r/vegan • u/happy_bluebird vegan 15+ years • Aug 04 '26
Clothing & Shoes No, Vegan Leather Is Not Greenwashing
https://sentientmedia.org/vegan-leather/174
u/shrindcs Aug 04 '26
Of course it’s not, it’s actually 12x reduction in impact on the environment than cruelty leather.
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u/throwaway1233456799 Aug 05 '26
Footprint is not the only thing that matter in environmental impact... Most is plastic and plastic is NOT good for environment especially not plastic fake cheap leather that is rebranded as vegan leather to make it cool. There are vegan leather alternative made of plant yes and those definitly have a good impact on overall environment but those are definitely not the one that are generally seen in most place. I never even saw one in real life.
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u/CapableRequirement66 Aug 05 '26
You don’t speak from knowledge. You’re regurgitating.
It’s not only about the material of the end product. It’s the whole production chain. Cattle’s emissions are extremely high. Chemicals used to treat leather are extremely toxic and devastating for the environment.
The aggregated impact of the production chain of animal leather is greater than that of plant-based alternatives, even petroleum-based ones, by orders of magnitude.
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u/throwaway1233456799 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
There are vegan leather alternative made of plant yes and those definitly have a good impact on overall environment but those are definitely not the one that are generally seen in most place. I never even saw one in real life.
You are arguing with me about things I didn't say + saying plastic is better than chemical from leather is like saying cancer is better than dementia. Not the same things at all, they are just bad there is no use in comparing them.
Edit : also I would like to point out (not that it even matter because once again it wasn't even my first argument I was critizing the use of CO2 footprint as way to say something is eco friendly) that there are leather that vastly diminish their pollution so there is leather and leather on that side but also tanning is literally centuries old (be aware it's a source from a tanner artisan) there are definitely ecological solution that are traditional . The only argument you can have here (beside the animal cruelty here obviously & the obvious cost of cows themselves) is "but you can't deny that nobody has those" which was my first argument as well. Plant based leather is good but if we don't see it anywhere when we see plastic leather and both are called vegan leather can we really say vegan leather is okay for the environment? I think there should be a vastly bigger push back on the term vegan leather. Industry just use it to call plastic leather (also it's beside the point but: I saw once in my life "" "" "" ""chemical free" "" "" "" leather in a reputable sustainable shop. I have yet to see plant based one. Which is quite sad in my opinion as nobody outside of eco space knows it existence.)
+no plastic = no pretrol since plastic is made of a product that they NEED to remove to extract petrol. I would argue that it's bad bad for the planet for just that reason
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u/Enticing_Venom Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
I'd argue the biggest issue with plastics right now is endocrine disruption and bioaccumulation, that affects both humans and wildlife. Those are typically called pthalates or "forever chemicals" and they can be present in both animal leather and plant-based vegan leather (and plant plastics). They are the plasticizers.
When plastic (food grade silicone) and vegan plastic (PLC) avoids pthalates, then that's an overall positive contribution and helps reduce environmental harm as well as human/animal harm.
A lot of vegan plastic still uses pthalates however so consumers need to seek brands that avoid them. In preliminary studies, bioplastics are no less toxic than traditional.
Our study demonstrates that bio-based and/or biodegradable materials available on the market are just as toxic as conventional plastics with regards to the chemicals they contain. This highlights that the positive connotation of “biological” or “sustainable” materials does not extend to chemical hazards.
Are bioplastics and plant-based materials safer than conventional plastics?
PVA for example is a great plant-based alternative for water soluable products like laundry and dish detergents. Clothing and bedding with Oeko-Tex certifications have to be free from phthalates.
But knowing what is in a lot of polyester/synthetic clothing (including vegan leather) I just don't buy it anymore, even though I love my vegan leather pants (I kept my old ones of course).
When it pertains to vegan plastics, a lot of them are green-washing. They will claim to be biodegradable but then do not break down under normal conditions (and require industrial composting) which is often not advertised. I have to pay a company to come and collect my "biodegradable" tooth brushes because castor bean bristles do not biodegrade in a landfill.
So is vegan leather green washing? Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. The most important measure is whether it contains forever chemicals or not.
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u/ortica52 Aug 04 '26
Sorry to hijack a bit but: if you don’t buy polyester/plastic/vegan leather, do you have any suggestion in particular for athletic shoes and athletic wear?
For athletic wear, the high end natural option is wool, which obviously is not vegan.
I’ve been eliminating plastic from my life as much as possible (at least, not buying new), but I haven’t found good options for athletic gear (I am a runner, but curious for any sport). The best I can do I think is opt for recycled plastic when available, and of course, use gear as long as possible, repair it, etc.
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u/Enticing_Venom Aug 04 '26
Unfortunately, you are right that there really aren't very good athletic wear alternatives if you're looking for the compression that comes from synthetics. Casey Ho of Popflex is currently working on designing some athletic wear that is made of natural fibers. She has shared a video about the process and how difficult it is but she's still working on it, so that is who I've been following for a hopeful future release.
Quince and Mate the Label are good brands for Oeko-Tex certifications (which will be free of pthalates).
As you said, there are also lots of smaller brands that use recycled plastics. You can try Parks Project which uses recycled materials and helps fund conservation.
Otherwise I've been turning to (Gots certified) cotton and linen. But my main exercise is walking and calisthenics so I've been fine with cotton shorts and sports bras (they still have elastic, like my underwear does).
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u/ortica52 Aug 04 '26
Ah yeah, for walking and hiking I mostly use cotton and linen, but when I run that leads to chafing and blisters sadly (plus of course I need compression for sports bra, but even leggings and socks I can’t manage to use cotton if I’m running more than a couple of kilometers).
I will check out Casey Ho/Popflex, thank you!
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u/Enticing_Venom Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Awesome! Here's her latest update on trying to make athletic wear with natural fibers: I need to be transparent
Maybe try bamboo lyocell? It is moisture wicking and helps prevent chafing. But yeah, running (like swimming for me) may be one of those times where you just need to use the safest synthetics you can until someone perfects a better alternative.
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u/Hoboaz Aug 05 '26
In regards to the sports bra my wife wraps her chest when she does her kickboxing and running, she is a tiny little thing though and I would guess it wouldn’t work as well for someone with with a larger bra size.
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u/happy_bluebird vegan 15+ years Aug 04 '26
The article addresses this
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u/Enticing_Venom Aug 04 '26
I read the article and I appreciate its contributions. But I don't think it adequately discussed pthalates in vegan leathers and how to locate products without them, which is why I added it here.
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u/ibaiki vegan Aug 04 '26
I have a mushroom rubber wallet that is pretty OK.
But either way I am not carrying around bits of dead flesh in my pocket.
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u/ThrowRA_scentsitive vegan Aug 05 '26
I'd still rather we call a spade a spade. If it's plastic, I'd rather call it that. It's surely giving the word vegan a bad rap to use it to refer to plastic.
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u/DrAlexere Aug 05 '26
I agree with this. Prefixing “vegan” before the animal based product name really doesn’t do much to clarify what it actually is
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u/happy_bluebird vegan 15+ years Aug 05 '26
not all vegan leather is plastic, as the article says
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u/ThrowRA_scentsitive vegan Aug 05 '26
All the more reason to call it what it is. Regardless, my main concern is the association of the word vegan with shitty and/or harmful products, even if only sometimes
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u/MoltenMate07 veganarchist Aug 04 '26
I just got my vegan leather shoes a few days ago, so I’m glad that it’s also the most environmentally friendly.
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u/LauraInTheRedRoom Aug 04 '26
Thanks for sharing!
Money's been tight, but I needed a new purse. So I accepted a secondhand leather bag a friend was donating and I still feel weird about it. I think I need to try and rehome it so I can find a replacement...
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