SusBo Takes on “Veganuary”

Aiden Chan ’26 Campus Correspondent

In the first week back from break, the Sustainability Board (SusBo) launched its inaugural Veganuary initiative, aimed at promoting sustainable eating habits across the school community. Spearheaded by the Energy Subcommittee, the campaign was based on the Veganuary movement—an annual challenge that encourages individuals to adopt a vegan diet during the entire month of January. The effort also included the support of Ms. Connelly, who documented her experience through promotional vlogs.

SusBo encouraged people to adopt a vegan diet for the first week back from school in what was called the “Go-Vegan-For-A-Week” challenge. It was designed to raise awareness about sustainable eating at Hopkins and inspire long-term habits among members of the community. As Energy Subcommittee Co-head Theo Friedman ’25 explained, “When working towards a more sustainable future at Hopkins, that has to start in our community where there's a lot of young people here whose decisions now, and whose upbringing within Hopkins is going to influence, hopefully, the broader society in the coming decades.”

The Veganuary initiative was designed not only to promote a more sustainable future at Hopkins but also to ad-
dress the stigma surrounding veganism. “The Sustainability Board, or specifically the Energy Subcommittee, decided to run a Veganuary initiative because of the stigma around being Vegan,” Logan Matthews ‘25, Co-head of SusBo, explained, “Many people hear the word ‘vegan’ and instantly turn their minds away, considering it some boring ‘woke’ principle or whatever, but in general, this stuff affects everyone.” Friedman echoed this sentiment: “At Hopkins and among many people of our generation, sustainable eating, especially the term vegan, has a lot of stigma around it, and hopefully, with Veganuary, we can reduce some of that and get people on a more sustainable, conscious track from a young age.”

One of the initiative’s key features was the participation of beloved physics teacher, Lynn Connelly, who documented her experience through video diaries. Said Connelly, “I did the ‘Vegan for a Week’ challenge for all meals — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — and recorded some vlogs about my journey through the week. I found that it was actually rather easy to be 100 percent vegan.” Connelly said she “made some new dinner recipes that were delicious and I will definitely be making them again.” Aiden Gomez ’28 said of Connelly’s vlog posts, “It was interesting to watch Ms. Connelly’s videos and see how vegan food can be made.” Gomez noted that the videos helped him realize that “sustainable eating has a greater impact than he originally thought.” Friedman described how her involvement made a difference: “We were very lucky to collaborate with Ms. Connelly. She’s well-liked and well-known in the community, and seeing her take on this challenge made it feel more approachable for others.”

Community members emphasized the environmental motivations behind the campaign. Matthews highlighted the carbon footprint of processing: “10 million animals a year [can have] a ginormous carbon footprint that cannot be ignored. Said Matthews, “Learning to recycle and carpool can slightly lower an individual’s carbon footprint, but compared to the numbers that meat processing facilities put up it might as well be zero.” Thomas Pittard ’28 stated that “more can be done in terms of sustainable eating.” Matthews underscored the importance of education in “[spreading] awareness of the impacts of our behavior.”

In making her vlogs, Connelly also wanted to spread awareness about the environmental impacts of eating meat: “I think it's important to know that we don't have to eat meat in order for food to taste good and there are many other sources of protein that can fuel us. By choosing a vegan diet, we are making a significant positive impact on the Earth’s health and longevity by reducing our carbon footprint, conserving water, and reducing

pollution.”

To make the campaign more accessible, the Energy Subcommittee emphasized that participation didn’t require a full commitment to veganism. Friedman explained: “We call it ‘Veganuary,’ but we’re open to all ways of thinking about sustainable eating. Even if you’re not ready to go fully vegan, you can take steps to eat more sustainably. For example, I’m vegetarian, and I’ve learned that small choices — like skipping bacon at breakfast — can add up.”

Leading up to the start of Veganuary, Friedman highlighted the importance of participation. “It’s definitely something that we’re super excited about. We are really hoping to engage teachers, students, and everybody on campus, in whatever way that they feel comfortable. The more people that become involved with it, the more successful we are.”

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SusBo Takes on “Veganuary”