Suzanne Harrington: From cycling to giving up meat, why do sustainable choices invite such rage?

Eating mostly plants and choosing the bike over the car where she can, Suzanne Harrington has found her small eco-friendly swaps can strike a nerve. With psychologist Dr Malie Coyne, she explores why attempts to live more sustainably prompt such outsized reactions

Suzanne Harrington says the angry vegan trope, while understandable, is unhelpful

When I was asked to write about things I do in daily life in terms of sustainability, all I could think of — apart from a long-term love of charity shops — was eating plant-based and using a bicycle to get around. Not even because of sustainability, I just love animals and hate sitting in traffic.

The very words “vegan” and “cyclist” seem to massively trigger people. Like you’re part of an extremist cult hellbent on — what? Elevating yourself to the tallest peak of the moral high ground? Making other people feel bad? Being a joyless fun-sponge, a member of what sacked politician Suella Braverman called the “tofu-eating wokerati”?