Contributed by Salome Zawadi

Whether used to make attire or furniture, leather is a stylish and durable choice. Unfortunately, its production often takes a toll on the environment.

A study conducted in the area of Hazaribag, India revealed the environmental costs of tannery wastes. They not only affect the environment but also workers in the production plants. They pollute our soil, air and water sources, and ultimately endanger health.

As a result, many people opt for vegan leather as an alternative to real leather. But is vegan leather production any friendlier to the environment? Here is a detailed comparison.

Real leather

Image by Annie Spratt from Pixabay

Real leather refers to the natural material made from real animal skin. The easiest way to identify a genuine leather product is to run your fingers across the surface. Ideally, it shouldn’t feel completely smooth; it may have a few blemishes.

You probably already know that using leather goods means paying to have animals killed. But what you may not know is that the process of turning the animal skin into wearable leather causes a lot of environmental pollution as well.

The process of making leather entails cleaning, tanning, and treating a hide with dyes and filling agents, and reinforcing it with a coating to enhance its look. It requires chemicals and toxins such as cyanide-based dyes, formaldehyde, and lead. Some of these elements not only pollute the environment but can also cause cancer.

The negative effects of leather tanning are particularly prominent in countries, such as India, with weak or poorly enforced environmental regulations.

We also need to account for raising the animals that provide the hides.

Did you know that livestock keeping produces 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions? In fact, it’s the second-highest source of toxic gas emissions. It’s higher than the emissions from all the modes of transportation combined! Here are more facts you should consider:

• 29% of the water used in agriculture directly or indirectly serves animal production.
• Animal agriculture is one of the major contributors to deforestation. Every second, at least one and one-half acres of rainforest are cleared to pave way for grazing of livestock.
• This, in turn, leads to the extinction of different plant, animal and insect species.
• Let’s not forget that deforestation also ruins the quality of soil and speeds up climate change.

Therefore, leather production has a negative environmental impact despite it being a valuable byproduct of the meat industry.

Vegan leather

Fake leather boots Some rights reserved by Maria Rantanen

Also called faux leather, vegan leather means any type of leather that does not come from animal products. On the surface, vegan leather products seem like a sweet deal. Producing it doesn’t harm animals, and the resulting products have pocket-friendly prices too.

However, it also has its fair share of environmental disadvantages. Most vegan leather is made from one of two kinds of plastic: polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyurethane.

Manufacture of PVC requires very toxic ingredients such as chlorine and petroleum. Neither one is renewable.

In addition, faux leather goods don’t last as long. Therefore, they likely make their way into landfills faster than real leather products.

Worse, PVC is not biodegradable, which means it never breaks down completely. Instead, it releases phthalates and micro-particles of plastic indefinitely. Where biodegradable substances eventually break down into soil, plastic becomes microscopically small but chemically unchanged.

PVC production uses phthalates as softening agents. Sadly, exposure to phthalates has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer, decreased fertility, asthma, and obesity.

That polyurethane material is less dangerous than PVC doesn’t make it eco-friendly. Polyurethane leather comprises a polyurethane coating on a fiber base, usually polyester. Producing it entails building up and pressing layers of coated fiber and then immersing it in harmful chemicals like dimethylformamide to solidify it.

This chemical has also been identified as a possible risk factor for cancer and birth defects. And like PVC, polyurethane is not biodegradable.

The environmental impacts of real leather and vegan leather compared

Many civilizations have revered genuine leather products for centuries. It is possible to minimize to some extent real leather’s environmental harm. Techniques include using raw materials sourced from sustainable ranches, employing natural dyeing techniques, and disposing of tannery wastes efficiently.

But since this leather industry relies heavily on animal agriculture, raising the animals will always contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

On the other hand, the production of vegan leather also has bad repercussions. However, its manufacture does not cause as much harm to the environment as does the production of genuine leather goods.

Thus, it’s safe to conclude that vegan leather more eco-friendly. And with game-changing technologies in the textile sector, vegan leather companies will be able to further reduce its environmental effects.

About the author: Salome Zawadi is a writer and mother of two beautiful boys. She lives in Nairobi, Kenya and holds a degree in social studies.