Can anyone find me a faux leather satchel backpack for DD?

[MrsStressyHead]

Hi,

So DD is 14 and needs a new school bag and has recently said that she likes the dark brown faux/vegan leather satchel backpacks, but the ones I'm looking at don't look big enough for her school books. Can anyone find a good one big enough for the million books only slight exaggeration she has to cart with her ever day?

It'll be a Christmas present, so I'm thinkbudget around£60-70.

Thank you!

Ugh forgive the typos! Not enough coffee yet 😴

Hopeful bump

I have been looking at these:

vegiabags.com/products/three-box-vegan-leather-backpack

But I have no idea if they're any good, as never bought from them. It says they fit a 15' laptop, so seem a decent size. Maybe someone will come along with an opinion on them!

Oooo @arootintootingoodtime I'd quite like that for myself! I think DD would really like that actually.

I got a lovely vegan leather backpack from Kin at John Lewis earlier in the year - they had several of varying sizes and styles. It was a sale purchase about £30.

Thanks @LoveLabradors

www.etsy.com/uk/listing/826188678/vegan-leather-backpack-bookbag-travel?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_uk_en_gb_-bags_and_purses-power_seller&utm_custom1=k_dab33032ae591e4d423f51b0146793a0_k&utm_content=bing_408847088_1307319631404523_81707542512285_pla-4585307091998979:aud-808167871:pla-4585307091998979_c__826188678engb&utm_custom2=408847088&msclkid=dab33032ae591e4d423f51b0146793a0

www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1080506334/limited-edition-backpack-vegan-leather?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_uk_en_gb_-bags_and_purses-power_seller&utm_custom1=k_3d8ac4b146a21581a892a533fc9c2cfa_k&utm_content=bing_408847088_1307319631404523_81707542512285_pla-4585307091998979:aud-808167871:pla-4585307091998979_c__1080506334engb&utm_custom2=408847088&msclkid=3d8ac4b146a21581a892a533fc9c2cfa

I don’t know if you care about the environment or fossil fuels, but vegan leather is made from either polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride(PVC). It is made from fossil fuels and is a type of plastic that breaks down into plastic micro-particles. It never bio degrades and cannot be recycled. It is an endocrine disrupter and causes cancer in humans and wildlife when they ingest the microparticles.

@PlanDeRaccordement

I don’t know if you care about the environment or fossil fuels, but vegan leather is made from either polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride(PVC). It is made from fossil fuels and is a type of plastic that breaks down into plastic micro-particles. It never bio degrades and cannot be recycled. It is an endocrine disrupter and causes cancer in humans and wildlife when they ingest the microparticles.

This. Vegan leather should come with greenwashing warning!

@PlanDeRaccordement @RavingAnnie - so should a lot of animal leather, animal agriculture bring a massive contributor to carbon emissions, and the chemicals often used to process leather being highly toxic.

theecologist.org/2012/oct/26/toxic-chemicals-used-leather-production-poisoning-indias-tannery-workers

I don’t disagree that PU and PVC are harmful - but it’s an oversimplification to imply vegan leather = bad, animal leather = good.

There are other vegan alternatives to leather - plant based materials like Pinatex and Cork. But they’re not as commonly used.

@RavingAnnie @PlanDeRaccordement

That just simply overlooks obscene animal cruelty and suffering for the leather trade. Leather is no longer a by product of the meat industry. It is entirely unsustainable and environmentally unfriendly too as well as having enormous suffering involved. So yes whilst vegan leather is far from perfect environmentally it doesn’t have industrial animal production and cruelty involved.

These are a bit more expensive but they last and come in lots of colours:

www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/satchels/satchel_brown/14674_p.html

Pineapple skin version:
www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/satchels/satchel_pineapple_black/18482_p.html

Also these, more expensive but good quality:
www.wills-vegan-store.co.uk/products/vegan-classic-satchel

This one is lovely but ££ and a bit small:

www.drmartens.com/uk/en_gb/p/accessories-bags-vegan-cambridge-brush-11-inch-satchel

? I never said you should buy real leather. Or say that real leather is good. Plant based bag/backpacks are available you know. Zero animal cruelty or polluting plastics.

[quote LoveLabradors]@RavingAnnie* *@PlanDeRaccordement

That just simply overlooks obscene animal cruelty and suffering for the leather trade. Leather is no longer a by product of the meat industry. It is entirely unsustainable and environmentally unfriendly too as well as having enormous suffering involved. So yes whilst vegan leather is far from perfect environmentally it doesn’t have industrial animal production and cruelty involved.[/quote]
Sounds like 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other. You could just not buy either?

Anyway my post was in support of @PlanDeRaccordement raising awareness that vegan leather is not environmentally friendly which is something many people are unaware of and think they are doing the right thing by switching from leather.

People can of course make their own choices.

[quote TuftyRusty]**@PlanDeRaccordement* @RavingAnnie* - so should a lot of animal leather, animal agriculture bring a massive contributor to carbon emissions, and the chemicals often used to process leather being highly toxic.

theecologist.org/2012/oct/26/toxic-chemicals-used-leather-production-poisoning-indias-tannery-workers

I don’t disagree that PU and PVC are harmful - but it’s an oversimplification to imply vegan leather = bad, animal leather = good.

There are other vegan alternatives to leather - plant based materials like Pinatex and Cork. But they’re not as commonly used.[/quote]
No one said animal leather is good. Just highflying the issues of vegan leather.

@RavingAnnie
Glad I’m not only one that has met vegans who have gone vegan for the environment and yet are completely unaware that “vegan leather” is actually plastic made with fossil fuels and not environmentally friendly at all.

@PlanDeRaccordement I picked up on your post, and @RavingAnnie’s support of it because you said, quote:

vegan leather is made from either polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride(PVC)

This heavily implies to anyone reading it that all vegan leather is PU or PVC.

It’s not.

As you later acknowledge - there are other types of vegan leather, including more environmentally friendly options.

And if you think vegan plastic leather should have a warning, do you post the same about animal leather on every post when anyone is asking about new boots or a new bag? If not, it just seems like a bit of vegan-bashing.

I don’t disagree at all that some vegan leather is environmentally problematic, but I do think there’s an issue when people overgeneralise or make sweeping statements about veganism or vegan products, without thinking about whether some of the same issues might apply to animal products.

It’s like saying ‘vegan milk is terrible for the environment!’ When what you might actually mean is that some plant milk, like soya milk produced in the Amazon region for example, contributes to deforestation. But there’s loads of other plant milks available. And dairy milk has a massive carbon footprint. And keeping dairy cows is a big contributor to deforestation.

[quote PlanDeRaccordement]@RavingAnnie
Glad I’m not only one that has met vegans who have gone vegan for the environment and yet are completely unaware that “vegan leather” is actually plastic made with fossil fuels and not environmentally friendly at all.[/quote]
Again, implying that vegan leather is damaging, not recognising that not all vegan leather is the same or that animal leather is also damaging. The sweeping statements are not helpful in the dialogue.

@TuftyRusty

None of the suggestions or links to items in this thread were for vegan leather products not made of PU or PVC. So your point is moot. The environmentally friend vegan leather products are not widely available and are very hard to find compared to the PU or PVC ones which make up over 90% of vegan leather products.

I think if you’d posted a link to an actual green vegan leather product, you would have made your case more clear? Instead of going on about real leather. My post was more about avoid vegan leather made of PU and PVC. I did not suggest or direct an alternative. I was just trying to increase awareness of the environmental issues with the vast majority of vegan leather products.

My point is that in just making a broad (and inaccurate) statement about vegan leather, not recognising the alternatives and the various problems with them you’ve just oversimplified the whole situation.

Like I say, unless you’re hopping on the multiple threads about new animal leather boots or bags shouting about the environmental impact of a lot leather, you just come across like you’re here to do a bit of vegan-bashing.

A more helpful and balanced response to the OP might have been to say that, some vegan and animal leathers are problematic, there are alternatives that she might want to look at if she wants something environmentally friendly etc. This is more constructive IMO.

It’s a massively complex area and I think we all need to talk more about the nuances of our decisions, and balances that need to be made in deciding what to wear, eat and everything else. It’s not as simple as vegan leather = bad, because some animal leather = bad and some vegan leather = good and in any case, is bad vegan leather worse than animal leather? There’s a whole load of questions around this and it’s a complex area and I think jumping on and commenting on just one aspect of the whole picture isn’t actually that helpful.

A more helpful and balanced response to the OP might have been to say that, some vegan and animal leathers are problematic, there are alternatives that she might want to look at if she wants something environmentally friendly etc. This is more constructive IMO.

Or, yknow maybe just post some links to products OP was asking about?

Now THAT would be super helpful

None of the suggestions or links to items in this thread were for vegan leather products not made of PU or PVC.

Um.. I did post one for pineapple leather actually

@Carlissa or some links to vegan bags that are made from environmentally friendly materials? Rather than coming on to criticise, and not offer a balanced view or alternatives.

PINATEX
A super, relatively new, plant based material made from pineapple fibre by-products. Lightweight, breathable, with some water-resistance, very eco-friendly and biodegradable and wears better than you might think. In fact it’s pretty tough! Pinatex has an unwoven finish and creases and ages very nicely.