I’m a sucker for everything D.I.Y. Do it yourself gadgets, gifts, decorations, you name it. If it’s recycled or upcycled, if people have to squint a little to figure out what it is for, then I am one happy non-consumer. My business card holder is made from a Boca Burger container, and my extra shower curtain fabric is on my couch cushions. I’m a proud craftster.
Start a zine.
Take the D.I.Y. mindset and plug that into activism, and you have yourself a perfect marriage. Vegan zines might be the ideal example of blending together the beauty of crafts with the importance of animal advocacy.
A zine — a “small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images,” according to Wikipedia — can be a fun, creative way to advocate for animals. You can have a cooking zine, featuring tons of delicious vegan recipes; a thought-piece zine, featuring essays detailing anything from the connections between feminism and animal rights to the reactions of your family when you brought seitan piccata to the Thanksgiving table; or a photo zine, featuring photos and commentary from some animal rights events you attended.
Recently, VegNews’ wonderful blog published a whole entry on vegan zines. The incredible resource-intensive piece covered everything from how to publish your own, to must-read zine recommendations.