If you only hang out with animal rights activists, you’ll have fewer opportunities to spread the word about cruelty-free eating. It’s great to have non-animal interests. You could join a book club; work out in the gym in your animal rights T-shirt; join a running, biking, or hiking club; or do whatever activity is important to you. Get involved in different organizations, and become the animals’ voice in these communities. It’s amazing how many animal rights activists are members of a religious community, a book group, or a basketball team and then tell us that no one in their group thinks the way they do about animals. It often turns out that the activist is just not speaking up, and that they have no idea how others feel about the issue! Great ways to help animals and to start the conversation are to wear an animal rights T-shirt or button, to have a bumper sticker on your car, and to carry PETA’s vegetarian starter kits with you everywhere so that you always have something to hand to people if you end up in a discussion. Wearing a button or a T-shirt is a little thing, but it’s extremely effective.
Your workplace can also be a great place to talk with people about animal issues—just put an animal rights postcard or sticker on your wall or in your cubicle, and questions will follow! Plus, make sure you politely work with company officials to get more vegan foods offered in the vending machine and company cafeteria.