Veganuary 2024 – Is your business taking part for a greener future?

Since 2014, the locally founded but very global movement that is Veganuary has encouraged millions of people and businesses worldwide to try a vegan lifestyle each January to highlight another means of protecting the environment, while preventing animal suffering and improving health all round. 

“Our mission is to inspire and support people to try vegan, drive corporate change, and create a global mass-movement championing compassionate food choices with the aim of ending animal farming, protecting the planet and improving human health.”  – Veganuary, 2024

Depending on your business sector, you might be wondering why you would ever consider signing up for Veganuary. If you’re not in the food, fashion or farming sectors, then realistically what sort of positive sustainable difference could you make to our planet? Well, small changes lead to big results and there’s a lot that you can do as a business to take part.

As a sustainably mindful business you can widen your CSR by encouraging your team to take part each year and beyond, making a positive impact to the planet we live on. It can be something as small as providing plant milk over cow’s milk to your staff, adding more vegan foods to your restaurant or canteen menu,, serving vegan food at your events or sharing the campaign within your internal and external comms. You can also work it into your team building activities with vegan themed bake offs or a team gathering at a vegan restaurant. 

Food, clothing & beauty retailers can aim to make their menus more vegan friendly,  remove leather and wool from their garment offering and reduce products containing animal fibres or byproducts to help reduce reliance on animal agriculture across the world.

What does veganism actually have to do with saving the planet?

The global food system emits a third of greenhouse gasses, uses 70% of the world’s freshwater and causes 80% of river and lake pollution, so it should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Research has shown that switching to a vegan lifestyle is another means of helping look after the planet that our children and children’s children will grow up in. It is widely recognised that veganism can help contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly food system, addressing key environmental challenges associated with traditional agriculture. Simply by following a vegan lifestyle, you can reduce climate heating emissions by a whopping 75% (Guardian, 2023). 

Did you know, it takes 7,500 litres of water to produce just one steak?! And cows’ farts actually produce harmful gasses? Yes really!  Cows, along with other animals like sheep and goats, have a specialized stomach with a digestive system that produces methane as a byproduct of the fermentation process that occurs in their stomachs meaning that when cows belch or release gas (farts!) methane is released into the atmosphere. By opting for a vegan diet, we can help reduce the demand for animal products, leading to lower greenhouse gas emissions overall. If we all do it together then we can make a big change.

You can find out more about how to take part in Veganuary this year here. If you can’t support Veganuary directly, then use this as your motivation to seek alternative positive changes for a sustainable future within your business sector. Sign up to be the first to hear more about Yorkshire Sustainability Festival 2024 where we strengthen, inspire and expand the sustainable business community. Building upon the success of last year, this is the must-attend sustainable event of the year to put the spotlight on Yorkshire businesses once again. Be there or you’ll be left behind.

Sign up here.