leather-wearing veggies?

Exactly, and the company was bought out by Nike.


Can't eliminate all suffering, but can try our utmost. Long as you can meet our maker and honestly say 'I did my best' then that's all we can do.

 

I dont think Wilson makes a non-leather football too! Maybe they can consider a pigskinless pigskin.


Um, I actually have a leather jacket which i bought in italy before i went veggie. Im going to keep wearing it for now. however I dont buy anymore leather products. i wonder if there are any vegan football players in the NFL?

 

Sure, vegetarianism is dietary and I suppose a portion of vegetarians eat the way they do strictly for dietary purposes. I guess I'm just wondering how many people who don't eat meat because of the belief that it's wrong to kill animals...in turn, wear leather on their feet, etc. I just hate seeing people spouting pro-vegetarian doctrine, and then watch as they walk by on their brand new "genuine leather" birkenstocks.

Yeah, sure...it's good to recognize people for their achievements, but I just feel if you're going to make a big stand like that...you're a hypocrit to not go all the way, that's all. Yeah, it's all well and good that you're not eating meat...but don't go preaching about the immorality of meat-eating when you're wearing leather on your body.

Personally, I'm not a vegetarian. But I'm just curious about how vegetarians live their lives, and where they draw the line on certain things.

Thanks everyone for your responses...

(haha...I had forgotten I had even posted this thread...)

 

I think that if we can live without making products of any human skin, we can stay out of using the hides and skins of animals.

That or if you really NEED to use skin for a type of fabric, you can, as they say, wear your own damn skin...

Not just wear it... consuming it in all ways possible... as it's not always worn.

edit, and by the way, I own no leather I didn't own before I became veggie/vegan... the only leather I own are two pairs of shoes which I rarely wear and try to make the best of and guitar straps...

Other than that, that is it... besides my parents... they just had to buy an entire living room set made of leather... plus this gigantic coffee table with a hardened leather surface... and the seats in my mom's gas guzzling piece of shit are made of leather....

Otherrrrrrr than that.

nothing.

ha.

 

I don't own any leather products anymore except for a belt, which is 3 years old and that I don't even wear anymore. All my shoes are man-made plastic shit, or i dunno what my flip flops are made out of, but I have about 6 pairs of flip flops.

To just throw out any leather products that you bought prior to being a veggie would be wasteful. You can always donate them and hope someone uses them.

 

The problem with this argument is that it assumes the possibility of an absolutely morally pure lifestyle. It's impossible to avoid causing some form of animal suffering in the way we live our lives, so in that sense, we're all hypocrites. However, I've never seen vegetarianism as a lifestyle that puts me beyond reproach morally, but rather as a step in the right direction. In that sense, if someone who doesn't eat meat but wears leather points out the cruelty involved in the meat industry, then what's wrong with that? They're still making an effort to move in the right direction.

One of the problems is that we use the words "vegetarian" and "vegan" as though they represent two absolutes. In reality, there are many grey areas in between. Also, being vegetarian or vegan is not a badge of moral purity - just a step on the road towards the goal of treading lightly on the earth.

 

I've recently turned veggie (for the second time in my life) so I've still got a few bits and pieces.

I've got a leather chair and some leather trainers and some leather climbing boots, if I get rid of them it will constitute a waste, and waste is never a good thing. I could always give them away but then I will need new footware and a new chair which I can't afford, plus they would still exist so what's the point?

I've also got some bongos with leather skin and some paintings on my wall that were done in Africa on animal hide. Not sure what future that stuff has ... But I don't think that getting rid of any of it is going to contribute anything now that the damage is already done.

I've probably got other stuff too that I can't even remember about ... The difficult thing for me is that I also want to avoid synthetics as much as I can because of global pollution.

 

My adidas are courdoroy, vinyl, and rubber... I've never seen many courdoroy adidas.... I never wear them often... I've so far, gotten away with sandals in gym class...

 

I am an lacto-ovo veggie, but i do wear leather. I agree that its better to concentrate on someones good efforts rather than little failings. Mind you, Carnies have a field day with it, ie, 'Why bother being a veggie then?', etc. Im pretty concentious about what i do and buy, so i think the good outweighs the bad.

 

Oh yeah, Levellers fan Paul?. Good man.

 

i have so many people tell me fish isn't meat! I don't like sea food anyways. give me tofu anyday! As for leather I try not to buy it but if a family member or someone gives me something that is made of leather as a gift I respect it and am grateful enough to keep the item untill it wears out. of course at the moment the only leather item i currently own is my leather birkensticks which should last me a good 3-5 years if I am lucky. Peace

 

I wear leather shoes- I used to only wear fake-leather ones but they were really uncomfortable, I still don't like to wear leather jackets or jewellery though. I do think it's more important to do what feels right to you than try to be the "perfect" vegetarian.

 

Meat is flesh... you eat the flesh of fish... so, alas, IT IS MEAT!!! WOW!!! AMAZING!!!

 

That is totally true. I'm a vegan but I have a pair of moccasins my mother bought second hand and i don't want to let her down by not wearing them. I also have a pair of leather sandals I got when I went to Jamaica. That trip is when I decided to become vegan because I saw how many stray, poor treated livestock there was wondering around on the highways and how corporate America has put Jamaica's dairy/meat farmers out of business and all their product just goes to waste. (This is the second time I have become vegan.)

I guess how I feel about it is if I give the shoes away I am promoting a bad cause, so I figure why not just use the shoes. There is nothing I can do for the poor cow now except give more help back through teaching and activism.

 

Fish is meat! Don't ever let anyone tell you differently. I heard they actually suffer the most because they sufficate to death once they are caught. I have a good veg friend who insists fish aren't meat, when I know she just loves the way shrimp and so on tastes. Before you rule fish out,...TRY TOFU! Sounds like you akk got your head right where it belongs: on your shoulders!

 

It was seeing how fish were treated by fishermen that first set me on the path to vegetarianism many years ago. I was in France in this little fishing village, watching the boats come in. A small trawler pulled into harbour with a catch of lobster. One of the lobsters was reaching over the top of the basket with its feelers, and the fisherman stood nearby just reached over, grabbed hold of the lobsters feelers and ripped them off. I realised then that I had to distance myself as far as possible from that kind of cruelty and casual violence.

 

i have one or two leather pairs of shoes. one of them i bought about 4 years ago, befoer i even got into the veg thing. actually, im not sure wut those are made of. the other pair i bought a little while ago. i feel guilty wearing them, but its really a waste i fi dont. maybe ill sell them for charity or something.

 

See, I have some problems relating to that because I'm an animal rights person, but I'm also an environmentalist. Getting dress shoes is hard because most of them are leather, and the one's that aren't are pleather. Pleather is made out of plastic, and I try to go easy on my plastic usage because it's so bad for the enviroment. Now, that's not always possible because our country has grown so plastic obsessed, but I try my best.


My dilema is: Am I more for protecting the environment or for protecting the cows in the farms? Burning plastic creates terrible air pollution and platic isn't bio-degradable at all, which piled up, will kill more animals than one pair of leather shoes will. However, one pair of pleather shoes isn't enough to destroy the environment, and it does keep me from carrying dead animal skin around, which in my opinion is pretty morbid. It's confusing.

 

Catholics are not all vegetarians, yes they do somthing that revolves not eating meat for 40 days before Easter.

 

i can see what you are saying but it isn't always possible to live like that. what do you do for work? what kind of a house do you live in? where do you buy your food? clothing?

i'm vegetarian and have in the past tried to go vegan. i'm a single mom raising a child on a low income. it isn't practical for me to spend 3.00 for the organic whey free granola when i can bite my tongue and live with the 1.99 whey filled crap. i have foot problems and need ortho shoes for work and walking. i had 150.00 budget for them. i was able to find two pair of leather shoes on sale for 100.00 total, which will last for many years to come god willing. this is more practical for me. it goes against my beliefs and it hurts to do so, but i do what i can while i live whithin my means and current environment. one day i hope i can do more.