Just the other day a friend flaunted a spacious and stylish satchel. It was trendy in an understated blackish-grey hue, and she declared it to be “vegan leather”. She felt good that her product had not been at the cost of any animal.
But what really is vegan leather, I asked and she started the spiel that the brand had doled out to her, and to cut it short — it was environment friendly!
Not really. Vegan leather is mostly as fake as it can get! There are shops aplenty that try to cash in on the mango man’s lack of understanding between pure and fake leather.
To begin with, using leather products does not mean that you have blood on your hands. Leather is a byproduct of the meat industry. Yes! So, the skins of all the animals that get slaughtered for meat consumption, are actually put to good use, and therefore good for the planet too.
Yes, the processing of leather to make those products uses a lot of chemicals which contaminate soil and water, but there is a whole new world of almost zero pollutants that are increasingly being used.
Vegan leather, on the other hand, uses a lot more harmful chemicals, and is definitely not vegan. For instance, the stearic acid used in the making of PVC or polyvinyl chloride is made from the fat of animals, commonly called the tallow. This PVC is a synthetic product and once you have thrown it away, it will remain on a landfill for at least a 100 years, or maybe even more.
Leather, to the contrary, will last you a good 20-30 years or plus, and will take about 10-30 years to biodegrade.
Genuine leather products may be a bit dear but they last long too. A quick rub of vaseline buffs it up pretty and gives it an all-new shine.
Fake leather will either begin to peel off or if it is made of a good material, will begin to dry and crack up, and remember another 100 years before it disappears for good.
Just to put it all into perspective — a fake leather jacket or skirt or pants may last a couple of years but you could hand down your genuine leather pieces as part of heritage to your children and grandchildren.
You will of course also reduce your carbon footprint during your stay on earth.
The alarm bells are a’ ringing loud and strong — be it the extreme searing heat, typhoons, floods, landslides, cloud bursts, too little or too much rain. It is now incumbent on each one of us to take steps that will help the planet heal.
Next time you go leather shopping, ask for proof. Question hard till you think you have the right answers. And, don’t fall for the spiel.
