Your turn to help me –
First, it was Romp, and now it’s Bernardo Green (right). Cowhide’s making (or at least trying to make) a comeback — as an eco-fashionista’s must-have item.
A few months ago, the eco-leather boutique Romp opened on West Third Street. Then yesterday, I got an email from Bernardo Green, an eco-suede line making its debut at a Nordstrom’s near you in August.
Many consider eco-leather a contradiction in terms — for good reason. In the same way that a non-organic vegan diet is still much less carbon-intensive than a diet that includes a lot of organic meat, raising cows and making leather jackets is — even when done in an eco-friendly manner — a very energy-intensive process. In addition, suede and leather goods are generally considered luxuries, not needs — though unless you really are just content wearing a hemp sack all the time, the line between luxury and need is a fine one indeed.
My question is this: Would you buy the leather clothes from Romp or Bernardo Green?
Lest you think I’m an anti-leather purist — I’m not. In fact I’m a fan of eco-leather shoes because I feel the long lasting, resilient nature of good leather makes buying them a good eco investment — especially when the alternative is pleather (icky vinyl) crap marketed as eco just because they don’t contain animal products.
I don’t think I’d ever buy a new leather or suede jacket, however. That’s a lot of cowhide! Plus, we have plenty of non-leather, eco-friendly, smart-looking jackets on the market.
Personal decisions aside, I noticed a funny thing ’bout these eco-leather companies. Each claims that they are undeniably the greenest leather company on this green earth!
Romp (right) says:
We are what we are and we are quite simply and undeniably the best in the world today in our field. In fact we are the only cradle to grave certified company in our field.
Bernardo Green calls itself:
the world’s first and only collection of eco-friendly suede jackets where “green” production has been thoroughly verified and certified. No other leather company can validate this process.
One or both companies is either lying or just blithely unaware of what their competition’s up to….
Besides the fact that I don’t eat meat for personal and health reasons, I also don’t eat meat or buy leather for the environmental impact reasons.
Here’s a few reasons why leather, or meat in general, will NEVER be eco-friendly:
It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce 1 POUND of meat. It takes only 25 gallons to produce 1 pound of wheat. Times that by one whole cow, and that’s ALOT more water to use, just so you have a leather jacket, especially when we’re facing water shortage around the world.
1/5th of the world’s population does not have reliable access to drinking water, and many suffer chronic dehydration. 55 Square feet of forest is consumed in every 1/4 pound of meat, and the excessive deforestation this causes contributes to the rise of greenhouse gases.
Globally livestock uses 2/3rds of world agricultural land, land that we harvest plant-based agriculture with 1/1000th less resources. Plus, there is a heavy use of toxic fertilizers to keep up with the exhaustive demands of feeding farm animals, who convert plant-based energy from foods far less efficiently than humans.
There’s more, but I’ll stop there.
As Siel said, leather is a luxury good, not much different than fur, I believe. It’s unneccessary, expensive, and the carbon footprint will ALWAYS be huge, no matter how it is harvested. Saying that leather is sustainable is like saying your oil is sustainable if it comes through fair trade– it still contributes to the destruction of our atmosphere.
I’ve been living without leather goods for 7 years, and I can always find animal-free, sustainable alternatives, without it looking like a burlap sack. To me, it’s the number one green-deciding factor: if clothing isn’t vegan, it’s not eco-friendly.
Comment by Tiffany Davis-Rustam — July 17, 2008 @ 10:24 am
You bring up some good points. Consider the following: The goal of the clothing and home fashion idustry is to find a natural fiber with the following qualities:
Sustainable (long term objectives that are environmental and economical)
Minimally Processed
Organic
Renewable
Durable
Reusable
Biodegradable
Minimal land use
Minimal water use (in the wild and in processing)
Pesticide/insecticide free
Fertilizer free
Not petroleum based
No/low greenhouse gas emissions
Humane to animals (directly and impact)
Fair wage/good labor conditions for workers
Attractive
Great feel
Flexible uses
Paihamu fur as well as fiber has these qualities. Compare this same checklist to cotton or faux fur. Paihamu fur is not farmed and this animal is an ecological nightmare in New Zealand. Check out http://www.Eco-LuxuryFur.com. They are selling gorgeous throws and pillows made from this natural fiber. The best source of leather, fur and fiber is an animal that requires abatement. If you don’t like leather, you may not love this. But if you like leather (and fur is just leather with the hair left on), this is a great product.
Comment by MacGregor — July 17, 2008 @ 9:50 pm
Tiffany — No one’s questioning the fact that leather has a huge carbon footprint. It’s that the “vegan” materials used in place of leather — i.e. vinyl — has equally large or even larger footprints / cause as much or more enviro damage — AND don’t last as long. The “it’s vegan so it’s eco” is a v. incomplete and one-sided argument that borders on fanaticism.
Comment by Siel — July 19, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
Hi All,
There is a reason why Bernardo Green and Romp make similar claims. They are both from the same stable. Romp is Certified Organic Couture Level Product. Bernardo Green is a market access ECO product. Both are valid in trying to help the environment as neither produce toxic waste with the bi products of both being fertilizer and or paper. Both are traceable so the customer can validate any claims for themselves.
So that’s right there is one guy behind both market offerings. And both are far advanced on all other offerings.
Think about it. Nobody vegan or omnivore wants badly treated animals, no one wants pollution, and no one wants abused workers. Its just isn’t stylish.
These brands offer a chance for the consumer to compare reality. Vegans don’t need to buy, but if they do purchase leather shoes then here’s a chance to know the animal was treated properly. Please don’t preach that Oil based is better. People fight wars over that stuff.
Mixed arable and herd farms provide the best environment for all animals. 27% more biodiversity on average. Fields of single vegitable crops with pesticides are far worse for the foxes and badgers and birds and bugs. Very soon their will be no wilderness left so farms are the only way to preserve species. In truth if we don’t farm it we kill it, cut it, or burn it.
There are no perfect solutions, there is no one size fits all, so people simply need to follow their own beliefs.
But please compare these products to their perceived competition not your own ideals. They are simply better.
One guy with a dream of a pollution free, cruelty free and abuse free fashion trade made them exist with a group of dedicated like minded people in the trade. SO join in and do something in your trade and see what you can achieve for all of us if you put your mind to it.
There is nothing perfect but if these products run, heavy metals are gone, unknown animal husbandry and farm management is gone, money to regimes that you do not like is gone, abuse in factories is gone and transparency for the consumer is in.
I hope and know that many other lunatics are working all over the world in their own businesses to try and stop the madness. But I also hope that when someone genuinely tries to make a difference people might actually realise what they have close to their bodies right now isn’t exactly all that good and its effect on the environment is worse.
Greg
Comment by Greg Sturmer — July 25, 2008 @ 8:07 am
Ps. ROMP has just been nominated for an award by The Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for its continuing mission to improve animal husbandry in the fashion trade.Check out RSPCA on google. That I hope explains the depth of our work and the validity of our position to all who really like steak, shoes, and handbags, but don’t believe in cruelty.
Comment by greg — August 14, 2008 @ 10:04 am
Greg you ought to check out the RSPCA in depth. Take a look at these sites:
http://cheetah.webtribe.net/~animadversion/
http://the-shg.org
They can’t even run Freedom Foods without cruelty:
http://cheetah.webtribe.net/~animadversion/freedomfood.htm
Comment by Fenris — August 15, 2008 @ 1:47 am
Hi Fenris,
Nobody is perfect but are you really saying the RSPCA does no good for animals. The Farm in question broke the rules, people cheat at lots of things, particularly things where a profit can be had. But that is not the same as blaiming the RSPCA lock stock and barrel. The Freedom Foods program is an excellent initiative and a genuine attempt to try and end exactly the practices you highlight.
Your alternative is no programs?. What good would that do? Or maybe you think no body has the same rights as a cat to eat meat despite being equiped by nature with the teeth and digestive system to do so.
In this world no meat consumption would simply mean no more farm animals and no pastureland for real biodiversity. Again no solution.
The difficulty is to find balanced solutions that allow the individual human to follow their own beliefs what ever they may be, and to end any uneccessary suffering or stress to animals, but retain as many different species as possible.
It is very easy to make comments but it is very hard and takes a long time to effect any change at all.
I try to do something about my beliefs, it does not mean you have to share them. Or that they are better or worse than yours. But our products are better than the rest in the market because the systems used are far better in all areas of concern, (animal husbandry, environmental impact, labour law), than the competition and you as a consumer can check our claims with traceability.
That’s it really. Its your choice if you like the idea or buy the products. But I do wonder if you are wandering round in a T shirt made by child or forced labour, with half a cup of pesticides sprayed on the field that killed all the bugs and hence the birds and hence all wildlife in the area and whether when you made than purchase you were aware of the consequences to animals such a product has. If you actually had the chance to know this would you still have bought it and supported a system that poisons everything. Probably not.
If its not Certified Organic Cradle to Grave thats most likely some of its reality. So don’t buy our leather if its against your conscience but do go and buy Certified Organic Cotton next time.
Best Regards
Greg
Comment by Greg Sturmer — August 28, 2008 @ 10:24 am