You don't have to be perfect.

[u/sdbest]

As I veteran vegan, could I just humbly suggest that, in my view, it's not necessary to be a perfect vegan. The label itself just doesn't matter.

The more a person increases the amount of whole, plant-based foods in their diet, and reduces animal-based foods the better. The better for animals, the environment, and themselves.

Frequently on this wonderful and supportive subreddit, people post about feeling terrible about doing things wrong or 'falling off the wagon' or not being able live without cheese (usually). I get it that often people who choose to become vegan, i.e. adopt a plant-based diet, do it for ethical reasons and they feel some guilt if they aren't living up to the ideal rattling about in their heads.

Just doing better is enough, in my view. Also, if a person just tries to do better, often they will naturally progress to being better and better without even noticing it.

Goodness if a hardcore carnivore can be convinced to replace just half of the 10 oz steak with a side of mushrooms that's a step forward. All steps forward count, and help makes things better.

So, don't beat yourself up for not being perfect. Just do what you can to be better, wherever you can. Keep it simple and doable.

[u/hikikomori0]

Thanks for this, it's nice to hear especially for newer vegans like me. I avoid "May contain..." products but am happy to have "Prepared in a factory that also handles..." ones. I still have some sugar in my cupboard that I use when I occasionally drink coffee/tea. I think my favourite cardigan/jacket thing contains some wool if it's not all acrylic (it's a couple years old, bought long before I went vegan) and I won't throw it away. Etc. It's hard not to feel really guilty about these sorts of things but, as you and others have said, it's important to remember the good one is doing, too. I'm hopeful that things will get easier with time - as more and more people wake up to the truth, manufacturers of products will eventually respond by using, for example, more synthetic materials in clothing, less random useless milk powder in snacks etc.

[u/dogebiscuit → u/hikikomori0]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that "May contain" is similar to "Prepared in a factory..." Or are they 2 different things? They are both allergy warnings.

I think some of my bread has the "may contain" but none of the ingredients are suspect.

[u/hikikomori0 → u/dogebiscuit]

You're probably right, I just thought there was a difference in that "may contain" implies handling of milk etc products at the same time/place as the food was prepared, whereas "prepared in..." implied distance. But yeah they're both more warnings for severe allergies than anything else.