For the entire month of February, Cardiff university student Guy Harper made a vow to stay silent.
His goal was to raise awareness and pledges for animals. Harper, who recently became a vegan, went voiceless so people could imagine what life is like for critters who cannot voice themselves.
The 672 hours in silence raised Harper’s intended goal of 1,000 pounds and almost doubled that amount in pledges from supporters via his GiveAway page.
Harper said he took inspiration from Australian activist James Aspey. Harper’s goal is to raise money for the charity Viva! which campaigns to stop the horrible acts humans carry out on voice animals and promotes a plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle.
Harper said a vegan lifestyle is an easy way to show compassion and care for animals, the planet and fellow human beings. Animal agriculture is extraordinarily water-intensive; for example, the water required to produce a 1/4lb beef burger is the equivalent of showering constantly for two months.
Livestock and their byproducts account for 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions. A plant-based diet has been proven to be the only possible diet that could support the nutritional needs of everyone on the planet. A plant-based diet also reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
However, for me, the animals are my real motivation for this vow of silence. If we don’t need to eat animals for our health, why are we causing them so much pain? Does taste and/or convenience really justify it?
