For those who want to be purists about their veganism, there’s the issue of leather.
What’s normally a staple in the fashion world suddenly becomes off limits if you want to go beyond dietary veganism. There are other options however for the environmentally-minded.
This article will go over what is vegan leather, why you should care about it, and the types of vegan leather options available to you.
Why Care About Leather?
For many people, veganism is about much more than diet.
Most people choose to go vegan because they do not believe in killing animals for meat or using them to make food. The general belief is, whether you’re using cows for their meat or for their milk, forcing them to live for our purposes is wrong or inhumane.
For some vegans, this means they won’t eat any animal products, but for others, it means they won’t use any animal products at all.
Not only do these vegans abstain from things like meat, fish, dairy, and honey, but they also avoid leather, fur, and certain types of supplements. These people don’t want to be vegan because veganism is healthier or because it’s an easy way to lose weight, these people want to be vegan because they believe that being vegan is natural.
If you want to become more than a dietary vegan, you’ll have to assess which parts of your life still need updates in order to become cruelty-free.
That includes your clothes.
That’s why vegans should care about vegan leather. Now, let’s explain the two most popular, vegan-friendly alternatives to leather.
Types of Vegan Leather
There are two different types of vegan leather.
There is polyvinyl chloride leather, also known as PVC leather, and polyurethane leather, also known as PU leather.
Although there are some differences between polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane leathers, both are colloquially knowns as pleather.
What is Polyvinyl Chloride Leather?
Polyvinyl chloride leather is the third most common synthetic plastic polymer in the world.
It’s a plastic material which comes in two forms, rigid and soft. Soft polyvinyl chloride leather is what’s used to make clothes.
PVC is water resistant, which makes it great for clothing items such as jackets, coats, and sports bags. It’s cheaper to produce than rubber, leather, and latex which makes it a great alternative to any of these textiles.
What is PU Leather?
Unlike PVC leather, polyurethane leather isn’t a plastic.
Instead, it’s a polymer made of various organic units. PU leather is used in a variety of materials including clothes and other textiles.
Spandex products, for example, are made out of polyurethane leather. It’s important to remember however that there is a difference between PU leather and PU-coated leather. PU-coated leather is real leather that has been coated with polyurethane.
Many stores don’t differentiate between the two kinds of “PU leather” so you have to look for words like “synthetic” or “vegan” when buying PU Leather. Chances are good that if it does not say that, it’s actual leather.
For Your Non-leather Needs, There’s Fresh n’ Lean
We can all make small changes to become a little more cruelty-free. Whether it’s abstaining from meat or avoiding animal-skin clothing, there is always something we can do. We hope this article is helpful in explaining the reason why you should care about cruelty-free, vegan-friendly leather. And we hope you understand a little more about PVC and PU Leather.
We may not be able to help you find a vegan-friendly pair of pleather pants, but we can help you eat right. Eating vegan can be expensive and time-consuming but it doesn’t have to be. At Fresh n’ Lean, our chefs make each and every one of our meals vegan-friendly, affordable, nutritious, and delicious.
Our meals are full of organic, nutritious, in-season ingredients. Every couple of months our menu changes to make sure that you are eating the best food the new season’s crops have to offer. Our food is always fresh and it’s always ready to eat. Our vegan meals are delivered right to your front door in individual containers so the only work you have to put into dinner is choose which meal you want to eat that night.
Veganism has never been so easy.
Try it today!
