At Cordoa, working with calfskin leather is not a fatality but a conscious choice. On the first hand, the existing plant-based alternatives (such as funghi-based leather) are still too expensive for the general consumer, making this a material only available for the luxury market. On the second hand, using vegetable-tanned calfskin leather produced with certification in compliance with European regulations for its extraction and treatment is a way of fulfilling a sense of respect for the environment. The option to use leather comes from the realisation of three main aspects: the fact that calfskin leather is a by-product of the meat industry; its long durability and great comfort; and the fact that it is biodegradable at the end of the product’s life.
The leather we use at Cordoa is a by-product of the food industry, and its treatment, unlike most leather used in the fashion industry, does not include synthetic chemicals. Vegetable tanning is a method of treating animal skin that uses only ancestral wisdom using plants, tree bark, leaves, and fruits to extract the tannins necessary for processing the raw hides. Our leather supplier is an Italian company that belongs to Consorzio Vera Pelle — a consortium based in Tuscany, which brings together several local producers of vegetable-tanned leather, dedicated to protecting, regulating, and promoting the production of this matter of excellency.
The ecological footprint of “vegan leather”
The alternatives to calfskin leather that are currently presented under the imprint of “sustainable leather” are, for the most part, materials based on petroleum derivatives, such as “vegan leather”. The use of synthetic materials made with polymers is demonstrably not more sustainable than the use of calfskin leather, both in terms of its production and in terms of its durability and its degradation after the product’s life. Products made from polymers such as polyurethane (PU) or PVC are proven to be very polluting. Both the production of the material, with the need to use oil and large amounts of energy based on non-renewable energy sources, and the carcinogens added in PVC production, such as dioxins, which are toxic to people and animals, are largely negative from an environmental point of view. When discarded in the environment, these products are not biodegradable, like animal leather, and release toxins into the water and soil during their long decomposition process*.
Despite the meat industry’s massive ecological footprint, the production and treatment of a by-product of this industry are not comparable to the environmental damage of synthetic materials that mimic animal leather. At a time when the pressure for energy transition with the abandonment of energy sources based on fossil fuels is urgent, it is also essential to abandon products that use the same fossil materials. It’s pressing, taking into account the known impacts of their production and the impossibility of their degradation in the environment when discarded, to seek the development of biodegradable alternatives and, even more importantly, to drive consumption into a thoughtful process without the expectation of waste.
Vegetable tanning leather is also associated with products manufactured and even handcrafted on a smaller scale. This scale allows working with a more expensive material, which also has a slower production and does not respond to a large-scale production typical of fast fashion, for example. This is a fine example of how consumers of more sustainable products are required to be more thoughtful in their purchases, and therefore, to refuse the expectation of permanently renewed collections that the fashion industry has imposed.
Vegetable alternatives to animal leather
Vegetable-based alternatives are generally based on two substances: leather-based on fruit peels, such as apples or pineapples, that is already used in footwear and accessories, although its durability is quite limited; and the leather made from funghi, capable of deceiving the human eye, with its incredible resemblance to the best calfskin leather, but which is a distant alternative for the common consumer, due to the unaffordable prices of this incredible material resulting from smaller productions. Although this more sustainable path it’s already been traced, the progressive abandonment of raw materials based on fossil fuels is critical if we want to reach a future where we can transform consumption into a circular system of diverse and truly sustainable natural resources.
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Animal leather and sustainability
Cordoa and animal leather — a conscious choice
At Cordoa, working with calfskin leather is not a fatality but a conscious choice. On the first hand, the existing plant-based alternatives (such as funghi-based leather) are still too expensive for the general consumer, making this a material only available for the luxury market. On the second hand, using vegetable-tanned calfskin leather produced with certification in compliance with European regulations for its extraction and treatment is a way of fulfilling a sense of respect for the environment. The option to use leather comes from the realisation of three main aspects: the fact that calfskin leather is a by-product of the meat industry; its long durability and great comfort; and the fact that it is biodegradable at the end of the product’s life.
The leather we use at Cordoa is a by-product of the food industry, and its treatment, unlike most leather used in the fashion industry, does not include synthetic chemicals. Vegetable tanning is a method of treating animal skin that uses only ancestral wisdom using plants, tree bark, leaves, and fruits to extract the tannins necessary for processing the raw hides. Our leather supplier is an Italian company that belongs to Consorzio Vera Pelle — a consortium based in Tuscany, which brings together several local producers of vegetable-tanned leather, dedicated to protecting, regulating, and promoting the production of this matter of excellency.
The ecological footprint of “vegan leather”
The alternatives to calfskin leather that are currently presented under the imprint of “sustainable leather” are, for the most part, materials based on petroleum derivatives, such as “vegan leather”. The use of synthetic materials made with polymers is demonstrably not more sustainable than the use of calfskin leather, both in terms of its production and in terms of its durability and its degradation after the product’s life. Products made from polymers such as polyurethane (PU) or PVC are proven to be very polluting. Both the production of the material, with the need to use oil and large amounts of energy based on non-renewable energy sources, and the carcinogens added in PVC production, such as dioxins, which are toxic to people and animals, are largely negative from an environmental point of view. When discarded in the environment, these products are not biodegradable, like animal leather, and release toxins into the water and soil during their long decomposition process*.
Despite the meat industry’s massive ecological footprint, the production and treatment of a by-product of this industry are not comparable to the environmental damage of synthetic materials that mimic animal leather. At a time when the pressure for energy transition with the abandonment of energy sources based on fossil fuels is urgent, it is also essential to abandon products that use the same fossil materials. It’s pressing, taking into account the known impacts of their production and the impossibility of their degradation in the environment when discarded, to seek the development of biodegradable alternatives and, even more importantly, to drive consumption into a thoughtful process without the expectation of waste.
Vegetable tanning leather is also associated with products manufactured and even handcrafted on a smaller scale. This scale allows working with a more expensive material, which also has a slower production and does not respond to a large-scale production typical of fast fashion, for example. This is a fine example of how consumers of more sustainable products are required to be more thoughtful in their purchases, and therefore, to refuse the expectation of permanently renewed collections that the fashion industry has imposed.
Vegetable alternatives to animal leather
Vegetable-based alternatives are generally based on two substances: leather-based on fruit peels, such as apples or pineapples, that is already used in footwear and accessories, although its durability is quite limited; and the leather made from funghi, capable of deceiving the human eye, with its incredible resemblance to the best calfskin leather, but which is a distant alternative for the common consumer, due to the unaffordable prices of this incredible material resulting from smaller productions. Although this more sustainable path it’s already been traced, the progressive abandonment of raw materials based on fossil fuels is critical if we want to reach a future where we can transform consumption into a circular system of diverse and truly sustainable natural resources.
image: Consorzio Vera Pelle
* Consulted at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_leather