vegan
Please also check out vegantheoryclub.org for a great set of well-run communities for vegan news, cooking, gardening, and art. It is not federated with LW, but it is a nice, cozy, all-in-one space for vegans.
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Welcome
Welcome to c/[email protected]. Broadly, this community is a place to discuss veganism. Discussion on intersectional topics related to the animal rights movement are also encouraged.
What is Veganism?
'Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals ...'
— abridged definition from The Vegan Society
Rules
The rules are subject to change, especially upon community feedback.
- Discrimination is not tolerated. This includes speciesism.
- Topics not relating to veganism are subject to removal.
- Posts are to be as accessible as practicable:
- embedded images of text require alt-text
- posts with an image of text should have a transcription in the body or alt-text
- paywalled articles must have an accessible non-paywalled link;
- use the original source whenever possible for a news article.
- Content warnings are required for triggering content.
- Bad-faith carnist rhetoric & anti-veganism are not allowed, as this is not a space to debate the merits of veganism. Anyone is welcome here, however, and so good-faith efforts to ask questions about veganism may be given their own weekly stickied post in the future.
- before jumping into the community, we encourage you to read examples of common fallacies here.
- if you're asking questions about veganism, be mindful that the person on the other end is trying to be helpful by answering you and treat them with at least as much respect as they give you.
- Posts and comments whose contents – text, images, etc. – are largely created by a generative AI model are subject to removal. We want you to be a part of the vegan community, not a multi-head attention layer running on a server farm.
- No brigading, either off-site or on-site. An incitement to brigade includes two elements: a call to disruptive action and a specific direction outside of this community in which to take that action. Exceptions include:
- Calls to boycott.
- Calls to in-person protest of a government, high-profile individual, or company/organization.
- Votes provided they have a sufficiently broad target audience or provably effective controls against vote brigading.
- Petitions.
- All Lemmy.World Terms of Service also apply.
Resources on Veganism
A compilation of many vegan resources/sites in a Google spreadsheet:
Here are some documentaries that are recommended to watch if planning to or have recently become vegan:
- You Will Never Look at Your Life in the Same Way Again
- Dominion (2018) (CW: gore, animal abuse)
Vegan Fediverse
Lemmy: vegantheoryclub.org
Mastodon: veganism.social
Other Vegan Communities
General Vegan Comms
Circlejerk Comms
Vegan Food / Cooking
Attribution
- Banner image credit: Jean Weber of INRA on Wikimedia Commons
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Isn't Vegan Leather just a fancy name for plastic?
He's thinking of polyurethane leather which got rebranded from PU leather to vegan.
It depends, I think the marketing has recently shifted to putting the word vegan in a bunch of things in the hopes that it would get more sales. The cheaper stuff seems to be plastic, but some of the higher quality stuff seems to use better materials. There's more people buying the cheaper stuff so that's what comes up when you search for "vegan leather" these days
Isn't the quality stuff still just plastic and rubbers? Just a better kind for the job? Or are there other durable organics that do the truck 🤔
Apparently people are saying the mushroom leather is good. I personally don't have or want leather/leather-like stuff, so I could be out of date or wrong, but I remember there was leather made from plants that was offered as being premium and durable.
Edit: here's some examples, I'm not sure if how they all rack up. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant-based_leather
I think it's important to note here that many plant-based leathers still contain some amounts of petroleum-based plastics. This may change in the future, but at the moment many leather alternatives are still not 100% sustainable (it's questionable whether animal leather is, though).
Vegan leathers that don't contain plastics often also look and feel more distinct from real leather (e.g. cork or teak leaves).
Even plastic is better for the environment than leather.
I mean sure, that's your choice, but using intentionally extreme, almost misappropriated, verbiage is a bit much no?
Ripping the skin off implies living when it occurs, and "pets" is largely fabricated for shock effect (as is the term "ripping"). It's quite cold & "surgical" compared to the image you're painting of my dog having their skin ripped.
To be clear, I'm not anti vegan or anything, nothing here has implied that, I'm just calling out the verbiage for what it is.
It is indeed intentionally extreme as it is extreme to me that this occurs. I've literally seen it in videos on youtube. It's not too exaggerated therefore as this happened in the past. Of course I can't prove that's the case for every single piece of leather and that's also not the case. I'm pretty sure more than half of it is not from living dogs, but I've seen it happening and that's why i don't want to have real-leather on my foot unknowingly if it's from a dead animal or not. And even if it's from a dead animal it's not the right choice for me when there are alternatives that don't include animal skin. Does that make sense?
So your okay with using plastics in place of real leather because you enjoy the aesthetic and are willing to use a substance that is known to contaminate and harm the life you hold in such high regard and plants you eat in place of those animals.
I wonder if there is a vegan leather shoe company. Only leather from animals that lived humanely and died of actual natural end of life causes.
Oh another user commented about Mylo Leather. Created from mushrooms. Thats neat
They commented below about finding about the mushroom leather. But if people think that it's going out of your way buying plastic boots vs not doing that they might get confused. Discussing the harm certain materials can cause for the environment, and ultimately the animals that reside in it, is good, but I'm sick of it being bought up as a 'gotcha' moment for veganism.
Plastic is a recyclable material which therefore aligns with sustainability goals. Indeed some companies let customers send in their old shoes so they can be up-cycled. Plastic is a very durable material too! It has a lower impact on the environment compared to animal-based products. Choosing plastic over animal skin also aligns with ethical considerations, as it avoids contributing to the exploitation and suffering of animals for fashion and apparel.
Btw many vegan leather options are made from sustainable and eco-friendly materials, including plant-based alternatives like pineapple leaves, apple peels, and mushrooms. These alternatives often have a significantly lower environmental impact compared to traditional leather production, which is known for its heavy use of resources and harmful effects on the environment.
Moreover, the idea of using leather from animals that have lived humanely and died naturally is not a widespread practice in the fashion industry. The majority of leather comes from animals that are raised and slaughtered specifically for their skin, which goes against the principles of veganism that prioritize the well-being and ethical treatment of all animals.
@[email protected] better? I've only later found out that plastic is actually not that wide-spread in boots as I thought
Um my comment wasn't meant to imply that you needed to remove the old one / edit it, but yeh it looks better? I'll repost what I said in the reply as I can't find anymore.
I'm just going to state this before anyone jumps in and claims leather as a material is more "eco-friendly" than plastics. The process of getting the leather is very polluting to the environment as the entire animal agricultural industry is. The leather doesn't magically appear one day at the store, it comes from exploiting animals and the environment. Plastics are also bad for the environment and even human health. So, we should strive for an alternative that is neither of those, which we seem to have found.
I think the main point about the plastic is it breaking up into smaller bits and polluting the environment, but I'm not an expert on that.
https://youtu.be/R8b51zMk3SY?si=tbkig13A-XWVgowz
https://youtu.be/urGkiS_b9bg?si=hJ7pxp45Kbutua9h