{"id":11134,"date":"2014-01-27T07:00:51","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145696.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=11134"},"modified":"2014-01-27T07:00:51","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T15:00:51","slug":"video-leather-industry-doesnt-want-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/articles\/video-leather-industry-doesnt-want-see\/","title":{"rendered":"Video the Leather Industry Doesn’t Want You to See"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Leather<\/a><\/p>\n

Whenever I talk about vegan alternatives to leather<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>, I feel like I get a lot of pushback. Leather is a natural material, so it must be eco-friendly, right? I feel like that argument fails on many levels, and the video below is just one example of how unnatural the leather industry really is.<\/p>\n

Leather Industry and the Environment<\/h2>\n

Petroleum-based leather alternatives are not the greenest fabric, I totally agree. But the leather industry is not a better option. Here are a few reasons that leather is bad for the environment<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>:<\/p>\n

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  1. Producing leather means raising cows.<\/strong> In many places, that means deforestation. It also means feeding those cows and the huge industrial agriculture footprint that goes along with it.<\/li>\n
  2. The leather tanning process it terribly toxic<\/strong>. Tanneries use tons of water and toxic chemicals like formaldehyde to make that cow skin wearable. Their processes pollute the air and the water.<\/li>\n
  3. Leather is cruel.<\/strong> Just like with raising factory animals for meat, raising them for their skins often comes with a heavy does of animal abuse. Commodity animals like cows aren’t protected by animal rights laws like dogs and cats are<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>, and so-called “ag gag” laws<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span> prevent transparency in many factory faring operations.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Leather Industry Cruelty<\/h2>\n

    The video below is pretty graphic. It depicts the cruelty and abuse that’s unfortunately pretty common in the leather industry. This is a PETA video, and I know that PETA is a pretty polarizing operation. They pull some crazy stunts, and they can be pretty off-putting. But they also do a good job of showing the cruelty in the world of animal agriculture, like the leather industry. I hope that you’ll give the video below a chance and maybe rethink the leather in your wardrobe:<\/p>\n

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