So, I had been looking to buy vegan doc martens, couldn't find any. My problem was that I didn't want to buy directly from a store, because i didn't want to give the company any profit. I went to a thrift store the other day and found used ones with a great floral design and they were broken in and in great condition, i bought them. they're leather. My problem is I feel guilty. I'm not contributing (money wise) to the killing of these animals if i buy the shoes used, am i? i just feel so gosh darn guilty.
you know i went thru this too before with stuff i have thats leather...but....i mean....either give em away or keep em.....dont feel guilty....just replace with non leather stuff....but dont feel guilty
no, totally not. same thing with ebay. the people that put them on sale dont want them. theyre the ones that contributed a long time ago. you're just giving them money, and you get some boots... besides, you're reusing clothing
she bought someone's toss away items, Wally. Wear 'em, but know you will have to defend your choice. It is very, very difficult to balance vegan and eco. Most boots and such are petro byproducts, and I have a very difficult time using them, but leather , even though it degrades, had a high cost in life quality, the chemicals to tan and dye it, transport etc etc. There are no perfect answers. We find the line we can walk.
Firstly.. the companies that make vegan DM alternatives (eg: Vegetarian Shoes) are decent and ethical businesses. Its not like giving your money to Wallmart! They are expensive though.. Secondly.. wear them. You have not given money or contributed to the leather industry. There is the argumant that by wearing them you are promoting leather fashion, but wasting them would be a far worse crime. Basically, if you donate them back someone else is going to pick them up and wear them second hand which is no better (and throwing them out is far worse)... so i say, keep your feet warm and wear them.
Technically you are contributing to the leather industry. Follow me. If someone buys a car, knowing that they could sell it in a year, and you buy it from them. They then buy another car, with the intentions to sell it in a year. If there was no market for used items, the market for new items would slow down. But by you providing an outlet for used leather products by passing the blame saying that you didnt buy them new, you are now an animal killer. welcome to the club. We have BLT's on tuesdays. NO L and NO T
People who constantly buy new things are hardly going to stop buying new things if the second hand market slows down.. they dont think about whats happening to the old one, they just want the new one. If people stopped buying second hand then it would just pile up. Just buy secondhand but where the original owner gets no money at all. My leather boots (which i had before i was vegan - i wouldnt buy them now) came from a charity shop where Oxfam got £5 for them and the original owners got nothing... that way you are reducing waste, and not supporting the original buyers by providing sale potential.
I find it a form of recycling. I don't buy a t-shirt and go, "Oh, I'm going to give these away in x years/months and keep buying new pairsto give away" I just so happen to be like 'eh, it's been a few years, and I don't like this t-shirt. I bet someone else will like it. They can have it. instead of having it sit in a landfill or my closet forever"
to all who are calling the OP a killer, get real. or accept this term: "resource wasters." I donate to thrifts and get not a penny for it. I have one leather item and it is a) custom made from scrap and a gift and b) exceedingly useful in its intended use. Not so wonderful just sitting around. I do occasionally wear the item. I do take care of it. I would never dream of buying a replacement in leather. Again, no perfect answers. I do like the purple Veg martens...anyone have an opinion on their lifespan?
This is a thin lined subject but shes not a killer. It's all about personal comfort. She bought them second hand an thus did not contribute to the leather company, shes recycling old shoes that would have other wise gotten thrown out in a week or two. I work at a thrift store and the stuff we get in (aside from the clothes which are recycled and resold to 3rd world countries for rags) are tossed out. Believe me there's a hell of a lot of garbage. It's not the same as a car because a car continues to destroy the atmosphere as it runs. The boots do not continually kill the cow over an over again. But Crystal, if you do not feel comfortable owning them, them donate them back or give them to someone else and invest in some vegan shoes. There are tons of options out there, you just have to look. http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/ http://www.peta.org/living/alt1.asp Good luck
What are these Vegan shoes made of? Just curious... Hemp and natural rubber would be ultimate, I would think. Plastics or other petro chemicals ( resins, glues, etc...) I would assume to be unacceptable. BTW, I have studied Bespoke shoemaking. Fuck those ugly Docs and Birkenstoks, I'll make you a pair of "vegan" stiletto heeled pumps to die for! ZW eace:
I think of it this way: Leather is a byproduct of the meat industry. I consider it wasteful to kill an animal for food when you can get the protein consistently by eating the byproducts of the animal. HOWEVER, if the animal has to die to feed SOMEONE, and some of us do have to eat meat to survive, then it is equally wasteful to refuse the use of all parts of the animal: leather, bone, etc. By all means, wear the leather, and treat it well in respect for the animal that died. No, it is not murder. Neither is meat. Animals eat other animals when they have to, and our ancestors wore the skins of their food to stay warm. This is just another variation of the food chain.
I think the issue is the portion of profit per cow/steer for the hide. Leather is making aprofit on the death of the animal. For people who cannot see their way to using a byproduct, dealing with the pre-gan items is difficult. Rory Friedman took it up in Veg News this month with her typical materialistic and I'm so much better than you tone. She is of the view that you should donate them and go buy plastic/ pleather.
