The Vegan Society and Ecotricity: a sustainable partnership

The Vegan Society and Ecotricity: a sustainable partnership

There are many reasons why our partnership works so well.

On the one hand there’s The Vegan Society – a charity dedicated to raising awareness about living a compassionate lifestyle which is better for the planet and everything living on it. And on the other there’s Ecotricity – a company championing green energy and working tirelessly to make it accessible to as many people as possible.

On top of this, both are pioneering institutions, being the original vegan organisation and the first company in the world to offer green electricity. The Vegan Society and Ecotricity are part of an important wider movement for positive change, and our visionary ideals for the future are clearly in alignment.

Ecotricity recognise that veganism is a fundamental element to a green lifestyle, and are proud to say so. Founder Dale Vince is a committed vegan, and has been for many years. Ecotricity’s sister organisation, Forest Green Rovers Football Club, is smashing stereotypes about vegan food by being the only football club in the world to have its menu registered with The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark.

Ethical energy

And it’s not only the fare at Forest Green Rovers which bears The Vegan Society’s iconic sunflower logo – as of this year, Ecotricity’s energy is also registered.

Many members of the general public are unaware that they could be paying for a non-vegan power supply. By-products of animal farming are routinely used to create energy, and the fact that this is classed as ‘renewable’ means that many ‘green’ companies use these methods. This means that their customers may be unknowingly helping to prop up the animal farming industries.

The fact that Ecotricity have taken a stance against these practices is reassuring to any consumers who, as well as investing in sustainable energy, also wish to fund a compassionate alternative to mainstream power.

Tackling climate change together

Veganism is a lifestyle which brings together many aspects of compassionate living, and this is the reason why it resonates with so many people and is finally gaining mainstream attraction.

Here at The Vegan Society we are now seeing higher numbers of people choose veganism for environmental reasons. Animal agriculture is responsible for the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as the all worldwide transport industries combined, and overwhelming evidence shows that it is the most sustainable off-the-shelf diet that someone can choose. A vegan diet avoids the inherent inefficiencies of animal farming, cutting out the huge amounts of waste which occurs in terms of land, water and calories.

At The Vegan Society we are running multiple campaigns which aim to raise awareness of the damaging nature of animal agriculture and ways to move away from this method of food production. Our campaign Plate up for the Planet helps people to make the link between their diet and its environmental impact, and encourages them to take a 7-day vegan challenge. So far over 16,000 people have signed up, collectively saving the energy equivalent of over 1,000,000km flown on a long-haul flight!

Grow Green is our campaign to encourage a shift from animal farming to crop farming, calling on the government to create policies to make this vision a reality. If we want to feed a growing population sustainably, we need to support farmers willing to do something radical, and change the way they do agriculture.

This World Vegan Month, make a difference and consider a vegan lifestyle. We have launched a brand new, one of a kind app called VeGuide which is free and available to help you every step of the way. If you are vegan already, please join The Vegan Society from as little as £2 a month to help us campaign for a greener and more compassionate world.

Elena Orde, Campaigns and Communications Officer at The Vegan Society

We’ll donate up to £60 to The Vegan Society when you switch to Ecotricity – find out more here.