I understand why people dislike leather and animal products. But leather is such a good resource? Like⌠My mom bought a sturdy leather coat in 1989. Iâm in my 20âs and I now wear that coat. Thatâs a 30 year old coat? 30 years, two generations, one coat. Versus, like⌠A plastic one, that rips and gets thrown out, or releases bits into the ecosystem every time itâs washed, takes a billion years to decompose, lasts maybe a decade if youâre super duper careful, and uses oil products in itâs construction. Like, yeah leather is expensive and comes from a living animal, and Iâm not saying that you should go out and buy fifty fur and leather products for the heâll of it, but like⌠Maybe the compromise is worth it? One animal product, valued and respected and worn down for generations, versus like⌠Six plastic products that will never ever go away?
idk, I could be wrong.
Leather already comes from the animals that we eat. Itâs not a waste to use it if itâs going to be thrown away anyway.
@acti-veg
Firstly, @a-terf, I dislike even engaging with a blog like yours, but Iâve been tagged (which is totally fine) so here goes. Most leather is not a byproduct of the meat industry, thatâs a myth. Most leather clothing youâll find commercially available has been made from the skins of cows specifically raised and killed for that purpose, usually from India, because the breed and age of the cow has a significant impact on quality. Low quality leather is sometimes taken from beef or dairy cows, and soft suede is taken from their calves, but most are specifically bred to produce leather. Either way, purchasing leather helps make the exploitation and slaughter of animals a profitable concern.
The thing is, @teaboot, for those of us who do oppose leather and other animal fabrics, the fact that it is viewed as a âgood resourceâ is exactly the problem. Animals should not be treated as commodities or as resources any more than humans should, to view them in this way is to take away their individuality and see them as nothing more than objects, collections of materials, skin, meat, bones, blood, even children- for us to profit from and exploit.
Environmentally speaking, leather production is actually quite a bit worse than faux leather production. It uses more chemicals, causes more emissions and has a longer term environmental impact than even plastic does, as you can see from this analysis from the Higg Material Sustainabity index, which calculates the total environmental harm of all stages of production, also factoring in longevity of the materials produced:
Cow leather is the second least sustainable material measured, only behind alpaca wool. This the result of emissions from raising the cow to slaughter weight, the impact of the crops used to feed them, the chemicals (highly toxic) required for tanning and production, the massive amount of water required as well as the fuel transport costs to take the animal to slaughter, to processing and then their skin to the final destination. The idea that leather lasts inherently longer is also not quite true either, sure you can get items that will last a generation, but if weâre honest with ourselves, most leather is fast fashion, we only keep leather longer than plastic because it tends to be more expensive, not because the material itself is any more hard wearing.
Besides, what youâve created here is a clear example one of a false dichotomy. Youâre discussing this as if leather or plastic are the only two options, but thatâs very much not the case. You could also choose neither. Or you could buy second hand faux leather, offsetting the environmental cost of prediction entirely. What about recycled plastics? Cork? Pinatex? Organic cotton? Faux leather made from pineapples? Bamboo? Or better yet, hemp, which is easily as hard wearing and long lasting as leather, if not moreso? If you object to plastic thatâs totally fine, I support that 100%, but proving that plastic is bad is not an argument in favour of leather, which as we have seen, is actually even worse.
Even if leather were markedly better for the environment than plastic, the âcompromiseâ of an animalâs life for an unnecessary vanity item would not be worth it. Weâre not talking about an item essential to most peopleâs survival here. As soon as we start seeing the lives of sentient beings as something we are willing to âcompromiseâ on for fashion, taste, convenience or tradition, we are in danger of viewing lives as a reasonable trade for profit. Nothing is worth that.
The only reason leather production is seen as less harmful to the environment is because the environment where it has the most immediate negative impactâand where the inhabitants have the most immediate health concerns because of itâarenât western. The western world outsources waste and pollution of all kind, including this. Animals for meat are raised in the west, animals for leather are raised and converted to leather in countries subjugated by colonization.
Iâm really glad to see someone pointing out that most of the leather industry isnât a matter of repurposing whatâs left over from the meat industry. Itâs one of the many blatant wastefulnesses that thrive under capitalism, and seeing leftists pass on a chance to point that out is⌠telling.
It always blows my mind how many leftists suddenly stop being critical of capitalism and just accept that multimillion dollar industries are probably blameless, as soon as itâs easy talking points against veganism or w/e.
Also the Indians who get sick and suffer and get payed slave wages and child labor just for a lot of your leather.
Thereâs other vids and info on this subject, this is just one. Itâs the first part
