The billion-dollar Bangladeshi leather industry is finally facing the public scrutiny it deserves for unspeakable acts of animal cruelty.

Thanks to singer-songwriter Leona Lewis’ collaboration with PETA, a recent video exposé narrated by the singer has revealed shocking facts about the atrocities that cows and other animals face when they are transported and slaughtered for their hides. This abuse has trickled down into the community; not only does the livestock suffer the consequences of leather farming, but the local environment, workers, and children do, as well.

Take a look at your shoes, handbags, belts, and even wallet. If it says “genuine leather” and you bought it off the rack, then there’s a chance that your purchase contributed to Bangladeshi’s rampant and unregulated animal cruelty resulting from the cow slaughtering and leather tanning industries.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reported that approximately 2 million cows from India are crudely and abhorrently packed like sardines onto trucks and transported thousands of miles to Bangladesh–because cows can’t be slaughtered in India–without any regard to their welfare in order to bypass Indian slaughter bans. Upon arrival, the animals are so exhausted, malnourished, dehydrated, and emaciated that they can’t even muster the energy to stand up, much less walk, to reach the next destination.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. Innocent cows also suffered from necrotic wounds and broken tails, likely resulting from such hazardous transportation, and, according to sources, the animals did not receive any medical attention.

Once inside the slaughterhouses, the workers bind the legs of the cows and proceed to slit their throats while they are fully conscious. The living animals are subjected to witness the violence and suffering of their fellow species while are likely also anticipating their own imminent deaths. Disturbingly, some cows are actually seen still kicking as they are being – literally – skinned alive. Here is the link to Lewis’ PETA narration and video, but we must warn you that it is extremely graphic.

In addition to the sad existence of the cows sent for slaughter in Bangladesh, workers, and children were seen immersing and exposing themselves to highly toxic chemicals in order to soak and prepare the hides that are then used to make the handbags, shoes, and other leather products. Their jobs are performed without a barrier of protection – no shoes, gloves, or chemical rated clothing – but with a high risk of an early death and cancer.

A whopping 90 percent of the tannery workers probably won’t even live to see the age of 50 due to the deplorable conditions these employees are forced to work under, which is a sad statistic considering that many of these “workers” are actually children. Additionally, a visit to Dhaka, an area that has more than 150 tanneries, did not uncover a single waste facility or sewage plant. Instead, the runoff was simply added to a river, creating a large stream of toxic waste that traveled through the town, killing animals and endangering humans.

“The production of leather hurts animals, workers, and the environment. Please consider the impact that your purchases have, and only buy cruelty-free synthetic, natural fiber, and other vegan clothing” said Lewis. Every little change, no matter how insignificant, incites growth and broadens our views. And from those small modifications, we can only hope that a conscious attitude towards living a cruelty-free life will flourish in the wake of so much death and destruction.

Now that you’ve read the news on the latest animal cruelty scandal, we want to hear from you. What’s your take on the atrocities uncovered by PETA? Do you believe more celebrities should use their influence to spread awareness about difficult animal and human rights issues like these? What do you think it would take to have leather completely eliminate from store shelves? Let us know your thoughts on the EcoSalon Facebook page.

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Image of Cow on Truck from Shutterstock

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It probably isn’t surprising that leather is a byproduct of the beef industry. Well, the American beef industry isn’t as robust as it once was and that’s really messing with people who make leather goods.

According to Bloomberg Business, throughout the 20th century, the leather industry grew as Americans started to eat more American beef. But in the past 20 years or so, “Americans’ appetite for beef” has declined by about 28 percent. This decline, paired with a Midwestern drought that increased feed prices, has made cows more scarce, and more expensive.

To demonstrate how some companies are trying to deal with this price hike, Bloomberg conducted an in-depth interview with Lisa Howlett, owner of Auburn Leather, in Auburn, Ky.

While Howlett’s company has been operating since 1863 (it’s a fifth generation company) Auburn Leather has stayed afloat and found a lot of success by producing small, quality leather goods. Currently, Auburn’s company is known as “the uncontested global leader in the leather shoelace industry,” reports Bloomberg.

“Howlett sold 50 million laces in 2013. For a sense of the scale of her operation, look at your feet, or those of the strangers on your next commute: If they’re shod in Ugg, Sperry Top-Sider, L.L.Bean, or Timberland, the leather laces probably came from Howlett’s factory.”

Howlett is still feeling the pinch of increasing prices (Howlett explains that two years ago a hide was priced at $50, but now is priced at $112). Her company is, essentially, the middleman between cattle ranchers, and has a limited ability to pass along rising costs, reports Bloomberg. “Auburn’s sales have begun to decline, to $19 million in 2014 from $20 million the year before, and net profit has been cut in half.”

However, Bloomberg reports that Howlett has figured out how to help buoy her company in the face of increasing prices: she’s doing more with less. She’s succeeding by filling leather accessory orders.

What do you think about this report? Do you buy leather goods anymore? Do you eat as much American beef as you once did?

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Leather image from Shutterstock

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The commercial leather industry is a pollutive, toxic and unjust, environmental hazard that can only change by awareness, choice and demand.

Leather is a controversial topic that has turned into a material often avoided by those who want to lead sustainable lifestyles and make conscious consumption choices. But most of us use leather on a daily basis, even if we don’t immediately recognize it. Leather is used in shoes, bags, wallets, garments (even as detailing), gloves, jewelry, books (in covers and binding), iPod or laptop sleeves, furniture, car interiors and even sports equipment. Leather is undoubtedly an amazing material that can provide numerous uses and can act as a sustainable resource to utilize once an animal passes, but the current leather industry is a far cry from an environmentally sound and just trade.

Most of the leather used in the products mentioned above is a by-product of the tremendously destructive beef industry. Cowhide accounts for 66 percent of annual leather production, and is harvested from the more than one billion cows that are slaughtered each year. These cows are often raised as beef or dairy cattle, while other types of leather come from pigs, sheep, goats and horses.

Commercial beef farming can be considered one of the most environmentally dangerous forms of agriculture that our country, and the rest of the world, is heavily invested in. It is incredibly resource-consuming, releases immense amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, generates tons of waste that ends up contaminating precious groundwater and soil. It eats up far too much of the world’s grain and water, and requires fossil fuels for fertilization and transportation.  And that doesn’t even cover the issue of animal treatment, which is not a sunny story.

After slaughtering, the hides of these animals are sold to tanneries for leather production. Tanning is another dirty business, which has been disdained as one of the filthiest jobs in our history. Brain tanning is the traditional method for achieving the softest leather, but both brains and animal feces were used in a very unsanitary way in the tanneries until the early 20^th century. This caused tannery workers to be considered so foul that they were excluded from society and banished to the outskirts of town and cities.

Modern tanning methods use substantial amounts of noxious chemicals that leach into waterways, soils and the air. Chromium, which is linked to cancer, eye damage, ulcerations and facial sores,  is the most commonly used tanning material and employed in 90 percent of tanneries worldwide. Chromium tanning one hide only takes about a day to complete, providing producers with a quick, low cost and effective method of leather manufacturing.

The chromium tanning process involves an initial pickling soak, which contains acids and salts (that kill beneficial organisms and bacteria in soil and waterways) and then a chromium sulphate bath, which softens the hide and protects it from decay and moisture. After these soaks the hides must be wrung out, creating copious amounts of waste water containing toxic mixtures of chemicals solvents, sulphites, heavy metals and salts. Added to the debris are animal hairs, hide scraps, skins and excess fat, causing solid waste to make up over 70 percent of the wet weight of raw hides. All of this untreated waste carries pathogens in it, posing a great risk for both environmental and human health.

According to the EPA there are approximately 111 tanneries in the U.S. that are subject to environmental and animal protections standards, although 90 percent of these tanneries do use chromium tanning processes. However, most of the world’s leather comes from South Asia, Central and South America, where tanneries are informal, unregulated and don’t have proper waste water treatment facilities. For example, the tanning center of Hazaribagh in Bangladesh has over 200 separate tanneries, which produce a total of over 2 million gallons of wastewater and 88 million tons of solid waste per year. Due to the health hazards of tanning processes, the Worst Polluted Project estimates that 1.8 million lives are at severe risk because of chromium pollution.

The Luhu Envelope Sleeve by Looptworks is made entirely out of recycled leather.

Leaving leather and meat out of our purchases has become the solution for some, but is not the only answer to preventing this destructive activity. There are labels that source their leather responsibly, such as Calleen Cordero, Jypsea Leathergoods and larger brands partnering with the Leather Working Group to change the leather industry.  Some leatherworkers produce their own handmade leather, using traditional brain tan or completely natural vegetable tanning processes, if you make your own leather goods. Etsy is a particularly good platform for finding hand worked leather items and responsibly tanned leather material. A fantastic choice is reclaimed and upcycled leather; check out Poketo’s and reMade USA’s beautiful bags made from leather jackets, Looptworks’ amazing iPad sleeve made from recycled leather, Olga Road’s rockin, upcycled leather jackets and Platinum Dirt’s chic clutches made from car interiors. You don’t have to give up leather, just kick the chromium and animal cruelty out of the equation!

Images: Funky Tee, krebsmaus07, Chrissy Olson, }{enry, Looptworks

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