Vegan leather

[wannabebetter]

Just browsing handbags, shoes & boots and loads of 'vegan leather' on offer. Google tells me most vegan leather is PU or PVC so AIBU to say vegan leather is just an expensive way to sell plastic goods?

Yes, that’s exactly right!! What’s next - vegan wool? ( aka acrylic)

Ha ha, yes I've spotted this too! A great spin on selling plastic.

Yup.

I've thought the same. And they don't point out that leather decomposes but fake / vegan leather will lie in landfill for centuries.

Yes, a lot of vegan leathers are crappy plastic. However, there are decent versions. You can get vegan leather made from cacti, and Matt and Nat use recycled plastic bottles for theirs. Labante also use recycled plastic bottles, and some kind of vegetable byproduct. It’s worth shopping around for the good kinds of vegan leather because they are out there.

Same thing as the 'vegan butcher' and it makes as much sense.

It wouldn’t sound as desirable or worthy if they called it plastic, would it?

Well at least you’re not draping yourself in dead alligators.

I was under the impression it's so buyers know that there's no non-vegan glues etc... used in the manufacturing process.

PVC might not break down in landfill, but I've had plenty that actually disintegrates while still in use - the glues break down and everything delaminates leaving a sticky mess where your bag/shoes/jewellery box used to be.

The best leather substitute I've ever encountered is made from cork by the likes of Pelcor (other brands are available). Cork is so sustainable it grows back every seven to nine years without even having to chop a tree down.