ethicallysourcedsustainablepolls:
cool i can’t wait to wear my human-leather coat around town while doing other totally normal and legal daily activities
SO WHAT’S IT MADE OF OP??? WHAT IS IT.
I need people to understand that all of the “vegan leathers” are plastic. Yes, really all of them. Yes, even that vegan leather that you saw online that prominently claims that it’s made of plant waste and is therefore super sustainable.
- Cactus leather is “cactus fiber, mixed with various compounds to form a bioresin, which is then poured over a polyester carrier,” or, in other words, it’s plastic + some cactus material, being deceptively marketed as though it is made entirely from cactus.
- Apple leather is “dehydrated apple waste combined with polyurethane,” or, in other words, it’s plastic + some apple material, being deceptively marketed as though it is made entirely from apples.
- Cork leather is “thin sheets of cork which are bonded onto a fabric backing, usually made of polyester, using a polyurethane adhesive” or, in other words, it’s plastic + some cork material, being deceptively marketed as though it is made entirely from cork.
- Pineapple leather is “pineapple fiber based felt combined with polyurethane,” or, in other words, it’s plastic + some pineapple material, being deceptively marketed as though it is made entirely from pineapple.
- The closest I was able to find to a non-plastic “vegan leather” is mushroom leather, which is made from compressed mushroom mycelium. That compressed mycelium is biodegradable, which is more than you can say about basically anything else on this list, except it’s also extremely fragile and falls apart in pretty much any context you’d want to use leather, and so to increase its durability it’s usually – you guessed it – combined with polyurethane, which means that while you can make a biodegradable leather-feeling material completely out of mushrooms, almost all of the mushroom leather that you can actually buy is really plastic + some mushroom material, being deceptively marketed as though it is made entirely from mushrooms.
IT’S PLASTIC, FOLKS
IT’S GREENWASHED PLASTIC AND WE ALL NEED TO STOP FALLING FOR IT