Berkeley Vegan Earth Day

Last night we attended the first Berkeley Vegan Earth Day at the Cal campus.  It was a pretty small event: there were about eight vendors, a small raffle, a screening of the movie Call of Life, and a panel presentation.  I had really been looking forward to it, and I had a great time.  But it was really interesting to see veganism and environmentalism clashing with greenwashing and consumerism.

I got really excited about attending the event when I heard there were going to be t-shirts, water bottles, and reusable bags.  It made me realize what an absolute consumer whore I am.  I was very eager to get to the event early enough to have my first pick of the t-shirts.  Now granted, they were made by Stay Vocal, a company that reuses shirts that otherwise would have been shredded into rags, but did we really need shirts?  And did we really need bottles?  There were no labels on them to say where they came from, and a lot of metal bottles are made in China (including Klean Kanteens).  And where were the bags made?  No labels on them either.  They seemed to be made of recycled plastic, but there weren't any labels stating so so I can't be sure.

Most of the vendors had big stacks of handouts.  Some of them were printed on recycled paper, but not all of them.  And there were lots of things to buy.  There was a vendor who claimed to be selling all vegan food, but one of their items had honey in it.  When I called him on it, he said, "Well, it depends on how strict a vegan you are."  Even Travis, who constantly criticizes me for being too strict in my veganism, agrees that if you're selling "vegan" food, you have to prepare it according to the strictest definition of veganism. 

I ended up spending almost $100 on the ticket, shirts, water bottle, bag, food, and books, and I felt like the dirtiest consumer.  I got a bumper sticker, but passed over a sheet of stickers, thinking the plastic backing was probably not recyclable.  I only picked up handouts that I promised myself I would read and use to show other people.  I didn't see any compost bins, and I winced at all of the plastic wrapping everywhere.  I bought a drink that was served in a waxed paper cup, and squirmed inside when the vendor put a plastic lid on it and gave me a plastic straw without asking me if I wanted them.

It was Earth Day.  I learned some valuable new things, and overall I enjoyed myself.  But I also learned a lot about what I don't want to do in my life and or at my wedding.  Being truly green involves a lot more than just slapping the words "vegan" or "Earth Day" on things.