SUSTAINABILITY

New Zealand hides and skins guarantee to the highest standards in regards to:

  • Animal and human welfare

  • Traceability

  • Sustainability

  • Ecology inkl. topics such as deforstation, water usage etc.


 
 
 

LEATHER AND SUSTAINABILITY

 

What happens if we stop using leather?


Where does leather come from?

Watch the 1-minute movie courtesy of the UK Leather Association

 

Leather Naturally initiative

Leather Naturally promotes the use of globally-manufactured sustainable leather and seeks to inspire and inform designers, creators and consumers about its beauty, quality and versatility.

An exploration of modern leather manufacturing and its position as a responsible employer and producer of a sustainable, long lasting material.

Leather is facing intense competition from synthetic materials manufactured from non-biodegradable petrochemical derivatives which are designed to imitate it.
The initiative is aimed to educate the buying public, designers and youth about leather.

Fact-Sheet-Teaser.jpeg
 

Sustainability of leather compared to other products

To act and live ethically correct is not that simple. Poet and writer Melissa Kwasny studies all aspects of this in her book “Putting on the dog: The Animal Origins Of What We Wear”:

”Vegan shoes made out of plastics that seem like leather are fantastic in theory, but in practice, they have adverse effects on the planet at every step in their manufacture, sale, use, disposal, and slow decay - problems that a pair of leather shoes dont have.”

”To believe that we do not harm by abstaining from animal products is to tell ourselves a lie”.

“It is impossible to be ethically pure”

“”We should not replace natural materials with synthetics. We should buy clothes mostly made from plants and animals. Not very many but cherish and care for them”.”
— Melissa Kwasny

Some facts from the book:

90% of textiles produced worldwide are not from creatures but from cotton and polyesters. Both are responsible for widespread pollution of waterways, soils and air and consume enormous amounts of water.

COTTON

  • 11% of pesticides worldwide are sprayed on these plants

  • It takes 5’300 gallons (20’000 litres) of water to make a cotton t-shirt and a pair of jeans


NATURAL POLYMERS (such as Viscose and Lyocell)
The processes involved in making these rely on acids and sulfates that release carbon emissions


SYNTHETICS (such as polyesters and nylons)

  • Synthetics make up 60% of the textile production worldwide

  • The production relies on harmful petrochemicals which rely on fossil fuels

  • Synthetic clothings requires more washing and are less durable resulting in more water waste and increased disposal of clothing

  • Every wash of a polyester item releases plastic into the waterways (microfiber pollution)

  • Synthetics are not biodegradable, piling up in landfils and leaching chemicals into soil and water

“Being ‘good’ isn’t as easy as it might first seem. In theory, it’s as simple as minimizing the harm you cause. This is the line of thinking that often prompts people to make decisions like giving up meat, or, in the case of clothing, refusing to wear any materials made from animals—specifically leather, fur, silk, pearls, wool, and feathers.

But in reality, we live in a big, complex, connected world, and the consequences for our actions and decisions aren’t always easy to assess. Sadly, the possible ways that we can cause harm are seemingly infinite, and the chances of our doing so practically inescapable. And sometimes what seems like the simplest or most correct approach, when examined closely, is actually just another tricky thicket of moral quandaries.”