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Are there any good alternatives to leather?
Leather is everywhere — from shoes and belts to
purses, wallets, jackets, furniture, and car seats. Most probably assume
that the leather that finds its way into our wardrobes and living spaces is
a byproduct of the meat industry. But even though cows are certainly the
most popular animals for use in leather goods, in truth most of our leather
is sourced from overseas, from countries like China and India, where a host
of animals may be raw material for our bags and belts, including horses,
deer, sheep, and, in more exotic cases, alligators or snakes, all of which
may make an animal-lover or vegetarian queasy. Environmentalists have reason to forgo leather, too.
The processing of leather requires copious amounts of energy and a toxic
stew of chemicals, including formaldehyde, coal tar, and some
cyanide-containing finishes. The tanning process is just as pollutant-laced
and can leave chemicals in the water supply (as described in the
bestselling book and popular movie A Civil
Action) and on the hands (and in the lungs) of
workers in the developing world. Tanneries are top polluters on the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Superfund list, which identifies the most
critical industrial sites in need of environmental cleanup. Because of
their toxicity, reports organicleather.com, “many old tannery sites
can’t be used for agriculture, or built on, or even sold.” That
Web site is the home of Mill Valley, Calif., retailer Organic Leather,
which offers a return to the tanning practices of old — using animals
that are organically fed and humanely raised and a tanning process that
uses plant tannins, vegetable tannins, or smoke to cure the leather, with
zero toxicity in the process. But with the wealth of fashionable faux-leather
alternatives, there’s no need to ever wear animal skins. So-called
cruelty-free fashions have advanced in leaps and bounds, with variations on
every style of handbag, wallet, belt, and boot. Online “vegan
boutique” Alternative Outfitters even has a version of the ubiquitous
Ugg boot made with microsuede “shearling” on the outside and
synthetic wool inside, and Iowa-based Heartland Products sells
Western-style nonleather boots and nonleather Birkenstock sandals. Science
has come up with plenty of comfortable, durable alternatives to materials
made with animal products. These include vegan microfiber, which claims to
match leather in strength and durability, and Pleather, Durabuck, and
NuSuede.
Products made with these synthetic materials tend to
be less expensive than their leather counterparts and are being produced by
major manufacturers like Nike, whose Durabuck athletic and hiking shoes
“will stretch around the foot with the same ‘give’ as
leather . . . and are machine washable,” according to company
sources. And you won’t need to adjust your style, either. Vegetarianshoesandbags.com offers everything from
purple faux-snakeskin peep-toe pumps for hitting the clubs to hemp sneakers
with recycled outsoles that look skate-park-ready, to distinctive Pleather
bags and versatile woven belts.
For more information: Alternative
Outfitters, www.alternativeoutfitters.com; Heartland Products,
www.trvnet.net/~hrtlndp; Organic Leather, www.organicleather.com;
Vegetarian Shoes and Bags, www.vegetarianshoesandbags.com.
Send questions to Earth Talk, care of E/The Environmental Magazine,
P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881 or e-mail earthtalk@emagazine.com.
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 2, 2008.
