Vegan leather
Vegan leather
Leather is tanned animal skin. Vegans are people who reject the use of animals as food and are opposed to the use of animals at all. This includes the consumption of eggs, milk and honey. The use of leather, down, silk or animal wool is also often denied.
On the internet and else, vegan leather is offered. Cell phone cases or ladies’ handbags are offered "made of vegan leather". Since "leather" must be an animal product, vegan leather is not "leather". The materials then consist of vegetable materials or plastics.
Especially in shoes, vegan leather is often offered. Leather is a very durable material and is an ideal raw material for shoes, because it is breathable, tear resistant and insulating. It is not easy to achieve the same properties by substitution products.
In addition to "killing animals" for leather production, the argument is that toxic chemicals are handled during leather production. Hardly any product made from alternative materials comes without the use of chemicals. Today's tanneries in developed countries are no longer a health hazard. They are just as dangerous or harmless as all other plants where chemical products are processed. Also, many materials that are natural, are also dangerous in processing. Often it is argued very polemically. Vegan leather, which turns out to be a plastic product, certainly does not correspond to the origin ideals of vegans. However, the temptation is to approach inexpensive plastic products as "vegan".
Vegetarian leather
On occasion, the term "vegetarian leather" appears. Vegetarians are people who do not eat meat. But milk, eggs etc. are consumed. Therefore, vegetarians are not as strict in the selection as vegans.
The same rules apply as for vegan leather. Vegetarian leather is not leather and may not be called leather. There is a risk of mixing up "vegetarian leather" and "Vegetable-tanned leather". The similarity of the terms can lead to confusion and must be clarified on a case-by-case basis.
Additional information
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