Leafletting For The Animals
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Over 10 billion animals die every year for human consumption. 99% of animals killed in the U.S. each year die to be eaten.
A leafletter is one of the best possible advocates for animals. Handing out fliers and pamphlets encourages people to think about meat, to try veganism, and to go vegan for good. If you would like to be a vegan leafletter, all you have to do is collect some materials to hand out and go stand in a public place handing them out. Or, you can leave fliers and pamphlets around in public places for people to pick up themselves.
Vegan Outreach estimates their leafletting activism has created enough vegetarians and vegans to spare the lives of over 2 million animals per year! (source) Imagine what we could do with more vegan leafletters!
Here are some materials you can distribute:
- http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/resources.html
- http://www.petaliterature.com/
- http://www.exploreveg.org/resources/
- http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/index.htm
I carry a few leaflets in my purse. When I have an opportunity I leave them for people to read. I set a pamphlet on top of a stack of magazines in a waiting room or I pin a pamphlet to a coffee shop’s bulletin board. I leave them all over the place, anywhere that I think someone will pick it up and read it.
If you leave just one pamphlet a day, over the course of ten years, you could create 100 new vegetarians without hardly trying. That boils down to about 3500 animals’ lives saved every year, 35000 animals’ lives saved over ten years (math here). That’s pretty good for a very simple, very safe, very easy form of animal activism that you can do anywhere, anytime.
Some good, public places to distribute vegan materials are these:
- College Campuses
- Shopping Malls
- Coffee Shops
- Restrooms
- Concerts
- Libraries
- Restaurants
- Waiting Rooms
The pamphlets also come in handy when someone asks me about veganism. I can hand them a flier so they have more than just my word, they can read about it and think about it later. Just the other day a man saw my car’s bumper and asked, “Where do you get your protein?” I handed him the Food For Thought podcast sampler and told him, “Listen to track two.” I handed him a vegan recipes pamphlet, too.
So get out there and do it. Most people are friendly and willingly accept the literature. If you simply smile, say “hello”, and hand them a brochure, many people will take it. You don’t need to give a speech, you don’t need to be an expert, you don’t need to “sell” anything, you just have to try your best. The animals and your conscience will thank you.
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*This post is an edited version of an older post. It’s a “repeat.” So, if it seems like you’ve seen this already, sorry abou that. For many readers, this is brand new.
Just as an aside, I highly recommend picking the more positive messages from the vast array offered on the above sites. Vegan Outreach has some especially nice ones. I did some research on the efficacy of positive vs negative toned messaged recently, and from preliminary analysis it looks like (as far as this topic is concerned) positive is the way to go.
~ Recent blog post: President-Elect Obama on factory farming ~
Thanks for posting this. I think I will give it a try.
Jen,
Can you tell more about your research?
From what I’ve read and done, I think positive is definitely the way to go when it comes to personal one-to-one interactions. I think it’s key to emphasize joyfulness and abundance, when possible and appropriate.
But I think videos and images of the horror of factory farming is extremely effective, too. And well, that’s not positive. Even couched in “Compassionate Choices” or something, it can’t really be called “positive.” But it’s effective and it’s honest and I think that’s key.
Anyway, I’d love to hear more about research. I find persuasion, marketing, and human behavior fascinating.