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| Source http://atrl.net/forums/showthread.php?p=23415933#23415933 |
First of
all let me say that I eat meat and buy leather but I don’t buy real fur. I
would not be able to remove meat from my diet so if I eat meat I might as well
buy leather since it is a by-product of animal farming, right? However according to the
Guardian article leather industry is linked with pollution which is something I
haven’t considered before.
When it
comes to fur, the industry also creates high amounts of greenhouse gases and air
pollutants. In fact the article states that the pollutant levels coming from production of fur are higher
than any other textile. That’s the environmental side of things but what about
morals? Fur is produced only for the sake of fashion so isn’t that selfish?
I don’t
know if I am wrong or right here but I believe that we can farm sustainably for
meat and if leather is the by-product of that industry then why not use it. Fur on the
other side is a different story to me. I personally would feel wrong wearing a
real fur coat. Sure, I’ve heard about sustainable fur farms but to my knowledge
there isn’t many of those. More often than not, an endangered species gets killed
and then skinned alive so that someone can wear a soft fluffy coat. I personally
would not feel good with this.
I am
curious what your thoughts are! Is it just as immoral to buy leather as it is
to buy fur and I am being a hypocrite? Or maybe you think both are ok and we
should wear whatever we want? Have you ever thought about the environmental
impacts these two industries have on our planet?
Or maybe I
should ditch thinking about morals and environment, and have fluffy gloves made out of my cat? …
Hello great post!
ReplyDeleteIt is a very good question that you ask. I am a vegetarian but can sit easier with the notion of wearing leather compared to fur.
I think this reason is how it gets from the animal to the clothes shop. Obviously both are not good for the animal, but as you say leather from a cow is the by-product of killing it for its meat, so if it has to happen then it is reasonable to not waste any of it.
But the abhorrent cruelty in farming for fur goes beyond my comprehension of evil. To kill an animal, in the way that I have seen it happen, simply so a fashion label can make a fluffy coat, in my opinion, is everything that is wrong with the world we live in!
Yes I agree. I have seen some horrible videos of animals being skinned alive! It is truly awful and I could never wear something knowing what these animals have gone through.
DeleteSuch a eye opening article. I too as you know James, is also a veggie but naively have never really thought about leather being an animal product. I disagree with just because it's a by product then it's okay, mainly because then why not eat meat? Animals are always going to be killed so are you saying us not eating it is wasting it. ....?
ReplyDeleteBut back to the matter at hand....I have never and would never wear fur, agreeing with you both, it is abhorrently cruel. I have also never considered the environmental impact of such industris. Thank you for writing this article, has made me need to think ...... This could take a while.... !