Thoughts on leather

First of all;  Do I wear leather as a vegan? Honestly I have to answer yes, but there's a HUGE but. And of course I'll explain it all :)

When I first went vegan I didn't really care if I would wear leather or not. And I also never cared if anything was real or faux leather. I actually would buy the faux leather option if there was one. There were a few things I would never wear, myself being vegan or not: I never wore real fur or leather from exotic animals. I own a few items made from cows leather.

I simply didn't care because I went vegan for health and environmental reasons. I made the ethical connection weeks or months after I started my plantbased journey. Now I do care.

So, why the f**k do I call myself a vegan and still wear leather? Because since I went plantbased I didn't purchase ANY leather. So you might see me wearing leather shoes or a leather jacket. But those shoes are about 3 years old and I even have a pair of leather shoes which are even older.

You might question why I didn't get rid of all animal products right away: I simply didn't want to waste the life the animal "gave" to me to become my new shoes. So to honor the animals life I will wear these items until they fall apart and then I'll fix them and wear them even longer until they can't be used anymore. Of course I could have given them to a secondhand store or try to find someone to pass them on. But I feel like the secondhand stores are bursting from clothing and I couldn't think of anyone who I could have given the items to. So I decided to keep them instead of buying new clothes for me.

I also keep them as a little reminder for myself that every life on this planet matters and we're all equal. Humans don't have the right to take lives for their joy.

You also might ask why we shouldn't wear leather because at this point the animals get killed anyway in the meat industry, so why wasting it? Well, this might be right. But when you think like this you could still eat meat because right now animals get killed anyway so why wasting the meat, I mean they throw it away.
If you don't stop buying animal products the industry will never stop "producing" them. Everything you buy is a statement. Every Dollar (or Swiss Franc in my case) is a statement. Besides education it's the best way to change something in this world. Maybe it's even THE BEST way.

If you really think you need leather items, go to a thrift store. I think it's the "best" way to get some. No more animal gets harmed and it's more environmental friendly then buying a brand new item.
But in my case, I don't want to buy any animal products at all. I try to buy everything vegan & cruelty free besides food, too. But you do you :)

And why buying leather when there are amazing and exciting products made from pineapple, apple or mushroom? Yes there is something called pineapple leather! What a cool topic to talk about with your friends 😉

So if you ever see a vegan wearing leather, it might be faux, it might be thrifted or it might be an item from the time before the person went vegan.
And also, don't forget, there isn't only one type of vegans 🌍

If you want to know more about the leather industry, check out this link from PETA.

You like the shoes? There are now two very similar VEGAN options available! Here and here.