
Is leather green?
As a product, it seems to be- it’s natural, will eventually biodegrade, has a decent lifespan and promotes a culture of natural products, against cheap synthetics which are not bought to last and which often use fossil-based energy or materials to create.
Is its production green? It can be eco-unfriendly when chemicals are used to process it, and farming animals can be harmful to the environment. But chemicals don’t have to be used and farming doesn’t have to be intensive.
Leather is a substance that, as a natural material of durable quality and ancient origins of ritual craft, has regularly intrigued and enchanted this EcoSwitch writer. Synthetic materials- whether they be straps on bags or grip-tape on a cycle’s handlebars- certainly are resistant, but abrasively so- a cut or burn from synthetic fibres sting deeply and seems wholly unnatural; the material will get shabby and unusable without losing its integrity, meaning that it becomes a useless shell; and if and when the item made from synthetic material gets ripped or torn (more the case with less durable synthetics like thin polyester clothing) the thing seems irreparable and as if it has nowhere to go- it wont rot, so what the hell do you do with it?
Leather, on the other hand, doesn’t burn you and wears in naturally. It is strong enough to be stitched (in most cases) and repaired. An old leather belt looks good and feels good. There are other natural materials than leather, of course; but it is a strong and protective fibre. If one has enough green-consciousness, one will keep irrepairable or soiled leather items for some future use, and will not go crazy on purchasing leather items; they will treat each piece of leather as a sacred object (of sorts) and appreciate all the energy, life, craft and time that has gone into each piece. A green-conscious leather-user, then, will exercise respect, care and moderation (one mustn’t forget that over-consumptive non-greens could probably make an environmental crisis occur through the overuse of hemp, or by planting too many trees in the wrong place- the key here is moderation).
Leather, then, seems to have the potential to be as renewable as sustainably produced meat. If organic beef can be cultivated sustainably, with an accreditation system and recognised certification bodies, then the ‘next step’ of extending these systems to the side-product of edible meat doesn’t seem to be an impossible goal. Leather has been used for millennia; think of the heroic characters of Homer’s epics who wore leather circa 1200BC, aside from much more ancient instances (which is not to say that leather production has always been a ‘noble’ trade; aside from perhaps the native Americans, in many civilisations, the trade was considered foul because of the urine and faeces that was used to tan hides).
The fact that leather is most often a by-product makes it seem an efficient and resourceful use of an animal- be it a cow, ostrich or bison; dependent, of course, on the processes and industries that sustain and ultimately kill the animal. The commercial beef industry has been much investigated and rightfully exposed for its many wrongs. Looking at another animal, the ostrich, also highlights the dangers- ostriches were at one point in history hunted almost to extinction, and in the 1700’s were hunted purely for their decorative feathers. Ostrich leather is a highly luxurious item, and is even today used to make handbags for high-class fashion houses- there is, however, a market for ostrich meat, meaning that the frivolities of consumers with disposable incomes has not led, at the present time, to a complete, massive and wasteful hunting of the bird. Naturally-tanned leather, then, gained as a by-product from the sustainable, small-scale farming of animals, will surely appeal to meat-eating greens as an eco-friendly option; with the proviso that such leather items are necessities (this elimnates leather-coated tooth-pick holders, for instance, from the equation), and that a responsible use and purchasing of leather is maintained (buying clothes for life, etc).
Leather can in theory be produced on a small scale, and without ruining land. The analyses of those more thoughtful than this writer have shown that certain animals- e.g. bison- have less of an impact on their environment than cows, the traditional source of our leather: aside from needing less water and grass than cows, bison are said to help till the soil with their sharper feet. Being primarily pastured animals (many cows, in contrast, are kept in cage-like homes) they also fertilise this tilled soil with their waste. Bison are in fact distributed in both North America and Europe (the European species being known as the ‘wisent’); this use of bison would, though, have to be squared with the meat-production of the animal (there would need to be a market for parts of the bison other than its hide to make its farmed life ‘worthwhile’).
Leather can also be produced without hard chemical involvement. Bark tanning was actually a precursor to ‘chrome’ tanning; chrome tanning is an industrial innovation, used because it’s a lot faster than plant-tanning. Amongst many other things, it has been shown in studies to be a human carcinogen when inhaled. The risks for tanning-workers adds to a negative picture of this chemical-intensive process; the chemical tanning of hides also uses fungicides and other aggressive ingredients to preserve the leather.
Natual tanning processes, on the other hand, which use the tannins in plants for the tanning procedure, use only salt water to rid the hide of bacteria. Plant tanning is the ancient precursor to chrome tanning, and was the primary method before chrome came along; it can be found throughout history, whether in early modern western civilisations or, it is speculated, in cultures such as the Egyptian world of 5000BC. Eco-tanneries use sustainably harvested pure plant agents.
If one is an optimist regarding animal farming and its sustainability and small-scale potential- or even if one accepts that people will continue eating meat and therefore feels that the whole animal should be made us of (possibly a controversial position)- then natural leather might well be a material of choice. Plant tanneries and, further down the line, small-scale leather workshops (such as that of Green Shoes, England, mentioned in another article on this site) show that it can be produced effectively without harsh chemical involvement, with low-energy methods and with minimum ecological repercussions when it has finished its use as a serviceable object.
Recycled leather is another issue, and shouldn’t be discussed here; that seems like a no-brainer, seeing as no animals were killed for a second-, third- or fourth-generation item; the ethical issue of wearing dead animal skin is another concern.
Posted under Articles, How To's & Guides, Lifestyle & Fashion
This post was written by Barnaby Tidman on October 19, 2009
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