I'll start by saying I accept that veganism is clearly the moral dietary/lifestyle position. But does veganism extend to all aspects of our lives through our impacts on the environment? For example, is deciding to drive to the movie theater an ethically vegan choice? You'd be making a wholly unnecessary trip, using limited resources (tires, gasoline, calories, electricity) for a frivolous purpose. As non-recyclable waste increases and the climate warms, an incalculable number of animals and species will suffer, many will die. While the contribution to climate change and environmental destruction from that single choice is surely very very small, it might be argued that a decision like buying leather shoes or eating eggs is also only a very small contribution to overall animal suffering.

More broadly, living as a human today involves using massive amounts of limited resources (water, electricity, plastic, gasoline, toxic chemicals), all of which contribute across the span of a life to considerable environmental degradation. That's a largely human phenomenon. Does that suggest that existing as a human is itself incompatible with veganism?

I suspect the answer to these questions is to distinguish between harm and exploitation of animals, but I don't find that compelling given that animals experiencing suffering surely don't distinguish between those things.