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Eco-Friendly Vegan “Leather” May be a Fashion Game Changer

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Eco-LeatherA professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Delaware has come up with an eco-friendly leather alternative that’s made from natural oils and fibers.

Whether or not you chose to wear leather usually depends on your attitude towards meat, be it vegan, vegetarian, or carnivore. Many people wear leather on the grounds that it’s a byproduct of animal slaughter for meat and therefore a form of recycling. The animal is already dead and the leather will only go to waste, right?

But is leather really a byproduct? Yes and no. It’s really more of a subsidy. Unbeknownst to many people, selling animal skins is often more profitable for farmers than selling the actual meat.

Dr. Richard Wool, the creator of the new leather alternative, laminated flax and cotton and plan oils together to create a natural looking, breathable leather-like material. It’s so convincing that companies like Nike, Puma, and Adidas are pursing designs with the vegan fabric.

Four years ago, Dr. Wool began researching how to make a more eco-friendly leather alternative that would lower the carbon footprint of the textile. This option contains no plastic and no toxic chemicals like many of the fake leather, or pleather, options out there now.

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1 COMMENT

  1. “Unbeknownst to many people, selling animal skins is often more profitable for farmers than selling the actual meat.”
    Unbeknownst to farmers especially, as they get paid $7.75 for the whole hide, that is, if the cow hide is not damaged:

    http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/nw_ls441.txt
    They get $16 total for the whole hide and offal. Please check your sources before saying such complete lies.
    A 1300-1400lb cow sells for over $2,000 at $1.50-$1.55 / lb. How does a $7.75 hide figure as “more profitable?”

    That being said, vegetal leather without animal or dangerous chemical products certainly has a place on Earth.

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