Eco Fashion World

Elizabeth Olsen, Olsenhaus

Producing leather—whether by chrome/chemical tanning or vegetable tanning—comes with a host of problems. It heavily contributes to global warming, land devastation, environmental pollution, the depletion of valuable natural resources, and water-supply contamination, not to mention the spread of disease and the abuse of billions of animals.

From start to finish, the amount of energy required to create a leather hide is 20 times greater than what’s used to produce a synthetic material. The production of leather includes breeding and raising the animals, transporting feed, removing animal waste, powering housing and killing facilities, the use of vaccines and antibiotics, and removing carcasses and transferring pelts. At the tannery, the skins are sorted, soaked, fleshed, tanned, wrung, dried, kicked, cleaned, trimmed, buffed, dried again, finished, then transported to the garment maker, wholesaler, and so on.

Synthetic materials account for far less pollution—and only a fraction of the energy used. Regardless, synthetic polymers are not the only alternatives. There are plenty of plant-based or sustainable and renewable fabrics available, including cork, wood, linen, hemp, cotton, bamboo, Ultrasuede, and more. Plus, with so much development in terms of new organic, plant-based, and post-consumer recycled waste materials, comparing leather to these materials is like comparing a mountain to an anthill in terms of environmental impact.

Leather isn’t a byproduct of the meat industry. As more people reduce their intake of meat and dairy products, the industry increasingly relies on money made from selling skins. In India, there is a huge industry built around slaughtering animals for their skins, exporting hides, and employing child laborers.

We live in a culture where we’ve been brainwashed, through incredible marketing, by those who stand to profit from the continual abuse of our fellow living beings, as well as the surreal concept that fur or the hide of a dead animal connotes luxury.

Across the board, there is really no way to defend leather as “eco-friendly” or sustainable. In order to really create change for the future of the planet and health of mankind, we all have the responsibility to question what is really going on and get to the root of the problem.

Courtesy of Ecouterre  

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