vegetarian wearing leather?

Hey I've wanted a pair of boots for ever, but I couldn't get any cause they were all leather. I was at a second hand store today and there were some used ones, leather and i bought them. I love them to death, but they are leather. I keep telling myself that it is good I am reusing them. What do you guys think?

 

idk man, i have the same dilemna sordove. like my mom always opens a thing of milk but she neeever finishes it and it usually ends up just getting thrown away and i think i should compromise and just eat what we have sometimes cuz' my mom can be really bad when it comes to wasting crap. but the idea of even drinking 'real' cow milk now seems so foreign and nasty to me now, i just cant bring myself to do it, so i just give our cat some milk now once the milk is opened and starts to go bad, she doesnt seem to notice its 'staleness'...i probably wouldnt have bought the boots myself, but you definatley seem like you have good intentions and you didnt support any cruel industry directly so its all good

 

You just have to do what feels right for you.......its about minimizing the suffering....its like sweat shops...as hard as you try not to support them...somewhere along the line you always end up doing it.
its near impossible to live 100% cruelty free....just do your best...and never worry about what someone else thinks....we don't matter in the long run

 

Exactly. Always try to do your best, but don't beat yourself up just because you can't be perfect. Enlightenment's a journey, not a destination

 

I think second hand shopping is fine. You are giving a second life to shoes that would have been thrown away and wasted. You are not supporting the industry by buying second hand things. The industry will not increase their production of leather boots, because there is a second hand demand.

 

It also depends on why you consider yourself vegetarian. I'm ovo-vegetarian -- I'm vegetarian because I don't see a reason for the consumption of meat, but I'm also lactose intolerant, because otherwise I'd be a lacto-ovo vegetarian (I can't live without cheese!!!).

It also depends on what degree of vegetarian you are -- I don't consume animal products if I can help it, but have you checked your shampoos and soaps and camera film and car seats and applesauce and etc. lately? Animal products are everywhere.

I don't think I'd feel guilty about wearing the boots, especially where they're second hand. And that reminds me...

Bright Blessings!
Aphrodite Pretty

 

in my opinion this situation has positive and negative aspects

negative: well it's leather and your wearing a dead cows skin to cover your feet, nasty enough for me not to wear it.

BUT

positive: becuase you bought them at a second hand store which means that your not encouraging more leather boots to be produced.

So basically it's up to you, i can't wear leather becuase i hate it but i mean you aren't encouraing more killing by wearing them, so its six and half a dozen. ya know?

 

I buy second hand wool sweaters and such. It's recycling

 

Well said.

When I turned vegan, I tried to get rid of most of the leather/wool stuff I had. The last thing I got rid of was a studded leather belt, and I gave that to a close friend so he could find a new home for it.

It seems logical to me that if someone (that is, some animal) is killed and turned into a product, that the best thing anyone can do from that point on is to use what's left. So to me, recycling things like that until they can no longer be used is the best that can be done.

 

Sheep aren't killed to produce wool!!!! All they do is shear em with electric clippers. Most leather comes from cows that get killed any way so why sweat it and be so PC about it? When it comes to hiking you aren't gonna get away from leather or wool. Synthetic hiking boots suck and disentigrate within a matter of days on the trail. If you wear synthetic or cotton socks while hiking your feet are gonna end up bearing a very striking resemblence to hamburger.


Don't forget Birkenstocks. In case you didn't notice Birkenstocks have lottsa leather on 'em.

 

yes I know that sheep are not killed specifically for wool......

this is why I don't buy wool
it's a cruel process and some are killed in the process. I don't want to support animal cruelty at all where I can avoid it(which is why I'm going vegan this year).

and birkenstock does make non-leather sandals
I don't support the killing of cows for food...why would I support the killing of cows for leather? If I'm going to buy leather then I might as well buy the food too. Its still supporting the industry and supporting cruelty.

I don't hike often but if I did I still wouldn't wear leather or wool and if I couldn't hike for some reason without using wool or leather then I just wouldn't hike. I woudn't sacrafice by beliefs for anything, nor would I want to benefit from animal exploitation.

 

i comepletely agree Hikaru! i hate it when ppl kill an animal and just use one part of it, the ivory trade disgusts me in that respect as does the fishing of sharks for shark finn soup. they catch them cut off their finns so they cant swim and throw them back in the water alive!! the poor creatures end up bleeding or starving to death. i think that if you are gonna kill a creature, at least honour its existence by making use of its death.