Why YSK: The term “Genuine Leather” is a marketing term to sell the lowest quality leather possible.
When purchasing a leather product, look for full grain leather or top grain leather instead. These will provide a much higher quality cut of leather that will look and feel much better and last for much longer.
This really is a perfect replacement for reddit, we even have the same reposted fun facts
You can leave reddit, but you can’t leave the redditor on the inside.
Words of wisdom right there.
I mean, reposting things that were on Reddit before would be a good way to get more content on here
jesus christ
Not quite. The truth is, there is no universally recognized grades of leather. But when bragging about quality, genuine leather is the lowest bar they can go (other than bonded leather, which isn’t fully leather but just a veneer over fabric.
Full grain or top grain is generally what you want.
https://lifehacker.com/what-genuine-leather-really-means-1850309049
Also, some are concerned about the use of an animal product. The vast majority of leather is a byproduct of the beef industry. It is skin that would otherwise go to waste. And it is also far more environmentally friendly a material than many alternatives, which are often made of plastics.
Yeah, honestly you should buy leather products based on brands than on description of “genuine” leather.
And agree, real leather is a much better alternative to the ridiculous amount of micro-plastic synthetic leather generates, especially since it’ll last you decades if you maintain it well.
It’s the industry recapturing some of its costs by reducing waste. That’s still supporting the industry.
Don’t buy leather. Cows are sentient beings with their own subjective experience. Actions that inflict unnecessary harm upon others should be reconsidered.
If you downvote, you must have a justification for buying leather and I’d love to hear it.
the harsh truth of this existence is that some life kills other life. its just the way it is. from the cellular level all the way up to orcas killing seals. its natural and fine imo. of course we shouldn’t go out of our way to inflict unnecessary pain and suffering. but if im going to eat a cow which i do regularly, then im also going to use every part of the cow because its the right thing to do. including its skin to make myself a nice leather knife sheath or a nice pair of leather boots. leather is an excellent material for all kinds of things humans can use.
Why do you think it’s wrong to waste part of a cow? It’s clear you think they deserve moral consideration, but you don’t need leather or meat, so it is automatically unnecessary pain and suffering. Many terrible things happen in nature, rape and killing and eating babies etc. We don’t use what happens in nature as moral justification.
We are part of nature.
Right so we still have to decide whether or not rape and murder are morally okay considering it happens elsewhere in nature. If someone else does something, does that make it okay to do it to another person?
is it morally right to destroy thousands of acres of land to grow soy? what about the animals that used to call that place home? the only way to live a life free of any moral infractions is to die on the spot. i choose my moral infractions as wisely as possible. my meat comes from a local butcher that practices circular agriculture. is it perfect? no something must still die so i can live. but something must die so you can live as well. i just don’t sit on a high horse and pretend im better than others.
edit: im also currently in the process off acquiring a firearms license as i live in northern Ontario and the hunting is good here. so pretty soon i will be acquiring my own meat in what is in my opinion, the most moral way possible. i will hunt for my own meat. the animal will have lived a beautiful life in nature where it belongs, right up until the moment i kill it. i will use every piece of the animal to feed myself, my family, and my friends.
77% of the soy grown is fed to livestock. If the world went vegan, we could reduce total farmland by 70%. The other thing is as science develops, with perfect farming methods, vegans would cause zero deaths, whereas animal farmers are always going to be killing animals intentionally. You should minimize the harm you cause. A cow doesn’t care if it was murdered locally or not. All these businesses that pretend to sell an ethical animal product are scamming people with trivial labels. The animals you murder are living their own lives, why take that from them? Deer have families too. Hunting is also totally not practical for a significant portion of the population to do. Farming plants can feed the planet without destroying the it. The animals you kill are living beings with their own experience.
Justification: I like to eat cows, they taste good. Might as well use the skin when the animal is killed anyway. Also leather is a really good material for a lot of things.
How is that a justification? You wouldn’t use that logic on humans.
I love meat, I like a good leather jacket. I want a world where we take good care of our animals, take no more than we need and then use the entire animal as efficiently as possible. Reality however is a lot more cruel and wasteful. It is everyone’s personal choice but I chose to stop purchasing cow and pig products.
You don’t need leather or meat. You are taking more than you need. You should really watch dominion so you can see that you absolutely don’t take good care of the animals. A personal choice does not inflict harm on others. We should aim to minimize cruelty and wastefulness.
Second. I am a carnivore.
In one of those 70s Fat Albert episodes, I think it was Rudy who one day showed up wearing a jacket of “genuine imitation leather”. That term has stuck with me for decades.
Also known as “It’s really leather, I promise.”
Well yes but my wallet is cool and on a chain
It seems so odd too because if I didn’t know better, I’d assume “Full or Top Grain” was lower quality than “Genuine Leather” just by how the phrases sound.
If you’re looking for bifl full grain leather stuff, hanks belts is pretty good. not cheap, but you only need one ever.
Not exactly true. “genuine leather” is a specific grade of leather product.
Here’s a decent breakdown of leather types: https://bosca.com/blog/types-of-leather-a-glossary/
“the real lpt is in the comments”
Can somebody explain why leather is better? It’s it the smell? The feel? Tradition? I see it in car reviews where they complain about cloth.
It is something people think they want because it is more expensive and in higher trim levels in cars. But when your car is parked in the hot sun the leather feels like it burns and in the winter is freezing to the touch. Leather also doesn’t breath so you end up sweating more and if your are not wearing long pants your leg will stick to the seat. Cloth is so much better functionally. Cloth also lasts longer than the fake leather they put in cars. Cloth won’t peel like the fake leather.
@BigTrout75 many people are sensitive to dust. A car with a leather interior is easier to clean. The dust cannot stick in the seats.
Let’s be honest here. The amount of people this applies to is miniscule.
love to wear animal flesh
Wear, not so much. Mostly to sit on!
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You should also know that technically only the piece marked as genuine leather needs to actually be genuine leather. If you buy something made with multiple pieces, the rest could be made from any material so long as that one piece is genuine.
“Made with natural and artificial flavors”… So just… made with artificial flavors then…
You know what’s cool about “natural flavors”? They just have to be found in nature to call them that. They can be synthesized in a lab and still be a “natural flavor.”
P.S. don’t fall for the naturalistic fallacy. This comment is about tricky vocabulary used by the food industry. Whether or not a chemical is found in nature has nothing to do with whether it is good or bad for you. Arsenic is natural.
Yup! “All Natural” is just a marketing term, there’s no regulations behind it. USDA Organic is a real thing though, farms need to be organic for 7 years to be labeled that, if I recall correctly at least
Poop is natural, ebola is natural, cockroach puree is natural.
Contains 100% real cheese
All I can say is that it’s still at least leather. Most things (e.x., belts) will say “manmade leather” or “manmade materials” and they are fake and break. The genuine leather belt I have has been working for 4 years without snapping.
Also I highly recommend avoiding man leather.
plant based leather exists
Is it really leather, though?
is soy milk really milk, though?
nope.
do I care?
nope. love the stuff.
Dark chocolate almond milk is my favorite splurge.
If you enjoy it great.
Except for a few specific cases, indo not enjoy them at all… Oat milk is okay if the milk is not a major player in taste. Coconut milk is good if you want a coconutty taste.
Personally I prefer soymilk and almond milk for cereal, but I’ll stick to regular milk products for most sauces/cooking.
Leather is murder anyways.
Wonder what the people who are downvoting this are thinking. Is it not murder, or is it only a restproduct of murder?
Not murder, per definition.
I like to think myself open-minded, but I’m also a meat eater. It really is just a matter of self control and convenience. I know humans eating meat in most developed countries is completely unnecessary. I know farming methods are cruel and environmentally damaging. It’s just tough to shake off the habit of craving a nice chicken breast or steak, especially since I lean towards a very high protein a diet.
I’d go far enough to say it used to not be murder, but now we only kill animals for luxury.
I think it’s because it’s irrelevant for someone who would be interested in leather (and this YSK). I’m sure they’re well aware of where leather comes from. I will say, though, that if cows are getting murdered for food, then they might as well use the whole animal instead of letting it go to waste.
They killed for their skins. It’s not a “by-product” which would be thrown away otherwise
https://twitter.com/matthewhayek/status/1646145797698756610?t=AL_msrN0woNtB7gqF_pv7A&s=19
I wonder what people who upvote this are thinking, obviously the point is moot unless you are also vegan. And who upvotes someone going “meat is murder” in the comment section.
I’m not vegan, but I do personally agree that it’s selfish and inhumane to eat meat and use leather - especially on an industrial scale. I eat meat, but I don’t have any delusions about where it comes from.
Not meaning to argue, but just to say it’s not only vegans that think about this stuff. Also, even if it was, that doesn’t mean they’re wrong or moot.
I think it’s the difference between vegan ethics and being a vegan in practice. I generally agree with vegan ethics, I think that meat and leather are generally made from murder. Perhaps a lesser version of murder than killing a human being, but murder nonetheless. However, animal products are common in both food and consumer goods and I don’t have the time or money to commit towards fully avoiding them. Like with the issue of many of our agricultural goods being the product of slavery, I believe that this is something that should moreso be curtailed by the state than any individual consumer.
This is my general philosophy. I try to be as ethical as I can, but I realize there will always be a certain level of “hypocrisy” in my actions.
Murder is killing a human.
Killing a cow is just part of eating.
You didn’t need to kill the cow to eat, you chose to kill something that didn’t want to die for the fleeting taste of it’s dead body on your tongue
This is why I keep my animals alive and slice off bits as I need them.
True, I really do like the way cows taste. 😋
It is still not murder though.
In the right context, leather goods are much more durable and sustainable than synthetic alternatives. That said, leather is a co-product of the meat and dairy industry which is currently ridiculously unsustainable. Leather for leathers sake in designer goods and such is ridiculous.
Leather production is terrible for the environment, a shit ton of chemicals used.
