Saving environment ?

[Guest]

Hi all! :)

I absolutely love military boots, so I'm considering buying another pair. I refuse to choose a model that's made of leather or anything that comes from an animal, and I did found a nice pair! I told my mom so she could order it, said they weren't leather made and explained my reasons, of course: I'm an animal lover, I couldn't stand using something that came from an animal. It would be like wearing my cat... :/

And that's when she really made me think about it: "Not wanting boots made of animal skin is fine, of course, but would you prefer to wear plastic instead? It pollutes a lot."

 

Now I'm asking your opinion, what's better?

- Boots made of animal skin

or

- Boots made of plastic ?

 

:S

 

Saving the envirnment is relative, I think... I'd say it's more about what makes less damage than what doesn't damage at all.

[Alice ☮]

I'd still say plastic.

 

It's like the reason why I'm vegetarian. I don't think it's wrong to eat animals, or even wear them. We're predators, we were built to hunt and eat meat. Using the hides only makes sense because it reduces waste. That said, we're not actually fairly hunting these animals, or reducing waste. In the past, these animals would live happy free lives until they were killed by humans. In today's society, they're treated like garbage from day one (not even going to get into that right now), and they are mass produced without any regard for the fact that they have feelings and experience pain and whatnot. They never have a fair chance at life. I'm against the way they're treated.

 

So even though the production of plastic pollutes, so does the production of animals. And at least the former isn't directly torturing living beings.

[Guest]

I'd still say plastic.

 

It's like the reason why I'm vegetarian. I don't think it's wrong to eat animals, or even wear them. We're predators, we were built to hunt and eat meat. Using the hides only makes sense because it reduces waste. That said, we're not actually fairly hunting these animals, or reducing waste. In the past, these animals would live happy free lives until they were killed by humans. In today's society, they're treated like garbage from day one (not even going to get into that right now), and they are mass produced without any regard for the fact that they have feelings and experience pain and whatnot. They never have a fair chance at life. I'm against the way they're treated.

 

So even though the production of plastic pollutes, so does the production of animals. And at least the former isn't directly torturing living beings.

 

I understand your point of view and I agree. :) I wish I wouldn't eat animals... But, for now, all I can do is not wear them.

If I do buy the plastic ones, then - I'm not sure if you'll understand, but - *new* plastic will be made, instead of recycling the old. And you can't tell that they're actually torturing animals. There has been a great development in that area and I do believe that there are less "animal torture factories". I'm not defending them, don't take it in a bad way. Still, I do know that there are a lot of those who don't care about feelings.

All I want to say is that you can't be sure that an animal will be killed. In fact, many of the clothes that come from animals are made with the skin of the previously killed animals (for us to eat).

 

 

Thank you! I'll still wait for other opinions, though. :D

[Masaryk]

Plastics are made from oil. Apart from the normal environmental impact of the plastic-making process, there is also the the harm done to animals during the harvest and transportation of petrochemicals to consider. We have all seen the devastation brought down upon populations of fish, birds, and sea mammals caused by oil spills, which happen much more frequently than advertised. We only hear about the really bad ones in the news.

 

Death for those animals is very slow and torturous. You have ducks swallowing oil, as they try to remove it from their feathers. They can't maintain their body heat with oil in their feather, so they quickly burn up all their fat reserves to keep warm. With their fat gone, they have to use protein from their muscles to try to stay warm. They eventually become too weak to dive or fly. It's not just ducks that are affected like this, but other sea birds too. Cleaning the birds is largely ineffective, since they also lose the natural oils in their feathers than they need to stay warm, so they have to be killed.

 

So, from that perspective, the production of plastics can still have a significant impact on the health, safety, and well-being of animals.

[Guest]

Plastics are made from oil. Apart from the normal environmental impact of the plastic-making process, there is also the the harm done to animals during the harvest and transportation of petrochemicals to consider. We have all seen the devastation brought down upon populations of fish, birds, and sea mammals caused by oil spills, which happen much more frequently than advertised. We only hear about the really bad ones in the news.

 

Death for those animals is very slow and torturous. You have ducks swallowing oil, as they try to remove it from their feathers. They can't maintain their body heat with oil in their feather, so they quickly burn up all their fat reserves to keep warm. With their fat gone, they have to use protein from their muscles to try to stay warm. They eventually become too weak to dive or fly. It's not just ducks that are affected like this, but other sea birds too. Cleaning the birds is largely ineffective, since they also lose the natural oils in their feathers than they need to stay warm, so they have to be killed.

 

So, from that perspective, the production of plastics can still have a significant impact on the health, safety, and well-being of animals.

 

:O! Poor animals!!

I didn't know that... Thank you for sharing...

[Masaryk]

I'm not really trying to make your decision difficult. I'm really just pointing out that everything we do is likely to have a negative impact on another living thing. I'm not condemning humans for this directly; every animal destroys other life in the process of survival. Even plants can have a negative influence on their habitats, by out-competing other plants and by creating poisons to murder anything that tries to harm them.

 

Like all other animals, we need to eat, have shelter, and stay warm. Animals all use other living things for food and in making a comfortable place to live. All animals accidentally kill plants, insects, and other animals in the course of living, as well as killing them on purpose, to ensure their survival. It's a natural part of being an animal.

 

That said, I personally prefer living as naturally as possible. I tend to try to buy whole, organic foods, whenever feasible. I avoid overly-processed foods as much as I can, by cooking my own meals, doing my own baking, and avoiding unnecessary chemical food additives, like artificial colours and flavours. I also try to avoid plastics and synthetic clothing, whenever possible. So, for me, that would mean choosing the leather boots over the plastic ones.

 

Sure, I can't avoid synthetic things all the time; I still own a computer and a car. I still have to live in the modern world to make money. I try to minimize my impact as much as I can. I walk whenever I can, instead of driving, and I always bring my own bags when I go shopping. I hope to have even less of an impact someday, when I can grow more of my own food and produce my own electricity. But that takes money I don't have right now.

[Guest]

I'm not really trying to make your decision difficult. I'm really just pointing out that everything we do is likely to have a negative impact on another living thing. I'm not condemning humans for this directly; every animal destroys other life in the process of survival. Even plants can have a negative influence on their habitats, by out-competing other plants and by creating poisons to murder anything that tries to harm them.

 

Like all other animals, we need to eat, have shelter, and stay warm. Animals all use other living things for food and in making a comfortable place to live. All animals accidentally kill plants, insects, and other animals in the course of living, as well as killing them on purpose, to ensure their survival. It's a natural part of being an animal.

 

That said, I personally prefer living as naturally as possible. I tend to try to buy whole, organic foods, whenever feasible. I avoid overly-processed foods as much as I can, by cooking my own meals, doing my own baking, and avoiding unnecessary chemical food additives, like artificial colours and flavours. I also try to avoid plastics and synthetic clothing, whenever possible. So, for me, that would mean choosing the leather boots over the plastic ones.

 

Sure, I can't avoid synthetic things all the time; I still own a computer and a car. I still have to live in the modern world to make money. I try to minimize my impact as much as I can. I walk whenever I can, instead of driving, and I always bring my own bags when I go shopping. I hope to have even less of an impact someday, when I can grow more of my own food and produce my own electricity. But that takes money I don't have right now.

 

That's beautiful, I hope we can actually save the world some day. :)

I use public transportation over private, my family goes organic whenever they can, we are extremely concerned about the environment, mostly because living beings die. I just try to make the right decisions, even if that doesn't always happen.

 

I would like to thank you both for explaining me the processes of procucing such objects, I am now aware the consequences or causes of my decision.

[Unstream]

If you really want to be helpful to the environment, I'd say don't buy either kind of boots (though I'm guessing that's not what you wanted to hear).

 

Like Masaryk mentioned above, plastic might not actually be the best way to go, especially due to the use of oil (though big spills are quite rare). It's not like the leather doesn't pollute either, because the skins need to be processed and tanned before you'd be able to do it, which unfortunately also creates pollution.

 

Honestly, the problem with us humans is that while it is natural kill things in order to survive, we tend to take more than we need. Over-consumption of resources is probably one of the biggest problems we have today, and that's what's destroying rain forests and creating landfills. So if you really want to be helpful towards the environment, ask yourself, do you really need those boots? One of the best things you can do to help the environment is to simply kick that consumerism habit.

[Guest]

If you really want to be helpful to the environment, I'd say don't buy either kind of boots (though I'm guessing that's not what you wanted to hear).

 

Like Masaryk mentioned above, plastic might not actually be the best way to go, especially due to the use of oil (though big spills are quite rare). It's not like the leather doesn't pollute either, because the skins need to be processed and tanned before you'd be able to do it, which unfortunately also creates pollution.

 

Honestly, the problem with us humans is that while it is natural kill things in order to survive, we tend to take more than we need. Over-consumption of resources is probably one of the biggest problems we have today, and that's what's destroying rain forests and creating landfills. So if you really want to be helpful towards the environment, ask yourself, do you really need those boots? One of the best things you can do to help the environment is to simply kick that consumerism habit.

 

Hmmm, another good point. I had actually thought about that, but I just want them so bad... D:

Anyway, the boots are sold out already, so I'm not buying any of them...

 

Thank you all! I loved the way you contributed to my decision/knowledge. :)

[lilipooh]

Oh, It's a really tough decision, i don't like either leather (Because I'm a total animal lover and vegetarian) or plastic, but I'd say Leather.

 

I think plastic is way too unfriendly with the enviroment, it requires lots of energy to be produced, and that process releases some of the worst contaminants, since it's an oil derivated. When a product made of plastic is thrown away, in a rubbish dump, or a path in the forest, it will take hundreds and hundreds of years to degradate, and if it gets to the sea, will cause a huge damage to sea-life. Take, for example, plastic bags. Here, in chile, (People still don't understand that it's better to use reusable bags when they go to the supermarket) everyday, thousands of plastic bags are used and thrown away, without realising that they are affecting defenseless animals like sea turtles. Sea turtles eat jellyfish, but they think that bags are jellyfish, so they eat them, minutes later, THEY DIE, choked by plastic

 

In the other hand, yes, the way animals are treated is horrible, and using animal derivated products won't help, but think:

- The skin and fur of animals will be used to make many things, instead of being thrown away, so it will show more respect to those poor animals if they do it, instead of throwing away parts of their body.

- Leather is way more resistent than plastic. It won't rip easily, so you'll have a loyal pair of boots that will last more than a year. Plastic, in the other hand, won't resist the use that a shoe has, and soon you'll be waving at the trash truck saying:

 

Bye, dear, beautiful boots, I'll always remember you! - Mom, can you buy me another pair of boots, pleeease? *Puts puppy face, shifty eyes, and all sort of things that can melt the ice heart of our moms when it comes to buy us things*

 

And it will be a total waste of money, resources, and time.

 

Hope this helps you on your decision... ^_^

[Masaryk]

I am not a vegetarian, but I do hope for the well-being and safety of all living things. That said, I agree with lilipooh that leather may be the more ethical choice, in this case, since the skins of animals that are already dead would just end up being waste, if they weren't used for leather products.

 

Of course, there are still other options, too. Most of the boots I buy are second-hand, since I really like Doc Martens, but I want to own ones that were still made in England (the new ones are made in China). I always check the second-hand stores for Docs that are in good shape.

 

Also, if you really want to be ethical about your footwear choices, there is Blackspot Shoes. They make fair-trade hemp shoes and boots, with recycled rubber soles. They don't have much of a style selection, but they have their ethics down. I'm sure there are other ethical shoe companies out there, but this was the first that came to mind.

[xLaura]

I'm not a vegetarian but i can't eat cows or pigs after seeing the Paul Mccartney slaughter house video..so sickening. I'd say go for the plastic even though its polluting the environment. I'd rather wear something that slightly pollutes and isn't really a big deal than wear something I know was killed for fashion.

[Guest]

I'm not a vegetarian but i can't eat cows or pigs after seeing the Paul Mccartney slaughter house video..so sickening. I'd say go for the plastic even though its polluting the environment. I'd rather wear something that slightly pollutes and isn't really a big deal than wear something I know was killed for fashion.

 

It has already been said that animals are previously killed for food and only then they use they're skin. It's sad, I know. :(

 

---

 

I agree with you, I should go for leather... But now that I think of it, I already have 2 pairs of [military] leather boots that will last for (at least) two more years. There's no need in buying another pair, so yay! :) It's a though world for animal lovers D:

 

 

(...)

I think plastic is way too unfriendly with the enviroment, it requires lots of energy to be produced, and that process releases some of the worst contaminants, since it's an oil derivated. When a product made of plastic is thrown away, in a rubbish dump, or a path in the forest, it will take hundreds and hundreds of years to degradate, and if it gets to the sea, will cause a huge damage to sea-life. Take, for example, plastic bags. Here, in chile, (People still don't understand that it's better to use reusable bags when they go to the supermarket) everyday, thousands of plastic bags are used and thrown away, without realising that they are affecting defenseless animals like sea turtles. Sea turtles eat jellyfish, but they think that bags are jellyfish, so they eat them, minutes later, THEY DIE, choked by plastic

(...)

 

Augh, I know. Most of the times I use renewable bags, there's a strong (even though not very "famous") campaign on supermarkets especially, they sell huge bags for an affordable price so that we can always bring them when we go shopping. It's a start, isn't it?