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Vegan Leather: Is Cruelty-Free and Eco-Friendly Leather Possible?
Vegan leather is a an emerging trend that will change the way we make durable goods. Today you’re going to learn everything you need to know about it.
We analyzed over 124 blogs and news articles discussing “vegan leather”, “eco-friendly leather”, and “leather alternatives”. And we only scratched the surface.
This guide will help you know what to look for in a vegan leather brand.
You’ll learn how to avoid leather alternatives made from cheap, harmful materials. And you’ll know about some exciting brands that are redefining leather for a new era.
Let’s start with the basics.
What is vegan leather?
You probably already know that vegan leather is a growing trend. And you’ve probably also heard that it’s cheap, impractical, and terrible for the environment.
To get to the bottom of that, let’s start with the basic question: what is vegan leather?
Vegan leather any material that mimics leather but is not made from animals.
These materials are not leather the way it’s typically defined. The dictionary definition of leather is a material made from tanned animal hides.
Traditional leather is usually made from tanned cow hides. Pigs, horses, goats, sheep, kangaroos, snakes, and crocodiles are among the other animals whose flesh are commonly used. All qualify as “real” leather.
Just like traditional leather, vegan leather can also be made from many different materials.
Not just pleather.
Vegan leather is made from all kinds of things. The list of vegan leathers seems to grow by the day.
Not too long ago, nearly every leather alternative was polyurethane leather. Sometimes known as pleather.
Pleather is still commonly used these days. But it is only one of many types of vegan leathers.
Even though it’s vegan, polyurethane leather still causes a lot of problems for the environment. Between that and durability issues, it’s the subject of a lot of criticism.
Polyurethane Leather
Polyurethane leather is also known as PU leather or pleather. It’s also commonly referred to as faux leather (though the definition of faux leather is much broader).
PU leather is made from petroleum derivatives. In its purest form, PU “leather” is 100% synthetic and contains zero animal products.
So polyurethane leather is vegan. But some non-vegan leather called bonded leather uses polyurethane as a coating.
In order to be sure that the product you’re buying does not contain animal products, you’ll have to look for labels that say “vegan” or “faux leather”.
Being free of animal parts is obviously a good thing. But polyurethane leather has plenty of flaws.
PU leather: Sustainable? Biodegradable? Toxic?
Polyurethane leather is detrimental to the environment.
This is in part because producing this leather involves the use of fossil fuels, excessive water, and other unnatural chemical additives that are potentially toxic to the environment.
And the finished product is not biodegradable. We are left with a material that will linger in our ecosystems for generations to come.
This criticism applies not only to PU leather, but also to another common synthetic leather: PVC leather.
PVC Leather
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) leather is another faux leather produced from fossil fuel-derived plastic.
This type of leather is based on vinyl, a type of plastic. The vinyl undergoes a series of alterations and gets combined with other chemicals to form a leather-like material.
Similar to PU leather, PVC leather can be produced at industrial scale using a resource-heavy manufacturing process.
And also like PU leather, PVC leather is not biodegradable.
PU leather vs PVC leather
Both PU leather and PVC leather are animal-free leather alternatives. They are both manufactured using petroleum-based plastics in combination with more chemical additives.
The main difference between PU leather and PVC leather is the flexibility and durability.
PVC leather is made with more layers of material, giving it a thicker and more durable quality. PU leather has less layers underneath the coating and is thus lighter and more flexible.
Neither types of leather and eco-friendly, and they share major sustainability issues. Writing for The Good Trade, Leah Thomas puts it this way:
When you consider the negative environmental impact of extracting fossil fuels, using chemicals, non-natural dyes, and excessive amounts of water to create a non-biodegradable plastic leather the environmental friendliness of the majority of faux leather is concerning.
Read the full article here.
These two types of faux leather are pervasive, but they are not the only vegan leathers on the market.
Eco-Friendly Leather: The Future?
It would be discouraging if our only choices were leather made from animals or leather made from fossil fuels.
Fortunately there are exciting new leather alternatives that are vegan and sustainable.
Eco-friendly leathers are now being made from plant sources you might never have expected. The sustainable vegan leather industry might only be in its infancy, but it figures to grow exponentially in years to come.
Here are a few of the new vegan leather innovations you should know about.
Cork leather
As a material, cork shares a lot of characteristics with leather. It is a tough but pliable material. If prepared right, it can have a similar look and feel as traditional leather.
Cork is derived from oak trees, making it biodegradable and renewable.
Coffee leather
Coffee leather is a leather material made from coffee grounds. Instead of going to waste, coffee grounds get recycled into a leather. Forward-thinking designers are even creating coffee leather that retains the smell of coffee.
Mushroom leather
Mycelium is a natural silk-like material that occurs naturally in mushrooms. It provides structural integrity in mushrooms. Because of its durability, mycelium is now being sourced as a raw material to make mushroom leather. It can be sustainably harvested and grown in a laboratory to create an impressive leather-like material.
Pineapple leather
The leaves on top of pineapples are more than just a sharp nuisance. They have fibers that make them excellent raw material to make vegan leather.
Pineapple leaves are usually wasted, but with pineapple leather they may now be a valuable commodity, creating new sources of jobs for farming communities.
Vegan Leather: An Exciting New Era
Leather has been a part of human society for thousands of years now. And it’s not going anywhere.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t improve it. Between animal welfare and environmental concerns, there is a growing demand for something humane and sustainable.
The new wave of vegan leathers is answering that call.
As we’ve seen, with a little creativity, the possibilities for vegan leathers are endless.
Just a few short years ago it was a given that faux leathers are inferior and hurt the environment. Now that’s changing.
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Is Pasta Vegan? (Egg? Bone Char?)
Pasta is one of the most popular, ubiquitous foods in the world. It’s been around since the 13th century, and it’s as popular as ever today. So you naturally have to wonder: is pasta vegan?
Most pasta noodles are 100% vegan, but not always. Vegans mainly have to look out for egg on the ingredients label. That’s easy enough – just check!
Usually egg is used in making fresh pasta. You’ll see egg in some homemade pasta recipes, and it’s used in a decent number of restaurants. The store bought pastas need a longer shelf life, and so egg usually isn’t ideal.
You have probably even noticed new pasta brands showing up on the shelves made from some of our favorite vegan staples: chickpea pasta, lentil pasta, beet pasta… just to name a few.
So can vegans eat pasta?
Yes, usually. Pasta might not be traditionally vegan, because a lot of fresh pasta recipes still use egg. But a lot of today’s pasta is usually made from oil, flour (like semolina flour), and salt.
Typically, pasta at the grocery store is vegan. If in doubt, check!
You can find the full article first published on WildEthical.com.
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The Vegan Trend: Is The Rise of Veganism a Fad?
We now have clear evidence that there is a vegan trend going on in the world. Veganism is on the rise and has been for over a decade now.
Check out this graph from Google showing search trends for the term “vegan”:
So if you’ve noticed that this whole “vegan” thing is gaining popularity, it’s not just your imagination. There are a lot of other interesting vegan statistics that back this up.
The vegan trend seems to have started somewhere around 2010. And veganism has definitely increased since then.
The question is: will this last? Or is being vegan just a fad (like this dairy executive says)?
To figure this out, let’s take a closer look at the veganism movement.
Why Is Everyone Going Vegan?
There are lots of different reasons why any one person chooses to go vegan. Sure, veganism has entered the mainstream, but it is still an individual choice that people make for different reasons.
So a few of the most common reasons to go vegan you’ll hear about are these:
For the animals.
Caring about animals is not a trend. We animal lovers have always been around.
Yet there are a couple big changes that have caused more people to go vegan for the animals.
The rise of factory farming.
One big change is the transition to factory farming that we’ve seen over the past hundred years. Factory farming adds more moral weight to the choice to consume animal products.
A lot of people are comfortable with the idea that you can love animals and treat them humanely while still using them for food. But the idea of a serene farm where the animals live happy, full lives before being painlessly put down barely exists anymore.
Nowadays, consuming animal products almost always means supporting factory farming. The levels of animal cruelty in your typical factory farm are almost unthinkable.
Faced with this reality, more and more people are choosing to go vegan. Especially now that more of us are becoming aware of how our food really gets produced.
This excerpt is taken from an article first published here.
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How These Two Companies Are Finding Creative Uses For Ocean Plastic
The ocean plastic crisis is out of control. In fact, “crisis” might even be an understatement.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year. And as you surely know, all of that plastic does not decompose. As the World Wildlife Federation tells us, “nearly all the plastic ever created still exists in some form today.”
Many conservation groups are doing what they can to help. But recently we have seen some amazing innovation from the private sector that could make massive inroads.
Today we spotlight two companies that are using ocean plastic to create the products we use everyday. After all, why create new plastics when our oceans are already littered with it?
Get the full story here.
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WATCH: Tiny Piglet and Rescued Baby Cow Become Fast Friends
A piglet and a calf share a car ride…
It sounds like the start of a bad joke. But this time it’s the start of a budding friendship.
Let’s start at the beginning.
A piglet was picked up by a local animal shelter after falling out of a slaughter house truck. Confused and scared, she was picked up by a kind-hearted animal rescue group.
Keep reading the entire article here.
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Is Kimchi Vegan?
You are a health conscious vegan so you already know that kimchi is a fantastic fermented food.
But the obvious question here is: is kimchi vegan?
Kimchi absolutely can be vegan. It is not always vegan, though, so you have to be careful.
Let’s take a closer look.
Kimchi is Not Traditionally Vegan
The traditional way to make kimchi is with seafood (read: non-vegan) ingredients.
Kimchi is a popular Korean food made from fermented cabbage and vegetables and seasoned with a rich concoction of flavors. Ingredients used in the seasoning often include fish sauce and fermented salted shrimp.
The fish sauce adds a savory flavor, as Korean food expert Maangchi describes. It is commonly made with anchovies. That, and the salted shrimp, make traditional Kimchi off limits for vegans.
Vegan Kimchi
There is a growing demand for vegan kimchi. You might not be able to replicate the same taste as original kimchi. But you can still enjoy a healthy and delicious vegan kimchi recipe anyway.
You can find a variety of vegan kimchi brands in the market. A lot of them will be labeled “vegan” or say “no fish sauce”. Or you can make your own!
Again, Maangchi comes to the rescue here with her own version of vegetarian and vegan kimchi. She explains that the key to maintaining the savoriness is to use her vegetable stock. Her vegetable stock is made from shiitake mushrooms, onion, kelp, green onion, and Korean radish.
Conclusion: Vegans Can Eat Kimchi
Kimchi is a delightful Korean food staple, and there are plenty of ways for vegetarians and vegans to enjoy it. It might not be the same flavor as the traditional kimchi, but the alternatives are getting better by the day.
Is Kimchi Vegan? was first published on wildethical.com.
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