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Leather Carbon Footprint Is Over 12 Times Larger than that of Vegan Alternatives (veganfta.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/vegan@slrpnk.net
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[–] 18 points 1 week ago* (8 children)

Vegan "leather"...

Instead of buying an imitation of something you are against, and which is ecologically unsound, why not use any of the million natural alternatives?

Vegan "leather" (plastic) may have a smaller co2 footprint, but it's sourced from raw materials that are at the center of most of the world's woes, and will eventually become microplastics, while the co2 can be absorbed by plants, etc.

It's the same as "vegan meats". Celebrate vegan food without glorifying fake carnivorous food.

I use Arch, BTW.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    A lot of vegan leather is plant based.

    Pineapple and cork are two big ones.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1atex

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  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago

    Piñatex (Spanish pronunciation: [piɲaˈteks]) is the trade name for a non-biodegradable leather alternative made from cellulose fibres extracted from pineapple leaves, PLA (polylactic acid), and petroleum-based resin

    Still plastic, unfortunately.

    Cork is definitely a cleaner alternative, but I don't know how durable it is in "leather" form.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago*

    Cork is cork, a lovely and great material with a ton of applications, but it's not leather. It will not last as long and won't withstand the abuse that leather can.

    Piñatex (Spanish pronunciation: [piɲaˈteks]) is the trade name for a non-biodegradable leather alternative made from cellulose fibres extracted from pineapple leaves, PLA (polylactic acid), and petroleum-based resin

    So, basically when the fibers decompose, it leaves PLA and petroleum byproducts.

    PLA, is a plastic. A bioplastic, sure, but contrary to popular belief, it will not degrade unless done under industrial composting conditions. It will not degrade in your backyard compost pile, and will break into microplastics.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 child)

    It's not made of plastic. That's "imitation leather", stuff like Naugahyde that has existed for decades. There are many new plant-based leathers that are exciting and interesting, including using the SCOBY from kombucha.

    It's called vegan leather because it looks and acts like leather and takes the place of leather. It's a protein-based hard wearing impermeable fabric, it's fucking leather.

    It's more leather than so-called "Genuine Leather" typically is.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Yeah, my sofa is fabric instead. Old leather one was bought because we thought easy wipe clean would be good. In the end it barely mattered and it doesn't feel very nice in comparison.

    Both were bought from a charity shop, new sofas cost way too much.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    I had a high quality leather sofa, beautiful, soft leather. It was all around great, super durable. However, when it was very hot, it was less comfortable than fabric.

    It withstood my kids early years great.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago*

    This is a theme that comes up very frequently in my occasional discussions of veganism with non-vegans. Yeah, replacements exist. Yeah, they're expensive and complicated and sometimes also bad. So instead of trying to reproduce the aesthetics of abuse and exploitation, try just eating something different. Try wearing something different. Have some new experiences. They might feel and taste really nice and they won't be a passive billboard for the things you're trying to protest in the first place.

    I too use Arch, BTW

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