Vegan Leather May Be Worse For the Environment Than Real Leather... For NowBy: Hannah Lemos

By: Hannah Lemos

Every fashion influencer has at one point worn the Aritzia Melina pants, which are advertised as “vegan leather”. Vegan leather, of course, is plastic. Faux leather, pleather, whatever you call it; most of the time when buying something that isn’t real leather it’s polyurethane. There has long been a debate over what is actually the most sustainable-- real animal leather, or vegan leather? 

To begin, vegan leather itself can be made out of many different materials. The most common is polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride, both plastic polymers. It’s less expensive, and the material has gone so far as being mistakable for real leather. The issue that arises with these “vegan” leathers is that they are marketed as a sustainable and vegan alternative to real leather, which is simply not true. While it can use as little as a third of the energy it takes to produce real leather, faux leathers pollute the environment in other ways, especially after production, where they do not retain their original quality as long and constantly pollute the environment through microplastic and chemical pollution, which can also have negative effects in our bodies and other animals. The long lifespan and continuous pollution of plastic-based leathers make it significantly more harmful than real leather, and it calls into question how sustainably-minded these brands really are, or if the term “vegan leather” is just another form of greenwashing.  

Greenwashing is a term that refers to companies advertising a product as a sustainable option, when in reality it is actually not that sustainable, and is obvious the company is doing it for economic gain and to divert attention away from their other unethical or unsustainable practices (I highly recommend watching Shelbizleee’s youtube videos on this topic). The term vegan leather uses a buzzword, vegan, to attract people who would otherwise not purchase the item if they knew what it was-- plastic. 

Real leather, on the other hand, has a natural life cycle and does not have the post-use impact plastic leathers do. Besides ethical concerns, the leather tanning process is an extreme pollutant; it uses heavy metals and chemicals that often get into water sources and harm workers. These chemicals cause algal blooms, which drastically decrease oxygen content in the water and can destroy ecosystems. Leather also contributes to deforestation through agricultural practices that remove biodiverse forests for land use. Obviously, many people do not want to use animal products for ethical and sustainability reasons, and there is very little reason to continue to be creating leather goods if society moves towards a more environmentally-friendly food system, which would greatly reduce the need for cattle. 

Leather processing can be made more sustainable and ethical, many designers look for leather tanneries that are rated by the Leather Working Group and have clear supply chain transparency.

However, some argue vegan leather can be made more sustainable because it can be made out of plant material like pineapple, “wine leather”, mango, or corn. This process is new and labor-intensive, but it’s much better than plastic-based leathers. It perhaps more justly deserves the label of “vegan leather”, because it won’t harm the environment as intensely as plastic-based leather and also doesn’t have the impact the leather industry makes in the processing stage. 

Eventually, it is up to the consumer to decide. Natural leather is less polluting when considering the total lifespan, and is no doubt higher quality and wear than fake leather. If natural, leather-like textile becomes a more common process, maybe we’ll see that, in the future, can really be called vegan leather.