Vegan Leather Bags

If you’re looking for an ethical way to live a wholly vegan lifestyle, eco-friendly handbags are a great way to flaunt both your sense of fashion and your vegan way of living. Seriously, sustainable bags are the solarpunk wave of the future you’ve been hoping for.

Vegan leather is a vastly growing industry, snagging the attention of actual leather companies willing to make the shift to more eco-friendly alternatives. Living green is about more than just recycling. It’s also about being mindful of what you use and how you use it! What better way to save the planet than with a cool vegan leather bag?

What is Vegan Leather?

Real leather is made out of cowhide or other animal skins that are tanned, dyed, and processed in ways that totally separate it from its animal counterpart. While normally the animal carcass would degrade naturally over time, leather tanning pumps the collagens and skin fibers with chemicals to ensure the leather cannot biodegrade at all.

Couple that with the fact that leather production requires thousands of gallons of water while also emitting noxious fumes into the atmosphere, and you have an environmental disaster on your hands. There’s just no winning on any side!                                                                                                                        Animal hide handing on a tannery.

What is Vegan Leather Made From?

Unfortunately, not all vegan leather bags are environmentally-friendly. This might come as a shock, but not all vegan leather is ethical leather! In fact, certain vegan leathers may actually be made up of harmful plastics like polyurethane and polyvinyl chloride, more commonly referred to as PVC. Yes, your vegan leather bag might be made up of the same material that makes up sewage pipes! Yuck!

PVC has also been known to pose significant harm to your health, too. According to the peer-reviewed environmental health research journal Environmental Health Perspectives, PVC dust is known to cause pulmonary dysfunctions (or lung disorders) and other health issues. The chemicals that make up this harmful plastic can even increase your risk of getting cancer in some cases. 

And it won’t be just your body that will be harmed, either! PVC is known to release extremely toxic fumes into the atmosphere upon its production. It is no wonder it has been deemed one of the most environmentally damaging plastics by Greenpeace.

Chemicals and fumes being released to the atmosphere from factories.

It’s always a good idea to just avoid plastic leathers altogether. They aren’t biodegradable and aren’t made up of all-natural materials anyway. The overuse of plastics also contributes to excess pollution and plenty of harm to the environment.

There are plenty of great natural vegan leather alternatives to these plastic bags that you’re sure to love! Vegan leather can be made from plants, leaves, mushrooms, or even fruit! There are tons of great, eco-friendly leathers out there!

Where to Find Eco-Friendly Leather Vegan Bags

Embracing your commitment to green living can be tough when you don’t know where to start. Fortunately, it is much easier to find vegan handbags in the UK and other countries than you might think! Quality vegan leather can be made up of a wide variety of materials that mimic the feel and look of real leather.

The Cork Company produces ethical bags and other eco-friendly products made out of cork that won’t push function over style. If you’re into minimalist, natural chic, then our reusable bags, backpacks, and other accessories will have you looking great, all while reducing your carbon footprint.

             

There are also plenty of other fashion-forward and ecologically-minded companies out there that specialize in other types of vegan leather, too! GnL Accessories and Kantala are two ethical fashion brands that pride themselves on using purely plant-based materials for all their clothes, bags, and accessories.

Fruit leather is also another popular vegan leather used to make all sorts of neat, sustainable bags! Luxtra uses leathers made from pineapples, apples, mangos, cacti, corn, and various linings to make stylish wallets and totes.

Overall, vegan leather is a natural solution to the leather industry that all fashionistas need!

 My Rose Bhudda's Pinneapple Leather Tote Bag