pleather thou?

[the_siobhan]

I was thinking about something totally different tonight, and somehow two things converged in my head, and I started wondering.

How does the carbon footprint of leather shoes compare with those made out of petro-chemicals?

I think this popped up because I was reading about PETA's public statement that one cannot be an environmentalist while consuming animal products and then I started thinking about how I really can't see myself wearing clothes that are made of artificial fibres, and it kind of snowballed from there. Most leather comes from cows which are horrible for the environment. Artificial substitutes are made from a non-renewable resource, but the issue is less about running out of the stuff as it is what kind of mess we make using it.

So what do you think?

Comments

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

That's why I said "a chance." Plastic has no chance wherever you put it. Depending on your specific community's garbage/recycling options, you may be able to put worn-out shoes & the like in places where they can actually decompose.

Shoes are one thing I like to have a few of (pretty!), so I'd rather have many pairs made of leather & fabric than 1-2 of plastics. Then I can wear them till they die & find ways to dispose of them better. Plastic stuffs, no hope ever. Plus, plastic encasing isn't so healthy on the foot -- contributes to icky bacteria, ime, but ymmv.

[marchenland.livejournal.com]

That's why I said "a chance."

Yeah, I figured.

I hate plastic shoes, unless there's a really good reason for them, i.e., galoshes.

I suspect that to really get rid of shoes, one would probably need to break them down to their component parts and then do something with those, probably involving shredding. I grew up on a farm, and I can tell you that a leather shoe, left out to the mercy of sun and rain and dogs and bacteria and other Louisiana elements, which are about as harshly varied as you can get, can still be around after 30 or so years. You can't wear it, but it won't go gently into that good night, either.

I'm not really sure what it would take to actually get rid of our post-consumer waste, but even for organic materials, we really need to step it up.

*sigh* This is so depressing.