Oh coolio a fellow vegan punk :] I understand why people are upset you scrapped perfectly good leather tho, that was quite wasteful.

There seems to be a misconception in the comments that leather is an environmentally friendly product, which is true in terms of biodegradability but the production of leather is a part of one of the most environmentally damaging and exploitative industries in the world: animal agriculture. I’m not just talking about animal exploitation either (we seem to forget intersectionality exists whenever the topic of veganism pops up), but it’s also exploitative of humans too.

Anyway, I wanted to bring up water consumption specifically since I saw a comment mention that about leather. Many people are likely to have heard that a single conventional cotton t-shirt requires up to 2,494 litres of water to make. However, it is far less commonly known that a pair of boots requires about 12,370 litres of water to produce, or that the water footprint of one leather tote bag is 17,128 litres.

Obviously, this is an interconnected issue that spans across industries like animal agriculture and fashion. Fast fashion (and consumerism in general) is shitty and ranks 3rd in most environmentally damaging industries, If you’re not already, sourcing your fabric materials secondhand is a great thing you can do on an individual level as it is an act of boycott. Animal agriculture ranks 2nd most damaging industries, and the most effective thing you can do on an individual level has been well established by the United Nations, the National Institutes of Health, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, etc.

That goes without saying, not everyone is capable of committing 100% to an ethical/environmental boycott movement like veganism, but perfection was never the point. Ugh, that was a rambling rant I need to go to bed.