"Vegan Leather"
It requires an extremely Capitalistic society to produce enough disposable income to afford all this petroleum-based idiocy.
by Rod D. Martin
March 3, 2019
I’m not sure what special kind of stupid it takes to want “vegan leather”, but here’s a Public Service Announcement for those who do:
“The production of the PVC used in the production of most artificial leathers requires a plasticizer called a phthalate to make it flexible and soft. PVC requires petroleum and large amounts of energy thus making it reliant on fossil fuels. During the production process carcinogenic byproducts, dioxins, are produced which are toxic to humans and animals. Dioxins remain in the environment long after PVC is manufactured. When PVC ends up in a landfill it does not decompose like genuine leather and can release dangerous chemicals into the water and soil.”
Well that sounds green.
The Wikipedia article goes on to say that “Polyurethane is currently more popular for use than PVC.” I realize that the people we’re talking about mostly can’t pronounce “polyurethane”, but maybe this will help them barf up their tofu: it’s made by Monsanto and Dow Chemical.
It requires an extremely Capitalistic society to produce enough disposable income to afford all this petroleum-based idiocy. But hey, AOC says we’ve gotta get rid of cows, and as with electric cars it’s green as long as you don’t see what goes into it, so....
-- "Vegan Leather" originally appeared as a Facebook post by Rod D. Martin.