Morgan123
Well-Known Member
I don’t see why it’s so new, what about wintec, thorowgood, tekna, zilco, and all the others? I haven’t had any leather tack in absolutely ages
Vegan tack?
- Thread starter Nancykitt
- Start date
PapaverFollis
Well-Known Member
The problem is if you really want to be do well by the environment the best thing you can do would be to stop living. 😕 I'm not going to advocate that though. I think mostly we just need to consume LESS of whatever we choose to consume. Eat less. Drive less. Recycle more. Buy second hand and look after it. Buy local and be prepared to spend more for better produced food. Less processed food.
Buy good quality tack and look after it and make it last. This "vegan tack" seems like a a jumping on the bandwagon selling tactic... trying to get people to buy buy buy. Which is not in the spirit of veganism as I understood it. The commercialisation of veganism is interesting as I see veganism as a "movement" as anti-commercial, anti-capitalist, anti-consumption and slightly anarchistic. But recently it's become, like everything else, about buying more stuff.
Buy good quality tack and look after it and make it last. This "vegan tack" seems like a a jumping on the bandwagon selling tactic... trying to get people to buy buy buy. Which is not in the spirit of veganism as I understood it. The commercialisation of veganism is interesting as I see veganism as a "movement" as anti-commercial, anti-capitalist, anti-consumption and slightly anarchistic. But recently it's become, like everything else, about buying more stuff.
Cortez
Tough but Fair
I'm not aware of any animals being farmed expressly for their leather (this doesn't include fur or crocodile skin), it is a by product of the beef and dairy industries, so what happens to all the hides when everyone goes over to plastic tack?
Celtic Fringe
Well-Known Member
In terms of environmental impact the biggest factor is owners (including me) driving to the yards where their horses are kept. Horses who travel a lot to competitions/training also have a high carbon hoofprint.
When I have a little bit of time I'll post more details of the results of a couple of small research projects that my students completed - the data was mainly thanks to many helpful HHOers who completed their questionnaires a couple of years back. We did look at pasture management, bedding, hard food and forage, horse physiology (emissions due to digestion!), owner travel, horse travel, visits by professionals (vets, farriers etc). As others have said products such as leather are byproducts of other industries, though tanning processes can cause significant water/land pollution.
Horses kept at home have significantly lower impacts, all other factors being equal. From memory (will check!) - on average UK horses have carbon equivalent emissions of around 4 tonnes - very roughly similar to two return flights from Heathrow to New York.
When I have a little bit of time I'll post more details of the results of a couple of small research projects that my students completed - the data was mainly thanks to many helpful HHOers who completed their questionnaires a couple of years back. We did look at pasture management, bedding, hard food and forage, horse physiology (emissions due to digestion!), owner travel, horse travel, visits by professionals (vets, farriers etc). As others have said products such as leather are byproducts of other industries, though tanning processes can cause significant water/land pollution.
Horses kept at home have significantly lower impacts, all other factors being equal. From memory (will check!) - on average UK horses have carbon equivalent emissions of around 4 tonnes - very roughly similar to two return flights from Heathrow to New York.
Nasicus
Well-Known Member
Shoes and handbags
DD
Well-Known Member
MDB great post
mariew
Well-Known Member
If it is true biodegradable vegan leather then great, there's an alternative to people who don't like leather.
Being a bit of a crafter, i got excited for 5 seconds around the hype of vegan shoes/vegan leather etc, but so far all "vegan leather" or leather alternatives i have found is plastic backed / glue bonded to something or plastic all together. (including cork fabric). It may well be that you can get non plastic materials on a wholesale level and if so good on them.
Being a meat eater leather is not an issue and for me is unbeatable as a tack material. I'm far more concerned about the longevity of the planet, non-degradable rubbish mountains and plastic in the oceans etc. Sadly i think our hobby is an enormous generator of unnecessary "stuff" and rubbish, and we should look to pairing down to basics, not finding more things to buy.
Regarding the original question, I just think it's jumping on the trendy bandwagon, veganism can't be that big a niche in the equestrian world surely?
Being a bit of a crafter, i got excited for 5 seconds around the hype of vegan shoes/vegan leather etc, but so far all "vegan leather" or leather alternatives i have found is plastic backed / glue bonded to something or plastic all together. (including cork fabric). It may well be that you can get non plastic materials on a wholesale level and if so good on them.
Being a meat eater leather is not an issue and for me is unbeatable as a tack material. I'm far more concerned about the longevity of the planet, non-degradable rubbish mountains and plastic in the oceans etc. Sadly i think our hobby is an enormous generator of unnecessary "stuff" and rubbish, and we should look to pairing down to basics, not finding more things to buy.
Regarding the original question, I just think it's jumping on the trendy bandwagon, veganism can't be that big a niche in the equestrian world surely?
planete
Well-Known Member
I have just found this: Vegan leather brewed in a lab
gnubee
Well-Known Member
I’m vegetarian and won’t buy leather tack if it’s realistically avoidable. There are a lot of good synthetic saddles out there these days, but options in the rest of the tack market are often low quality and either very stiff, fall apart easily, or is webbing so not suitable for showing etc and frays easily.
I think there is a real gap in the market for good quality non leather tack, and have no problem with it being plastic based - I’d like to minimise the impact of disposable plastic packaging but I don’t think there are strong ecological arguments against using it in the manufacture of resilient goods.
I think there is a real gap in the market for good quality non leather tack, and have no problem with it being plastic based - I’d like to minimise the impact of disposable plastic packaging but I don’t think there are strong ecological arguments against using it in the manufacture of resilient goods.