To ask that people consider giving up leather?

[Breadandwine]

I’ve been a vegan for 13 years. My concerns are animal welfare and global warming, plus I feel it's good for my health.

With regard to animal welfare, I have issues with every aspect of animal husbandry - but I have to be honest, until now, I haven’t given much thought to leather. I avoid it, certainly - it took several years of delicate negotiations before I persuaded my wife to accept a faux leather suite instead of the leather one she wanted - but I’ve always thought leather to be a by-product of the dairy industry.

Not so. An article by Lucy Siegle in this morning’s Observer Magazine brought me up short.

Leather production seems to be worse than other forms of animal cruelty in that humans are suffering too:

"Finally the animals are skinned (in front of each other) in the back streets of Dhaka. The skins are processed in makeshift tanneries with workers, including children, knee deep in toxic chemicals."

[infife]

Wouldn't it be shockingly wasteful for the skins of animals killed for meat to be thrown out rather than put to good use?

[TrinityForce]

Yes YABU

[wtfisgoingonhere]

Considered it

No thanks

[FithColumnist]

YANBU to ask. I'm not going to give up leather, of course, but you have every right to ask me to.

[RandyMagnum]

If I can have you skin to graft back onto mine if I come off my bike at 70mph, I'll give up leather, until then, no.

[RandyMagnum]

your*

[VikingVolva]

You really didn't realise that some leather is imported from outside EU from places where animal welfare standards are really different?

Do you eat palm oil without checking as well?

[elQuintoConyo]

Er... Would I end up wearing plastic shoes like jelly shoes? Or espadrilles? Great in winter. However, I'm sure the pleather interior in my Bentley will go down well with Peta, so I might consider it. Thanks x

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es]

I only buy it in shoes, but there are still no alternatives that are as good for day in day out wear, until there are I'm afraid I'm sticking with it.

[Oysterbabe]

You can ask but I'm not wearing plastic shoes.

[TrojanWhore]

"faux leather suite"

You mean plastic?

You could avoid using non-renewable resources all together, which would be a far more ethical choice. Second-hand even better.

Yes, it's right to consider consumer choices and your personal ethics. But YABU to expect everyone to have the same ethics as you.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Yanbu to ask.

I presumed leather was a by product of the meat industry. Clearly that was incorrect.

I'll look to buy ethically sourced leather in future, I presume such a thing exists as with all things.

[Breadandwine]

Do you eat palm oil without checking as well?

No, I don't. For example, there are loads of vegan biscuits - but only a very small percentage of them are free from palm oil. I've found 2, to be exact: McVities Digestives and Rich Tea.

So no, I don't use palm oil!

Thank you for your concern.

[ilovesooty]

several years of delicate negotiations

[MaudGonneMad]

Do you only drink vegan wine?

[StillaChocoholic]

How did I know the poster would be vegan

[curren]

Yabu to ask people to give up leather. I think sharing the info is fine.

Honestly I wear my dads leather jacket day in day out. It's 30 years old. What impact do you think people buying cheap coats that need replacing every few months has on the environment?

There is rarely and ethical choice.

I have this argument with my vegan friends she eats tons of imported foods. I eat meat but 95% of our food is locally sourced. We live rurally so can do this easily.

We don't buy fruit that's out of season here and flown into the uk.

Being vegan and avoiding leather doesn't mean you have a lesser impact on the planet or its animals.

[CoteDAzur]

YABU. Presumably nobody is telling you to get over yourself and eat some real food, so you can go about your life with your own choices without harassment from others with different choices. Why are you not extending the same courtesy to the rest of us?

I swear vegans have become the new Jehovah's Witnesses.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

That is an interesting point curren and really very true.

[RancidOldHag]

"Being vegan and avoiding leather doesn't mean you have a lesser impact on the planet"

Especially not if you replace it with plastics and other materials made from oil.

[RebootYourEngine]

I had an old work colleague who was a vegetarian but wore leather. She didnt even know where leather came from and didnt believe me when i told her.

[Rattledickie]

No sorry ... not changing my saddle and bridle .

[AliciaMayEmory]

It was a trip to a sheepskin tannery whilst at fashion college that made me realise that leather and sheepskin isn't a by product of the meat industry. Far from it as animals killed for meat don't necessarily have the quality of skin or wool necessary for the leather and sheepskin industry. The tannery was awful and I was almost ill at the sight of the raw skins being scraped, but if I'm honest even though I have always been vegetarian (I just don't like meat, rather than morals), I still wear leather shoes and sheepskin boots.

YANBU to give out the information, but YABU to ask people to share your views and reactions to it.

[ctjoy103]

You sound like a bore. No I won't consider it.

[Potatoface2]

i never used to eat meat.....then i tasted steak....opps!