"Livestock’s Long Shadow"
UN report on the effects of factory farming on the enviornment

Meat is environmentally harmful?

Shock and disbelief may be what you’re feeling but this UN report has now finally confirmed that factory farming animals for our meat eating, leather wearing, cashmere sporting ways is way more harmful to the environment than any of the effects of our petroleum guzzling ways!

"The UN found that it contributes more greenhouse gasses than all the cars, trucks, planes, SUVs, Hummers, ships and tanks in the world combined. The UN also found that its a major factor in the "top two or three most significant [environmental] problems, at every level from local to global." The University of Chicago just produced a report saying that switching from a standard car to a hyrbid is less effective at countering global warming than switching from eating meat to being vegetarian. "

Matt Prescott in response to a blog on gristmill
PETA

Read more from sources you can trust:

Download and read the report

Article from the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Goveg.com – excellent essay

Bruce Friedriche on The Huffington Post – Reputed & Respected blog

Gristmill: A different perspective to consider on the issue.

Another Gristmill blog on the issue

At Parapette we are committed to being part of the low-impact fashion revolution!

With the information now available we are even more convinced that our stand to create fashionable accssories without leather is the right way to go.

Are Synthetic Leathers the Answer?

The common misconception is that all synthetic leathers are the same and are considered unnatural or more toxic than natural leather.
However, to put it simply Leather tanning [the process that makes leather wearable] is exceptionally harmful to the environment and the people involved in the process.
This is as true of vegetable tanning as of Chromium tanning!
PETA also supports this understanding that there is far less runoff and residue when synthetic leathers are produced as compared to leather.

Going one step further, not all imitation leather is the same.
The principal components of pleather, which are both petroleum based are Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyurethane (PU).
The best pleathers though are made of polyurethane (PU), which is washable, can be dry-cleaned and allows some air to flow through the garment.

PVC on the other hand, doesn't breathe and is difficult to clean. It is also significantly more harmful to the environment since it tends to leach chemicals and requires the use of Phthalates to make it soft and flexible.

"PVC is the most damaging plastic on the planet" says Lisa Finaldi, a Greenpeace Toxics Campaign Coordinator. She cites dioxin, which travels long distances on wind currents and is linked to cancer, reproductive problems and diabetes, as an inadmissible byproduct.

We are not saying synthetic materials don’t have environmental impact, i just think it’s worth putting their impact into some context.

Read more from some reliable sources:

Wikipedia

Find Articles

Green Peace

Common Dreams

Cows Are Cool

The Future
Our next collection will use eco-friendly fabrics that are organic/sustainable along with PU Leather to further minimize our impact.