liverpool

Where?

Everywhere! At home and when eating out. The latter can be tough, however once again; the good people at Veganuary are here to help. Their website gives you recipes for cooking at home and tips on eating out, as well as for shopping at the supermarket. Although their site has specialised products, you can find an incredible selection in all supermarkets these days, from Aldi to Waitrose and everything in between.

When?

Throughout this January, if we haven’t made that clear already. You can start today, however, Veganuary hope to make an impact on your diet throughout the year.

READ MORE: Your Vegan Guide to Winter in Liverpool

Why?

Taking part in a vegan diet benefits your health, animals and ultimately the environment.

By cutting out animal products you can lower cholesterol, lower your blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. What is more healthy than eating plants? Many people worry about the nutrition that you may lack, however, most of those worries are simply myths. The Veganuary website does an amazing job of busting those myths here, and tells you about how the diet can benefit your health and help you with nutrition.

Animals that are used for our own consumption are given somewhat of a raw deal, even those that are certified “organic”. We won’t fill your screen with horrific images of what some of our fellow earthlings go through so that we can consume them, their eggs or their milk, as that tends to have the opposite effect. However, please do take a minute to read through the Veganuary site on why helping animals is a worthwhile cause, especially when it is this easy.

Going Vegan benefits the environment more than turning off all the lights, not wasting water and keeping the heating on low ever can. The amount of energy wasted on growing, killing, packaging and transporting these products is why animal agriculture is the leading contributor to climate change. Eating vegan makes a more positive impact than giving up your car – it can halve your greenhouse gas emissions and it will save wild animals from extinction. We are not here to bombard you with facts, but educate yourself on how big a difference you can make on the Veganuary website, whilst also checking out documentaries like Cowspiracy, Food Inc. and What The Health – all on Netflix or available to purchase, amongst many others.

How?

You’ll probably already have a lot of Vegan products in the kitchen without even thinking about it. All you have to do is change your next supermarket shop to cut out the animal products. The Veganuary site has loads of tips to help you get started, including their very own starter kit, however, the diet is so popular these days that there are all sorts out there to help, especially online.

Although going Vegan includes cutting out animal products such as leather, certain make-up brands and soaps, this campaign is not telling you to throw all of that out! It’s just about not buying any more for this month, in the hope that you will cut down in the future. Or, if it’s just the diet that interests you, then there is nothing stopping you from still getting stuck in.

It all boils down to just giving it a go and finding the reasons that best work for you. The Veganuary site is really helpful and has a lot of bite size, accurate information on it for you to consume.

Head over to veganuary.com to check it all out and potentially change your year for the better, if not just your January.