Animal welfare vs Environmental impact vs both in clothing materials
When I shop for clothes, I try to find clothes made of animal materials (e.g. wool/alpaca knit jumpers/ genuine leather shoes) for two reasons:
- they're usually better quality (like warmth in winter)
- when they eventually break down/get thrown out, they'll degrade faster
And to my understanding about non-animal materials:
- 'Vegan' leather is usually PU Leather (polyurethane leather, made of thermoplastic polymer) which I think is basically another petrol derivative that's a type of plastic?
- And opting for Polyester/Acrylic/Nylon knitted clothes are basically types of plastics too
So these things would essentially last a shorter time (quality wise) but when we decide to throw them out, they won't degrade as fast because they're basically plastic. Plus for fibres like polyester, the fibres often come loose in washing machines and go on to pollute the ocean with plastic micro bits.
In my view, the environment suffers either way and it's lose-lose. I may as well be warm
Obviously genuine materials like wool and leather are typically more expensive, but there are plenty of marked up 'plastic' clothes that has a pretty price tag just because of the designer/brand - which I think hasn't always been the case. I remember being able to buy a H&M 100% Wool jumper for ～$40 full-price. I also often thrift-shop and there's a LOT of high-quality material clothes for pennies (latest find was a wool/cashmere jumper for $5)
So.. which ethical perspective do we take when we're shopping for clothes? Do we take one at all?
I don't.