vegetarians with leather bags?

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#46
omg I am so sorry for the typo. i meant to type "humane" not "human. What a difference one letter makes.

Roxana you are also right about the veggie leather

Livia1 that would be the most exotic bag lol

I am also very happy to know that other vegetarians are interested in bags also. I am curious what brands/styles then do you all carry/use?
 
#47
sign_coachboi said:
omg I am so sorry for the typo. i meant to type "humane" not "human. What a difference one letter makes.

Roxana you are also right about the veggie leather

Livia1 that would be the most exotic bag lol

I am also very happy to know that other vegetarians are interested in bags also. I am curious what brands/styles then do you all carry/use?
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I've got 2 Matt and Nat bags and a wallet on order. My Bonsai in blueberry should get here tomorrow.bonsai2.jpg

The other is a coffee Vicious.vicious250.jpg
and the wallet is an indigo Kobayashi.

I ordered mine from http://www.materialgirlinc.com/ They have the whole collection and are having a really good sale. The owner had been fantastic answering my emails and he told me the company plans to double their prices in the fall- I figured that's a great reason to shop now.:nuts:

I also have a bag and a wristlet from Ella Vickers. She makes bags from recycled sales. I'm a huge water girl so it sounded like a fun idea to me. They are made well but I never use them. My big one will make a good boat bag I guess.
 
#48
But vegetarian refers to dietary practices: how one eats. One can be a vegetarian in diet and still wear leather or animal products. That may offend some people, and others may view it as less pure than people who do not use animal products at all. But in the technical sense, one is most definitely a vegetarian based on dietary practices alone, not whether they use or wear animal products.
 
#51
I used to be a vegan and I looked into the subject deeply. Those of you who feel better that the whole animal is being used may be disappointed. I understood that the animal is reared for meat or leather not both. Obtaining a good leather does not yield a good meat and vice versa. I am sure in Africa they are using the whole animalas their supply is not as plentiful as ours. But I doubt the flesh of our Prada bags was eaten.
 
#52
If a person is a vegetarian based on dietary purposes and health reasons, then I don't see how that person should feel guilty or ashamed to buy leather or fur goods. The two are not related at all. However, if someone is a vegan and chooses to be a vegan not simply because of health reasons but believe that slaughtering animals for the benefit of people is not morally justifiable, then purchasing leather and fur goods would be slightly hypocritical. I have a friend who is a devout Buddhist and is vegan - she will have nothing to do with the killing of any animal for whatever purpose or use any products derived or taken from an animal/insect, like honey. Also my brother-in-law's parents are really extreme vegans - not only do they not eat meat, milk, honey - they will not eat potatoes, garlic, onion, carrots, etc. because by eating the roots of these plants, they are killing them.
 
#53
I think it depends on why you're a vegetarian... and I also have to say that if you "eat fish or chicken occassionally" I hate to say it, but you aren't a vegetarian because those things are still meat, whether you eat is only once in awhile or every day. Anyway, if you are a vegetarian because of animals then yes, I think that is hypocritical in large part. If you do it for health reasons, that is a different story. That said, I also feel that every little bit you do helps in some way. It is totally up to you as to what you want to do in this regards but since the only question was "is this hypocritical" the answer, most likely, is yes.
 
#54
one of my good friend's sisters is a vegetarian/vegan (i think she is vegan...she says she is going to be after she graduates cause her mom won't let her anyway)....she is not a vegetarian for dietary reasons, she is an animal activist. she even has gone to protests before and wears a bag that says "i am not a nugget" with chickens on it. it makes me FURIOUS because the girl wears leather alllll the time. she flaunts her coach leather bag and has suede boots and vests and lots of leather things. it makes me very angry......i want to just ask her about it but i don't want to cause conflict so i let it go. my friend is a vegetarian as well and does the same things, but she isn't as obnoxious about the animal rights.
 
#55
i think the discussion here has identified several reasons to be vegetarian/vegan, all of which have their own moral/health/religious issues. I think some of these conversations warrant a definition of vegetarian/vegan rationale:

-vegetarian/vegan for health reasons
-vegetarian/vegan for animal cruelty reasons
-vegetarian/vegan for environmental reasons
-vegetarian/vegan for philosophical reasons
-vegetarian/vegan for religious reasons
-vegetarian/vegan just because

and within these categories, we've got ovo-lacto vegetarians, fish-eating vegetarians, people who typically follow a vegetarian diet with the exception of free-range meats, vegans, and on and on and on...

I think that we've all got opinions that are falling into specific schemas that each have their own issues, but we're not all necessarily talking about the same thing when we say "vegetarian".

At any rate, the choice of leather/recycled-leather/vegan bags/canvas bags etc hinges more on your reasons for vegetarianism more than anything else so this discussion could go round and round in circles due to everyone's differing ways of defining vegetarianism.

And for the record, those Matt & Nat bags are HOT.
 
#56
I'm not a vegetarian but my stepsister has been one for about 8 years now. She became one because she was against the killing of animals for any reason, whether for food or material items. It never mattered to her how the animal is killed, she felt they shouldn't be killed for any reason. Over the past couple of years her tastes in clothes and fashion have changed dramatically and she has begun carrying leather bags. I find it extremely hypocritical, especially because she use to go around telling people they shouldn't buy leather. I understand that there are different types of vegetarians and different reasons people choose to become a vegetarian, but for those who choose the lifestyle because they are against killing animals, there should not be any exceptions, especially for a purse of all things! That makes absolutely no sense to me, for someone to go around talking about how they don't think animals should be killed and then they buy products that were made from animals. It seems a lot of the vegetarians who have posted here have different rules, concerning different things like the way an animal is killed (humane vs inhumane), diet, etc. And that makes a lot more sense I think. But for those who are simply against the harming of animals for ANY reason, then it is very hypocritical to buy leather ANYTHING. In that case it seems like you are being a vegetarian out of convenience, so if you see something you want and it happens to be from animals you'll buy it, but you will be a vegetarian when it is convenient for you all of the other time. Maybe its just me, but those around me who I have talked about it with all seem to agree that it just doesn't make very much sense.

I hope I don't offend anybody here, just my opinion.
 
#58
If you were vegan, then I'd say yes, you're being a hypocrite. But many "normal" vegetarians incorporate a little animal by-product here and there, so if that's the case, you're golden by my rule book ;)
 
#59
moi et mes sacs said:
I used to be a vegan and I looked into the subject deeply. Those of you who feel better that the whole animal is being used may be disappointed. I understood that the animal is reared for meat or leather not both. Obtaining a good leather does not yield a good meat and vice versa. I am sure in Africa they are using the whole animal as their supply is not as plentiful as ours. But I doubt the flesh of our Prada bags was eaten.
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Maybe they make good dog or cat food though? I can't imagine that the entire carcass is wasted, although that may very well be the case....
 
#60
Roxana said:
I understand how you feel. I am sort of a 'part time' vegetarian. I try to eat as little meat as possible and when I buy it, only biological meat (I don't know if this is an international term, but that is from animals that were given a proper life in good circumstances)and fish that is catched according to WNF guidelines.
I am also requestioning the using leather thing, I actually always choose for leather when buying shoes and bags. I just see it as a rest product of the meat industry. But I have conscience issues about this.
I hope there will be a label for 'biological' leather as well, then I would surely choose that... (although maybe there is? But I'm not aware of it..)
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sorry for digging up an old thread... i'm almost in the exact same situation as Roxana... i'm not a vegetarian (yet?) & after a while, all the efforts of eating less meat & occasionally getting ethically farmed meat source & eggs, suddenly it dawned upon me that am i not being hypocritical for carrying leather bags? (pls, i do not meant it as an offence to anyone here:okay:)

i'm even now contemplating whether should i be selling away all my leather bags?

anyone in the same dilemma:shucks:
 
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