The exciting world of offline activism

I haven't been blogging much lately, but that's doesn't mean I'm getting lazy, no, it just means I've been engaging in a lot more offline activism!

Every Tuesday, providing it's a fine day, the Auckland Abolitionist Vegans Association (AAVA for short) goes out onto Aotea Square armed with a little table, pamphlets, and delicious vegan cupcakes free with a conversation! We've had some great conversations, the cupcakes are a big hit and also an awesome conversation starter "Vegan cupcakes? How can you bake without egg..?"

We have great fun at the stall! It's so great to get out and talk to people face-to-face about veganism. It's much better than talking online, where you can't see the person you're talking to. And I learn so much by talking to people and answering their questions. It helps me become a better activist. I would recommend to anyone to start a vegan stall in their area!

Something else I've started doing - hand printed t-shirt designs! It's a wonderful way to use my artistic talents to promote veganism.. and it gets me off the computer too! :)

Elizabeth wearing one of my "NZ Vegan" shirts

It's so fun and satisfying to see the end product after hours of drawing :) What I do is I create large stencils (just out of paper), print them out, cut little holes along the lines, stencil the holes on using fabric markers, then "connect the dots" and fill everything else in by hand. It's a long, delicate process (the fabric markers are permanent, so one mistake could ruin it!) but a very enjoyable thing for me to do.

I've also done a couple of interviews in the past few weeks with the Roanoke Vegan Examiner and NZ Vegan Podcast. Thanks for having me, Corey and Elizabeth :)

I would encourage anyone to get out there and participate in some form of vegan education. Do a stall, give away vegan baking, hand out pamphlets, create a short film, draw a picture, make a sculpture, whatever you enjoy doing, look for a way to promote veganism.

Peace and love ~

Emmy