Vegan leather leads to more microplastics in the environment. Even say pineapple fibers are held together by a plastic resin
Posted by uninhabited@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 120 comments
bashful_predator@reddit
Why wouldn't a vegan company use hemp?
church-rosser@reddit
because hemp doesn't translate well.
Financial_Phrase5959@reddit
It’s all marketing and branding. I’m old and remember when it was called “Pleather” plastic- leather. And it was considered trash. Changed the name to “vegan” and suddenly it’s popular.
uninhabited@reddit (OP)
SS: Oh yeah. The SS is needed. Article written by academics from RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) in Australia points out the disastrous side-effects of most types of 'vegan leather', which is often PVC. Or in the case of actual vegetable fibers (pineapples, mushrooms etc) it's often held together with plastic resins. Collapse related as they're difficult/impossible to recycle and can lead to more microplastics in the environment
SquirrelAkl@reddit
Whoever started calling PVC “vegan leather” is a marketing genius. Most impressive rebranding I’ve seen in a long time. PVC had so much stigma of plastic and cheapness / tackiness but “vegan leather”’sounds so wholesome.
Turns out it’s full of plastics & bad for the planet - always suspected it was!
Bleusilences@reddit
To be honest, the biggest vector of micro plastic is tires, and in second place clothing. Also recycling is overvalued, we should focus on repair and reuse, but doing these thing will result at the line not going up as fast.
GardenScared8153@reddit
The problem is basically how we feed animals and manage them in a centralized massive industrial way. We could possibly not have problems if livestock were more decentralized/scattered and fed using food forests as oppose to cut and burn agriculture.
Check out Geoff Lawton https://youtu.be/IK28kRlg5w0?si=cGf6Y-gUSYPNb9KJ https://youtu.be/k7Ft3CzMEac?si=_XRGw1Jnf7Jy0I34
You are absolutely right about recycling and upcycling. We should be a zero waste society just like nature does not waste anything. Our problem isn't just recycling, it's also urban planing and capitalism/colonialism with the abuse of cheap labour.
Omal15@reddit
Scalability and sustainability are still issues. It would be much easier if we just switched to plant-based diets. https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture
GardenScared8153@reddit
I am not really a fan of 100% vegan diet, I think our body needs some meat maybe not at the quantity we currently consume, a balanced diet is key.
cheese, eggs and fish would be a good compromise to not go 100% vegan. I do believe the mindless big corpo industrial processing of livestock and fish is criminal though and scalability is a big problem and I understand why you'd be hellbent on going vegan.
if food forests could feed livestock animals and humans and not take away habitat from insects and the whole food chain of species that live in an area, and also not half of a nation's livestock animals are concentrated in one area then it's feasible to still at least have lots of dairy products/cheese which would nicely supplement vegan diets. Also we could generally have permaculture ponds with cultivated fish also scattered everywhere/decentralized which would be a nice addition to overall diet.
I agree with you that red meat would have to become once in a month or seasonal luxury, a community could throw a feast to eat an old cow, sheep, duck goat or a pig(wild pigs are game) every once and a while. Chickens, ducks and rabbits might also be sustainable meat sources (definitely eggs) every once and a while as their footprint is small assuming you have a good enough food forest with the right plants and insects for them and you can keep them safe from predators with natural fencing.( check out https://youtu.be/MPR0-06L2ks?si=rbZIW96wH17VsCx6)
as for cities yeah difficult to get enough meat surplus into them, megacities above 1 million population extremely difficult possibly unfeasible even with decentralized food forests(maybe my math is off).
in my area snakes are a huge problem for keeping chicken.
I don't know about synthetic meat/ meat grown in a lab seems promising. I read stories of advanced carnivorous alien races like the urma(cat humanoids) who stopped killing other animals and adopted synthetic(lab grown) meat technology, that might be the only thing the cabal are doing right.
You know some cultures on this planet can't really give up meat as it is an important part of their culture, especially mediterranean cultures, being vegan is just not very popular you'd have riots and serious resistance to change.
PatrolMan2129@reddit
>I think our body needs some meat maybe not at the quantity we currently consume
I haven't eaten meat, milk, eggs, fish, or other animal products for over a decade now. When I started, I was sick with hypertension, pre-diabetes and obesity. Now at 50, I'm in the lowest quartile of BMI, healthy hip-waist ratio, low blood pressure (104/62 this morning), healthy blood markers, and my last eye visit 2 weeks ago said my eyes were in amazing shape for my age.
>a balanced diet is key.
Balanced according to whom or what?
JMaster098@reddit
Hey now, stop making sense.
We wanna blame surface level problems not address the systemic problems. /s
Butchtron3000@reddit
Animal feed is 80% non human edible material that would pollute unused.
uninhabited@reddit (OP)
I don't know. Even bamboo fibers (not leather) are a toxic chemical nightmare to process.
Do we need leather (or similar)? Hard-wearing items like shoes perhaps. Jackets in cold climates. Cotton (not that sustainable) and hemp fibers for all other clothing?
The answer is consume as little as possible but if you're doing your 10k steps a day you're going to wear out shoes! Even leather ones.
InnerFish227@reddit
Good leather boots can be repaired and last decades.
uninhabited@reddit (OP)
in theory. And they used to be. But difficult to find a cobbler now (at least in western countries). I'm in a v. small town. Closest one would be a few hundred kms away
IN2017@reddit
I have used a cobble countless time ( probably monthly) to replace the heels on my leather shoes. Back then it was cheap. Now they are all out of business and the last prices were around $15/ pair. This didn’t make sense anymore. 🤷🏻♀️
Da_Question@reddit
Eh, it absolutely depends on what you use them for.
Da_Question@reddit
Leather is needed for work gloves, welding gloves, etc. I work at a foundry and we have to go through 8-10 pairs in the plant a day at the least.
GardenScared8153@reddit
I think material science and phytochemistry are still in their infancy on this planet. They need more attention/research/funding. A food forest could essentially be the backbone of a local economy.
Bleusilences@reddit
Exactly, we waste a lot of ressources on cheap goods that are never use or sold and just ends up in landfill and it frustrates me to no ends. If at least we used most of what we create and make spare part to repair and maintain what we own it would be great.
sblinn@reddit
> mushrooms
Oof. Dang it. My favorite guitar strap is "mushroom leather" :(
uninhabited@reddit (OP)
never understood the process to make it - mushrooms, at least when on my plate, seem fragile and crumble with a tap of a fork :-)
armchairdetective@reddit
Have you seen those mushroom bags where there isn't any stitching, though?
There's a frame, and the fungus grows around it as one solid piece.
There must be some additions to make it usable, but a few years ago, I read that this would be the future for leather.
I'll be really depressed if that has been found not to be cost effective or whatever.
Pursuit5789@reddit
Can I ask what SS means in this context? I often see people use it when explaining why they posted an article to a sub.
uninhabited@reddit (OP)
Submission Statement - required by the mods/bot otherwise posts are removed :-)
GardenScared8153@reddit
submission statement, it's just a short summary of how your post relates to the topic of collapse.
Pursuit5789@reddit
Thanks!
Speckhen@reddit
An SS comes from Rule #10 for the sub: Link posts must include a submission statement.
I appreciate this rule as it does help me deal with so many posts; I can read the SS and know if I want to read further.
darkpsychicenergy@reddit
The bottom line is that ultimately, nothing is sustainable at the scale of our population and the rates of our consumption.
kalawa1929@reddit
I wish cork could be used more. It’s harvested off trees and is renewable. I imagine it’s somewhat limited where the trees can grow however. It might not be an option to scale up with it. I bought a cork purse and it was a nice alternative to leather.
numbah25@reddit
It’s not a viable material for heavy wear. I suspect even a purse would have a protective coating applied
kalawa1929@reddit
My purse has no coating and it has worn like iron. Wine corks put up with a lot without a coating. It protects a tree so it’s not flimsy unless it’s a thin shaved off amount. Some people don’t want leather so options should be looked at that aren’t plastic.
HDH2506@reddit
Since when do wine cork put up through a lot? Did the wine corks unionize and ask you to say this?
kalawa1929@reddit
Yes. I’m flush with wine cork bribe cash.
pjijn@reddit
Big Cork is out there
HDH2506@reddit
If I sign up do I get free wine
numbah25@reddit
I’m not some industry anti-cork shill lol. Just explaining to you my knowledge of cork for consumer goods in a field where I’ve worked with it. Glad you like your purse
shorelaran@reddit
Or you know… leather. Because it’s sustainable, bio degradable, a by product that I mainly burned down if it’s not used anyway (I don’t remember my lectures but I think only 10% of the animal hides are turned into leather so no animal is killed for leather), and often the animals used for that had a better life because sickness or injury leave marks on the hide.
Bright_Tax628@reddit
It's a big assumption that animal leather is sustainably produced. While I agree that it has the capacity to be the most sustainable option, unless you're buying from a sustainable tannery, it is not being processed in a way that is remotely non-harmful to the environment.
shorelaran@reddit
I might be biased because I’m a leather worker, and I know that most leather in the world is chrome tanned and not from the best tannery but I still think it’s better than plastic.
(And on a personal note I use only veg tan leather from reputable tannery because there is better use for chrome than being in leather)
Da_Question@reddit
The problem is leather suffers from the same issue as cow farming in general, animals that use a ton of water and land to raise. Ground water impact, fuel usage, etc are all big factors in its sustainability.
HDH2506@reddit
But consumption of leather will never come close to consumtion of beef, so you don’t have to worry about that until you cut down global beef consumption by at least 60%
Even then there’s ostrich and sheep
Alarmed-Badger-9950@reddit
Veganism never pretended to be about the environment or sustainability; the "vegans" who do use the environmentalist argument are doing veganism a disservice by confusing people. We are just against the torture or murder of sentient beings. Other animals feel just as much pain and fear as we do. Since they are as sentient as
To say, "vegan leather is made of plastic and unsustainable" as a gotcha against veganism is like saying to someone who is against murder that "you drive your car and contribute to air pollution, which causes of millions of deaths from asthma". Vegan leather is to give alternatives to the use of skin from animals who are forced to endure this. If the products for sale were made with human skin, one would see the immorality of saying that "the alternatives aren't sustainable!"
Butchtron3000@reddit
Good for you to prove vegans care about misguided morals and not ecological health.
Zayl@reddit
You guys act like every vegan out there goes and constantly buys vegan leather. Most of us don't. I don't even like leather as a material, so why would I buy a shittier version of it?
Veganism contributes to environmental well-being in a positive way and that's easily probable. The amount of micro plastics from vegan leather are fucking nothing compared to other things like tires, clothing, single use plastics.
Butchtron3000@reddit
Your reply has nothing to do with mine to OP's.
trashmoneyxyz@reddit
Vegan leather? Bad for the environment, but honestly vegans aren't even the main consumer of faux leather. That stuff ends up everywhere because it's cheap, along with the other random plastic shit we produce. Not sure why the article singles out vegan leather specifically, but it reminds me of people who say veganism is bad for the environment because of almond milk. If you focus on those two things it can look that way, but broaden the scope and veganism is still heaps better for the environment than the alternative. I could be vegan and dress solely in vegan leather and still have less of an environmental impact than people who eat meat dairy and eggs daily
PatrolMan2129@reddit
I eat vegan for over 10 years now. Have to label myself plantbased because the vegan community has the loudest people policing and appropriating the label.
I still use leather, mostly old stuff I already had, precisely because of these environmental concerns. Plastic kills animals of all sizes and eco-systems. (Note: no vanity usage like fashion, mostly just safety stuff like gloves for welding. Sometimes merino wool for cold.)
If a good alternative comes will, I will quite happily adopt it. But at this point, I don't even use environmentally bad leather like chrome tanned stuff, just the old-fashioned long lasting stuff. Bought second hand if I have to.
Low_Complex_9841@reddit
we can try to use second-hand items then ....
friendsandmodels@reddit
Wwll luckily we dont really need leather
Fickle_Stills@reddit
What do u make shoes out of then 🤔
Santi159@reddit
It depends on the shoe I think. Most are fabric, rubber, and plastic. I wear crocs a lot myself because they
Fickle_Stills@reddit
I need closed toe boots for work and I can't imagine not using leather, synthetic feels awful. I suppose crocs work for people who work from home.
beanstarvedbeast@reddit
A lot of kitchen/service staff wear crocs. I wear synthetic steel toe boots at work and don't really see what the problem is.
Fickle_Stills@reddit
Enjoy your microplastics then :)
beanstarvedbeast@reddit
I'm sure you're 100% plastic free :)
Santi159@reddit
I think that's more of a personal preference thing. Before I got sick I was doing fine with synthetic boots working on houses.
TheScrufLord@reddit
Fr, people forget that leather as it is currently produced is also not good for the environment. Especially since there’s so many other non-leather/non-faux leather things to own in this world.
Aoi_Haru@reddit
To the point that Eco-leather exists, which is also not eco at all.
TheOtherKurt@reddit
Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Seriously.
How many leather belts are there in the world? Is this really the problem? I PROMISE you, if you and your 7 billion homies give up animal agriculture altogether, me and my 15 homies wearing fake-leather belts will be HAPPY to have a conversation about it.
People hate vegans because our mere existence forces them to confront their own sins of cruelty and destruction that they would rather just not talk about.
FUCK. YOU.
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VersionExpensive5879@reddit
Yeah they are like, you breath in oxygen and the animals can't have oxygen therefore you are just like us, so start eating meat.
HDH2506@reddit
All vegan leathers are scams. There’s always someone responding to me with things like: “please educate yourself, they make leather from cactus now”.
Nope, it’s still plant fiber in a plastic matrix
CareBlayre@reddit
Would hemp be a suitable alternative?
Santi159@reddit
idk about hemp specifically but I've heard that recycling and caring for existing leather is pretty good. I think that could be a good option
CareBlayre@reddit
I can’t tell if you’re being a jerk or being serious, bc I am being genuine. Hemp is an extremely strong material with a multitude of uses.
Santi159@reddit
I am being genuine. Hemp is pretty good it's just that its use is still being regulated against at least in some places so idk how doable it will be until politicians get over themselves. Sustainability and respect wise it also makes sense to me to wear what already exists and keep these garments from ending up in a landfill. Even when something is unsustainable it most of the time makes sense to use up the product then get one that is so you aren't just buying things willy-nilly. I mean I get it if you find it morbid but this is one way to keep people from making more demand for more leather.
CareBlayre@reddit
No I don’t think that’s morbid! Had to ask for clarity on your tone, the ‘tism makes it hard for me to gauge how people mean things, ESPECIALLY through text/on the internet. I agree, leather products that already exist should be taken care of properly or repurposed. If the government ever gets its head out of its a$$, we might get somewhere with hemp. I think it’s absurd there are readily available solutions to problems such as this, but Big Money said no because they won’t make as much. 🙄
Santi159@reddit
I'm autistic too! I get what you mean. I wish tone indicators were more socially acceptable. I would totally use them all the time if they were.
Capitalism really just messes everything up. There are so many good tools, systems, and inventions out there that we just don't get access to because of it! Did you know that there's an IV medication that completely wipes out postpartum depression in one go but because it's expensive in the short term you just can't find it in the US!? It drives me up the wall
halconpequena@reddit
What IV medication is that?
Santi159@reddit
Brexanolone (Zulresso) over 24 to 60 hrs. I think there's a pill form now but it doesn't work as quickly
halconpequena@reddit
I’ve never heard of this before this is fascinating thank you!
Santi159@reddit
No problem!
Metrichex@reddit
Humans have been making leather since long before we understood chemistry, so I imagine, without any firsthand knowledge, that while stinky, the process of making leather probably isn't that bad for the environment.
I've been married to a vegetarian for decades and I never understood the aversion to leather. We kill way more animals for food than we ever would for clothing, especially clothing that lasts. As far as I know, there are no "leather" cows, we're just using what would otherwise go to waste.
So what's the problem?
tolerablepartridge@reddit
Side products still increase the economic viability of the main product. If hide had lower demand, it would increase the price of meat, which would decrease demand for meat, which would torture and kill fewer cows.
whereismysideoffun@reddit
The value of the hides to the meat industry is so incredibly low as to not be a driver of the meat industry. In some states, the slaughter facilities are given no money for their hides.
Pardot42@reddit
You made a lot of assumptions. I'll address some, because you should learn to Google before putting your own foot so far into your own mouth.
They used to make leather by tanning it in piss and brains. Nowadays they use chemicals that are indeed "bad for the environment."
We have murdered entire species of birds into extinction for their feathers. They were used to decorate women's hats.
There are leather cows. Ask designers of Rolls Royce vehicles. You're welcome.
Metrichex@reddit
Then I make the case for going back to piss and brains. We have plenty of the former and a shortage of the latter.
Who brought up feathers or birds?
Again with the weird rich people outliers. They do all sorts of terrible, bizarre things that have nothing to do with the underlying conversation, which is: cow leather is an animal byproduct that produces high quality durable goods
VersionExpensive5879@reddit
Lol so you will judge the rich but somehow discount yourself. At least be consistent.
you kill animals the rich kill animals what is the difference? the animals suffer nonetheless.
Different-Library-82@reddit
Luxury leather produced in Europe (which I presume is what Rolls Royce uses) is typically sourced from Norway and Sweden because we don't use barbed wire and have less biting insects, which means fewer flaws in the leather.
And almost all cattle in Scandinavia are combined breeds for both milk and meat, raw hides for leather is a side stream.
I've never heard about breeds exclusively used for leather and can't find any evidence for its existence. That would be incredibly wasteful and I can't imagine anyone paying enough for the raw hides to make that a sustainable production in purely economic terms.
I'm not arguing that modern industrial agriculture isn't filled with abuse or that human consumption of animals is characterised by destructive excess, but there's no reason for exaggerating that by wild claims like we're breeding certain cattle exclusively for leather.
Aoi_Haru@reddit
It’s wrong in so many ways.
First of all, if you were married to someone who didn’t eat animals and you can’t understand why they might have a problem with those same sentient beings being killed to make clothes, well, that’s really worrying.
It makes absolutely no sense to say it’s a by-product of the food industry, both because it isn’t, and because, on moral grounds, it would still be abhorrent. How pleased would you be to see or wear a jacket made of human skin under that pretext?
Secondly, leather is in no way eco-friendly. Its manufacturing process is highly polluting, which is why the ‘eco-leather’ label exists – though this is essentially greenwashing, as it remains polluting, albeit to a lesser extent than regular leather.
Santi159@reddit
I think some vegans are so for more sentimental reasons so they feel wrong wearing animals. Kinda like how we stopped making keepsake jewelry out of baby teeth. It's not wrong people just feel weird about it
shawnikaros@reddit
Even if leather is a side-product, it's still way worse ecologically to grow animals. Maybe your bethroed could educate you a bit about the problems?
But to summarize quickly: "Animal agriculture occupies 77% of global agricultural land yet provides only 18% of the world's calories, contributing significantly to deforestation, habitat loss, and biodiversity decline" On top of conributing 19% of all the greenhouse gases.
An alternative for leather would be great.
Vishnej@reddit
What animals do we grow specifically for leather?
shawnikaros@reddit
Foxes, for one. Minks, for two.
Metrichex@reddit
That's rich folk outlier bullshit that has no place in the conversation
shawnikaros@reddit
Sure, but their comment before the edit only asked "what animal we specifically grow for leather" as a "haha bazinga gotem" -comment.
marsmanify@reddit
I think what the other commenter is getting at is that you should argue in good faith.
When talking about leather production, by-and-large we’re talking about bovine (cattle) leather (95% of leather goods come from cattle).
Cattle are primarily raised for meat and milk, and leather is a byproduct we create after slaughtering them for meat.
The argument being made is that so long as we are farming cattle at the scale we are, it is better for the environment and less wasteful to use this byproduct leather, than to produce plant-based or synthetic leather that introduces microplastics into the environment.
shawnikaros@reddit
Which one? Because the other only commented a "gotem question" and the other one completely dismisses anything I say with ~vibes~.
Just processing the leather is extremely polluting, which kills the planet and us faster than alternatives. I'm not saying that plastic leather is the way to go either.
marsmanify@reddit
In terms of the argument being made, the OC is making this argument (but u/Metrichex please correct me if I’m misunderstanding you)
Industrial tanning is extremely polluting, but I would argue that more environmentally-friendly waste-disposal practices are needed to address that (since much of the pollutants are liquid and solid), rather than using an alternative that is harder to deal with (microplastics).
Fair enough if you’re not arguing plastic leather is a better alternative. I agree if there was a completely environmentally-friendly alternative to leather it would be better.
shawnikaros@reddit
We need alternatives to pretty much everything.
There's a global food shortage brewing thanks to global warming and the droughts and it's being sped up by some mentally ill "world leaders" by making a fertilizer shortage. We feed 70-80% of the soy to the animals, which then provide less calories in return.
There's a very likely scenario that there's going to be some rearranging of what people eat on a global scale and leather is going to be affected by that too.
Metrichex@reddit
You sure seem reliable and trustworthy
shawnikaros@reddit
And you hostile.
Metrichex@reddit
How you read what I write and your emotional response to it isn't my problem. If you have a factual argument to make, make it
shawnikaros@reddit
And educating you isn't mine.
I made factual arguments which you dismiss as "statistical massaging" and your own vibes about a subject you don't know a single search's worth.
Why would I bother wasting my time any further? That was rhetorical, don't answer.
Metrichex@reddit
No, if you make an assertion, it's on you to back it up.
Metrichex@reddit
So you did that to me and the other guy? Maybe you should do your google search before you start typing
shawnikaros@reddit
No, he did it to me first.
Metrichex@reddit
You're putting the cart before the horse. We aren't raising animals for leather. We're raising them for meat. I get that you're coming from the angle that we should stop raising them for meat, but we aren't going to any time soon.
So why not use a byproduct for highly durable goods instead of producing a synthetic alternative?
shawnikaros@reddit
Sorry, I edited my previous comment since I didn't know about industrial leather curing either and that should answer this question.
Metrichex@reddit
I hate edits. You should make your specific point in your reply. I'm on mobile and I can't be bothered to see what you said then versus what you're saying now
A good leather coat can last more than a lifetime. Are your massaged statisticals accounting for that with these plant based alternatives? What about the fact that growing plants for clothing diminishes agricultural output for food?
I still say utilizing a byproduct we've been successfully producing since antiquity is better.
shawnikaros@reddit
Generally, same. But sometimes it just feels necesarry especially if the other person hasn't answered yet.
Here I thought we were having a civil conversation.
Metrichex@reddit
I asked direct questions and reiterated my point. Not sure how much more civil I can be.
YoSoyZarkMuckerberg@reddit
This isn't the qualifer you think it is. Whatnit actually tells me, as a vegan of many years, os that 1) you don't care enough to understand, assuming your partner understands and has tried to explain it to you, or 2) your partner doesn't understand, therefore is unable to help you understand.
As others have pointed out, animal agriculture, of which leather is a byproduct, is one of the top most ecologically destructive industries on the planet.
Very simple to understand, even for a non-veg aligned person. Very disingenuous or naive to state that since humans have made leather through traditional, small scale means for thousands of years, that large scale, mass produced leather shouldn't be a problem either.
Metrichex@reddit
Like I said to the other guy, your underlying premise is that we should stop raising animals for food. Sure, I can get behind that idea. But that is never going to happen, and even reducing it would take decades.
YoSoyZarkMuckerberg@reddit
I think raising animals for food ought to come down to matters of necessity. I'm a privileged westerner with access to meat alternatives, so I choose not to participate. I understand there are areas of the world where this is not a possibility for the people living there. So, I don't view the subject in such black and white terms, instead, I point out what's wrong with the system as a whole and encourage people to choose the least violent way forward where possible.
Metrichex@reddit
I appreciate your reasoned response
My reasoned response is that the western world isn't about to do a heal turn on raising cattle for food, and that leather products are a net good simply for how long they last if they are made well.
Spear_Ov_Longinus@reddit
This is only a single metric of pollution. Non-vegan leather loses many other metrics and I'd argue of the available metrics like chemical pollution and GHG emissions, the Vegan leather option is far more ethical, even from just an environmental perspective.
Ballbag94@reddit
On the flip side, leather is a byproduct of the meat industry so as long as mass meat consumption exists a large quantity of those emissions will continue to exist whereas "vegan leather" could be removed without waste
Cubusphere@reddit
The waste of an industry you don't support is not your responsibility. Would you consider buying (and thus financially supporting) dog leather bags because your neighbors dog meat farm is overproducing?
84zx@reddit
Sure, although I doubt they’d make good bags.
Ballbag94@reddit
That's largely off topic, I'm not saying vegans should support the leather industry, I'm saying that looking at vegan leather pollution and drawing the conclusion that it's better from an environmental perspective is flawed because most of the pollution from leather exists even if you stop turning hides into leather. The same can't be said for "vegan leather"
Cubusphere@reddit
Tanning is a process with significant effects. Pineapple "leather" is 80% made from agricultural waste as well. The comparison isn't that favorable, only when it comes to micro plastic pollution.
Erinaceous@reddit
I've been on a slow quest to minimize plastic on my farm and in my house. PVC is by far the most concerning plastic according to my research. It's not something you want in your house or having daily skin contact. PVC coated vegan leathers would be highly concerning especially since the foot is a high absorption site for phthalates. Polyurethane (PU) which is better quality vegan leathers is considerably less concerning.
Best approach is really leather, cotton, wool with natural cork footbeds and natural rubber or traditional leather soles. Synthetic fibres like polyester and the EVA foam in the footbeds are concerning but not nearly as concerning as PVC in direct contact with a hot sweaty foot
ItyBityGreenieWeenie@reddit
To paraphrase the actual title, our civilization isn't sustainable or eco-friendly. There is no ethical consumption. I agree with the end statement: "The takeaway is a call for material honesty. Sustainability can’t be reduced to a single word or ingredient. It’s measured by how long a product stays useful before it needs to be thrown away."
Vegan attempts to first eliminate animal suffering, then be environmental. Animal agriculture is particularly egregious in terms of animal suffering and environmental impact.
No-Papaya-9289@reddit
There's no such thing as vegan leather. It's plastic. It's just the petrochemical companies trying to convince people that it's something else.
Related: it should be illegal on websites like Amazon for cheap products to use the term PU leather in product descriptions.
click-monster@reddit
Gotta laugh when corpos slap the word "vegan" on things to look wholesome or something. Like "vegan" candy: yes indeed, chemicals, fake flavoring, and overloaded sugar do not come from animals. It's still unnatural unhealthy junk 🥲
VeganBuddhist95@reddit
I use cork based leather alternatives, although I'm now questioning the environmental credentials.
My primary motivation was to avoid directly using leather as I'm ethically vegan. But I do care about my wider environmental impact
MaxDrexler@reddit
Vegan leather is like the vegan burger! Why on earth a vegan would want anything non vegan to wear or eat?
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/uninhabited:
SS: Oh yeah. The SS is needed. Article written by academics from RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) in Australia points out the disastrous side-effects of most types of 'vegan leather', which is often PVC. Or in the case of actual vegetable fibers (pineapples, mushrooms etc) it's often held together with plastic resins. Collapse related as they're difficult/impossible to recycle and can lead to more microplastics in the environment
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1sehf48/vegan_leather_leads_to_more_microplastics_in_the/oepw07s/