Looking for an eco-conscious or vegan dating site? Have you heard of Green Singles?

Green Singles is a dating site that claims to be the oldest and largest network of vegan, green, conscious, open-minded and spiritual singles on the net. Because it caters to eco-friendly individuals who consider themselves progressive, many people who are animal rights activists and follow a vegan lifestyle will likely find this type of online dating option appealing.

As a dating coach, I’m always interested in keeping myself educated on all the different dating sites and trends in order to best serve my clients. And in order to give my clients the best advice on things like niche dating sites, some investigative research needs to be involved.

If you’ve been following my blog and/or know of my services, you know that I found a compatible long-term partner at the tail end of my 100-date experiment, which also led to the creation of this website. To help me with my research, my boyfriend created a test account on Green Singles and together we fully investigated the site to bring you a complete review and recommendation.

Safety and Privacy Review

There are free and paid options when it comes to creating a profile on Green Singles. One thing that I really like about this website is its dedication to safety and privacy.

Unlike many other dating websites and apps, logging in via Facebook credentials is not an option. While this may seem like an inconvenience to some, the purpose of keeping social media access out of the platform is actually a way to increase security.

If you choose to do the paid membership option, any credit card upgrade will not be stored on their servers.

Free Members

Whether or not you’re sure this is the right site for you, it’s always great to have a free membership option so you can try the website out with no commitments.

A free membership allows you to create a full profile with up to two photos and one video. I LOVE that more dating websites and apps are offering the option of creating a video because it gives you and other members a better idea of your personality before connecting.

With a free membership, you also:

• Browse potential matches as much as you like
• Indicate interest
• Save favorites
• Send “Hellos” (prewritten messages) to a person you are interested in who has not initiated contact with you
• Read and reply to messages sent to you
• Instant message any paying members who initiate contact with you via an instant messaging system
• Receive matches based on your preferences
• View basic astrology info on profiles
• Receive a compatibility % based on match questions you have answered

Paid Members

The main perks of being a paid member vs. a free member include:

• Being able to send up to 50 written messages per day
• You can also initiate instant messages
• Upload up to 20 additional photos and two additional videos

Sign-up Process

The sign-up process is pretty easy.

First, you enter your credentials like name, email, and screen name. (Psst! Want to learn how to create the perfect username for your online dating profile? Click here.)

Next, you’ll be prompted to enter your “basics.” The system prompts you to include a tagline and you use two personal traits to describe yourself, as well as a reason you joined the Green Site. 

I recommend you keep things light, honest and fun.

For example: “Creative & outgoing. Love to spice up a kale salad.”

There is a 55 character limit for your tagline. 

About You Section

As with any dating app or site, always make sure that you are HONEST when filling out your bio information or tagline.

When you get to the “About You” section of your profile, Green Singles will give you a variety of options to help you choose what type of relationship you are seeking. There are also important drop-down menus that allow you to choose things like:

• How environmentally conscious you are
• What you consider to be your level of spirituality
• Dietary preferences

What I LOVE about Green Singles is that — despite being a niche site — it doesn’t exclude people who aren’t spiritual, vegan, and/or green. That augments the inclusive nature of the site and also offers more opportunities for people looking for love who could potentially match in spite of some lifestyle differences.  

There is also a description box for you to complete that has a 200 character limit. I like that Green Singles keeps things succinct because — let’s face it — nobody has time to read an essay. 

A Quick Note About Veganism

I’ve been emphasizing how important honesty is when it comes to filling out online dating forms and it’s especially important you do that for sites like Green Singles.

If you live a vegan lifestyle, you already understand the discipline that comes with that diet, as well as the values that align with veganism. If you aren’t a vegan, it’s really important that you be understanding of that lifestyle should you end up on a date with a woman that is. Note that there are a few different forms of veganism, but in general, vegans:

• Do not eat any meats or animal products, including dairy products or honey
• Do not wear fur or any clothing made from animals, as well as any cosmetics that include animal by-products or that have been tested on animals
• Are extremely passionate about animal welfare
• Are environmentally conscious

If you are going to go on a date with a vegan, be sure that you are conscious when choosing a place for you two to eat or grab drinks and make sure that there are suitable options for her to choose from — and no, the celery that comes with a plate of hot wings DOESN’T count.

Have an open mind when meeting a vegan. Don’t assume that they expect you to shovel tofu into your mouth and swear off bacon forever — 99.9% of the time, this won’t be the case at all. Asking them what caused them to go vegan is a great icebreaker, but don’t make their dietary choices a centerpiece of the date, as that will most likely just make things awkward.

Tiffany Kelly of GQ has some awesome tips for your first date with someone who is vegetarian or vegan.

Also, for your upcoming vegan date – here’s a list of fun date ideas that won’t empty your wallet. 

What Happens After I Register?

Once you register, Green Singles will hide your profile until it can be manually approved by a moderator. It takes about 1-8 hours for a profile to be approved.

During this time, you can still search the database, save favorites, and complete your profile while you wait to be approved.  

What I Loved about Green Singles

For a niche site, I was surprised out just how many members they had, and popularity says something about the effectiveness of a brand. (I.e., they’re clearly doing something right.)

Within a 100 mile radius of San Francisco (that’s where EmLovz is headquartered- so if you’re local check out these San Francisco date ideas), there were 300 available single women ages 25-35 years. My boyfriend and I also really liked the speed of the website; everything loaded very quickly. I also liked the essay questions, which — as noted — gave you a word count that kept you from delivering a full-blown essay that women are likely to pass over.

Everything in the essay and about me sections are pre-populated for you, so all you have to do is answer honestly. Once you fill these sections out, the questions and answers are then loaded towards the bottom of your profile. If there’s something you want to let potential matches know that didn’t fit into the other sections of the profile, no worries! Green Singles gives you the option of adding a custom question. 

What I DIDN’T Love

One of the drawbacks of living in a big city like San Francisco is the amount of traffic and congestion you can be up against when trying to venture within or out of the Bay Area (especially getting over the Bay Bridge). 

Living in a big city, I wish the minimum search radius was more like 5 or 10 miles – just so I could pinpoint a single vegan who lived close to me. This is important because when it comes to dating, proximity can play a big role.

According to research published in the American Journal of Psychology, nearly 50% of romantic relationships occur between people who live near each other. And when you’re looking to go on a date with someone you’ve never met IRL, it’s nice to be able to be a hop, skip, or a quick uber ride away from said person.

That last criticism we had was the interface design. It seemed a bit aged compared to several other online dating platforms that have adapted to more modern designs. It reminds me of the design I recall seeing when online dating was starting to gain traction in and a bit after 2004 when sites like OkCupid went live. Speaking of OkCupid, if you’re a millennial who remembers that website’s inception, check out how it looks now.

That criticism aside, I think that they did a great job overall, as everything loaded incredibly fast.

Final Verdict

Overall I would say that Green Singles is definitely one of the best vegan dating sites out there. It’s popular, extremely inclusive and— best of all— it’s extremely affordable.

If you want to go the paid membership route, you can choose a monthly option for $22.00.  Personally, I’d recommend you saving a little money by choosing the 3-month option for $51 or the 6-month option for $66. Make sure you start off by joining for free to test whether or not this site is right for you. Do some browsing, make sure there are enough singles in your area to make it worth your while, and if it seems like a good fit for you, sign up! 

Even if there isn’t hundreds of singles in your city, don’t forget about the long distance option. The owner of Green Singles mentioned to me that approximately 60% of her success stories began as long distance relationships.

Also, as is the case with any dating site or app, you’re going to want to make sure that you spend some time thoughtfully filling out the different sections of your profile and choosing the best pictures of yourself.