Vegan leather

[biglipslittlehips]

Am I just cynical or is vegan leather just a modern descriptor for what used to be considered cheap PU fake leather?

It seems like it's a marketing exercise to rebrand what was the cheap mass produced product into something cool and desirable.

Surely it's just plastic that doesn't decompose and is crap for the environment. The vast majority of people buying these items aren't vegan and happily wear leather and suede and eat animal products

Even if your choice ultimately is more damaging to the environment and harmful to animals?

Even if your choice ultimately is more damaging to the environment and harmful to animals?

I buy very little anyway and mainly plant leather. People who buy leather are rarely doing it to reduce their use of plastics, so this thread is just an attempt at a gotcha moment. And failing.

It's not like people who wear leather usually put much thought into their environmental impact or animal welfare.

My main reason for being vegan is for the animals, not the environment. The animals you're faux concerned about hurting are killed for meat anyway so it's a joke really.

Just another goady vegan thread. 4th one this week.

My compromise is to only buy leather products second hand as much as possible. Shoes are a minefield though as I walk a lot but have shit ankles.

One of the nicest leather alternatives I have seen was a jacket in waxed cotton canvas that really looked like a mat finish leather until one got very close up. I realise that sounds like Barbour but it was Uniqlo, a long time ago. Fairly waterproof too. I'd be interested in shoes made with this kind of material.

It’s not quite as simple as animal leather = good/environmentally friendly and vegan leather = bad/plastic.

Leather is often profitable and can be considered a co-product rather than a by-product of meat.

Leather is often not great for the environment.

Some vegan leathers are biodegradable and have good credentials.

But yes I agree that just slapping a ‘vegan’ label on cheap plastic shoes is greenwashing.

However there are some vegan companies which are really doing some interesting stuff here.

https://goodonyou.eco/the-hidden-costs-of-leather/

https://www.collectivefashionjustice.org/articles/leather-is-not-a-natural-or-sustainable-byproduct

https://www.greenmatters.com/p/impact-of-leather-industry-on-environment

https://www.collectivefashionjustice.org/leather

https://goodonyou.eco/is-leather-a-by-product-of-the-meat-industry/

https://goodonyou.eco/eco-friendly-leather-alternatives/

Vegan leather has been around for quite a while and is expensive and high quality, not made of plastic and lasts for years. Wills Vegan Shoes for instance, it's a bit stiffer than cow leather but I don't think you'd tell the difference. I haven't seen cheap nasty plastic labelled as vegan leather but I can believe it! Typical green washing

You can't be concerned for animals if you are choosing things that are mire damaging to the environment.

Environmental welfare = animal welfare. You can't separate the two. I fear you like many have been taken in by the TikTok ideals of things looking 'good' on the surface level but actually the more damaging choice when you look into it with more than a cursory glance.

The vast vast vast majority of vegan leather includes plastics. They are coated in PU like a sandwich. Textile...plant material.....PU

Only recently have actual non plastic vegan leathers been developed and are extremely limited in their take up. 100% non plastic vegan leathers are hopefully going to gain more traction. Presently the majority of vegan leathers are plant-PU blends which still create microplastics entering the environment and lack of decomposition.

amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/mar/01/plant-or-plastic-how-to-decode-vegan-leather-alternatives

@DreamingDreaming

It's not like people who wear leather usually put much thought into their environmental impact or animal welfare.
Says who? You? Yeah, you aren't in a position to make this statement

My main reason for being vegan is for the animals, not the environment. The animals you're faux concerned about hurting are killed for meat anyway so it's a joke really.
Again says who? You? Without knowing me or my concerns or not for animals or whether or not I even eat meat, once again, a meaningless statement you've made.
Saying stuff doesn't make it so.
And I'll say it one more time, no one can claim to be 'for the animals' whilst not being concerned for the environment. They are intrinsically linked.

I would be very careful about ordering from this company. I had a look on their website and they are based in Thailand! (It took a while to find this information). Returns, at the customers' expense, have to be sent there - see some reviews on Trustpilot.
They also say that the leaves are pressed onto fabric, but don't say what that fabric is. So it could be polyester, PVC, or something else.

It made me think of the MollyFlynn company which I read about on here yesterday.....

Maybe whicker?

Whicker slippers, (a bit creaky)
Whicker bra, (good support)
Whicker knickers (actually that sounds quite good from an advertising standpoint!)

It’s cotton and very high quality as far as I can tell but fair enough it’s better to be safe than sorry!

I do vegan campaigning. I speak to hundreds of people a month about things like this, so yes, I'm in a position to say it.

I am concerned for the environment and believe I'm doing the best I can. Nothing is perfect, you can't live and cause no damage, it's not possible.

@DreamingDreaming

I am concerned for the environment and believe I'm doing the best I can. Nothing is perfect, you can't live and cause no damage, it's not possible

So you know you aren't perfect and not doing everything right but you are doing the best you can. Then maybe accept that others are doing the best they can. Some of the things they do will be better for the environment than the things you do. Some of the things you do will be better than the things they do. But as you say, you can not live and cause no damage so we all do the things that we can do and perhaps be less judgemental about the things others fail to do just as we would wish others would forgive us the things we could improve on.

Vegan and leather do not collocate.