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What did you do with your leather?
Started
by Amie
on August 3, 2010
I don't know if any of you have experienced this problem, but I used to have a lot of leather stuff - shoes, purses, and even a jacket. Since becoming a vegan, I really feel strange carrying around my stuff in them, or wearing leather stuff. Now, I would never wear fur, and I always objected to it, but somehow I didn't even think about how leather is also the skin of an animal! Jeez, huge blind spot. Although honestly, I used to think that we only ate animals if they had died of natural causes, and I figured we then used their skin so it wouldn't go to waste (like how Native Americans used all parts of the animals). Sadly, that is not the case.
So what do I do? Keep it and try to stop feeling bad? Give it away? Did any of you go through this?
Hopefully you guys don't think I'm a bad person, but I bought all this stuff when I didn't know any better!
Thanks for any help you can give me :)
You are soooo not a bad person. When you know better, you do better. Now that you know better, you won't buy more going forward, and that is what matters. I too have leather goods. I will donate my jacket to the winter coat drive this fall. My shoes and boots, I plan to continue to wear until they are no longer useable for 2 reasons. 1: I have freakishly large feet (size 11), and I know no one to give them to,... and 2: if that cow gave her life for these items, then to throw them out without getting all the use I can out of them seems wasteful. I do sometimes have people ask me why I wear leather if I am vegan, and I just answer that these are leftover from my non-vegan days, and I am getting all the use out of them I possibly can before delivering them to the landfill. That usually quiets them down.
Thanks so much! That made me feel so much better! I guess I will donate my bags and jacket, and just wear out my shoes and replace them with vegan ones! Will be in the market for some good boots!
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