A well-regulated trade, they argue, makes many real skins much more “sustainable” than synthetic alternatives.
Raising animals solely for their skins is quite wasteful, but so is throwing away premium material from animals that are already dead.
It’s like how banning leather doesn’t save cows, it just uses more plastic.
I think this is a hard ethical question. On the one hand, my leather hiking shoes are 15 years old and on their third pair of soles, where my regular walking shoes made from synthetics are basically worn out after three years.
On the other hand, no cows were killed even if I wear them out more.
So, one dead cow? or a pile of forever-trash?
The cow wasn’t killed for the leather to make the shoes. They’re made with a byproduct, which is a good thing.
Alligator and python are considered exotic?! Here in Florida we farm alligators for food and leather and we have incentives to kill as many invasive pythons as we can get our hands on.
