i’ve always thought leather to be a byproduct of the meat industries (for cows at least) so i had to research this when i saw the article.
it turns out that cows are not killed just for leather as the website states. cow hide sold for leather represents only about 5% of the total value of a cow that is slaughtered. no one who raises cows could stay in business by selling them just for the value of their skin considering how much it would cost to raise a cow for maybe 2 years. in poorly developed countries i can’t imagine cow hide being sold for leather and the meat not being utilized for food.
if cow skin is not of leather quality it usually ends being ground up and included in food for other animals such as pigs.
there are some animals that are slaughtered just for their skin if it is valuable enough such as alligators.
i’m not favoring the use of leather or supporting the leather/meat industry but i do like accurate internet information (which is becoming much less common).
Even some vegans who adopted veganism recently may keep some of their leather items until worn out instead of replacing them straight away as they may have done with wool or silk clothes.
What would be a reason not to wear them anymore? I didn’t read the full article till the very end but IMHO the most damaging part is buying leather products. If you already have them, I see little sense in trashing the stuff. If it’s in good condition, you could sell/gift it to someone to potentially avoid that other person is buying new stuff.
The only other reason I could make up would be ‘marketing’. So to stop wearing these things to stop the normalization of it. But TBH I doubt that an average person can tell the difference between real and fake leather boots or merino and polyester shirts.
I have a 20 year old leather belt with a lot of wear on it, old leather boots, some merino clothes for hiking that I have fixed with yarn like a dozen of times… All of it isn’t in a condition to give it away but also feels not ready for the trash. I think I do better to keep 'em until they really fall apart completely instead of buying alternatives now.
What would be a reason not to wear them anymore?
From a vegan perspective, you are wearing the dried skin of a corpse. So the reason not to wear it would be that it’s disgusting and barbaric.
But emotions aside, wouldn’t I cause additional harm rather then less harm to animals and the planet by replacing them?
Yes, so would eating your dog when he’s dead.
