I’m making a real effort to find plastic free alternatives to everything I buy, and in that regard there are normally lots of options available for many different products. My personal preference is not to buy anything with animal products like leather either. In an ideal world I would also buy everything from local manufacturers and suppliers to reduce the carbon footprint of things that I buy. But, and this is the problem, it’s virtually impossible to find something that ticks all the boxes. So I’m left with having to make a compromise.
My preferences are:
- Made from a sustainable material that is 100% plastic free
- Vegan Friendly
- Made in Britain (from locally sourced materials)
- Looks nice – less important, but still a consideration with most things apart from food!
What do you do when you have to make the choice between organic food in single use plastic or non-organic food which comes loose? Which is the better option? It’s a difficult decision we, as consumers, face on a daily basis with a variety of products.
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Why Going Green Often Means Compromising
Example – A handbag
This morning I was looking for a handbag for a friend. So far I’ve not come up with anything that fits all of my criteria. I can find vegan friendly handbags and some of them look great. The problem is that most of them are made of vegan leather. A vegan leather handbag will resemble what you’re used to but has its problems.
Vegan Leather
The two most common materials used to make vegan leather are PVC or Polyurethane, both of which are not ideal materials when you’re trying to live an eco-friendly life and of course they’re both plastic. Other materials used to make vegan leather include cork but you’re more likely to find a belt made of cork than a handbag. I think your handbag could be very rigid if it was cork, although this vegan cork handbag looks lovely.
For vegans trying to be plastic free this is a big issue. The manufacturing processes involved in making vegan leather still produce nasty chemicals and if you’re trying to go plastic free, then vegan leather is a no-no.
In some ways real leather is better for the environment. It’s a byproduct that would be wasted otherwise and it’s a natural material and should therefore decompose at the end of its life. Unfortunately with real leather “Chemicals used in tanning include formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and some finishes that are cyanide base”. – Vegan leather isn’t as ethical as you think. If you do buy real leather, buy second hand.
The Compromise:
Choose vegan friendly but buy plastic or choose real leather which is possibly slightly better for the environment (but by a tiny margin, if at all) and forgo your vegan principles. At least if you buy the vegan leather bag then it should last a while (although probably not as long as a real leather one). You’re still buying plastic but it isn’t single use.
What to do? Personally this is a compromise I’m not willing to take. I don’t want a handbag made of vegan leather or leather. But what are the alternatives?
Canvas / Hemp Handbags
It should be relatively easy to find handbags made of canvas or hemp. If you do a search for canvas handbags though you’ll find most of them come with some leather, normally a leather strap or a leather patch. The same happens when searching for hemp handbags, with the addition of some kind of cannabis motif normally present (which you don’t necessarily want). The only company I’ve found so far to produce mainly 100% plastic free and vegan friendly handbags is Sativa Handbags. (Some of their bags do have real leather straps).
So far, so good. The bags are also pretty nice looking. Full disclosure here I do own one of their bags already, bought a while back. It was the only bag in the bag shop that wasn’t leather or plastic. I really like it and the label says it’s made of 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton. It’s sturdy and it has enough compartments (I love plenty of compartments).
Of course, when you’re in a shop and you don’t own a smartphone (I don’t), you can’t do as much research as you might like so you have to rely on the information to hand. The label in the bag says “by Arrogance London”.
In theory I’ve bought a bag that fits all my criteria. It’s plastic free, it’s made from animal friendly sustainable materials, it looks nice and it appears to be made by a London company. But here is where the compromise lies… When you go to their website you can read all about the materials they use, their company ethos and how eco-friendly their products are. You also find out that the handbags are manufactured in China.
Made in China
Personally I prefer to avoid products made in China, I’m not a big fan of their human rights record or their animal rights record. They also produce a huge amount of very cheap products which undercut locally made things, meaning our local manufacturers often go out of business because it’s impossible to compete. Finally if it’s made in China then your products necessarily have to travel to get to you, meaning a big carbon footprint.
However, Sativa Handbags claim to regularly visit the family owned factory where the products are made to ensure that working conditions and processes are of a high standard. I’m not against the Chinese people themselves so is it ok to buy from them? Or should I not because of the carbon footprint?
The Compromise:
A nice looking handbag, made of sustainable materials, no animal products (in most of their items) but it’s made in China so there’s a big carbon footprint as it’s not locally made and there are human and animal rights issues in the country of origin.
Is making a compromise ok?
Some kind of compromise has to be made with almost every ‘eco-friendly product’ you try to buy. For example, if you search for “eco-friendly food containers” you find a variety of materials. Reusable plastic is better than single use plastic, but stainless steel or glass is better still. But most steel or glass containers have some sort of plastic included. And the majority of ‘eco-friendly products’ you buy have normally been made in China or India or the materials will have been sourced from there. There’s not much we can about this at the moment. But the more eco-friendly products we buy the more manufacturers will realise there’s a demand for it meaning we should have more choice, and hopefully better choices, available in the future.
| Sustainable Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Common Household Items |
How to compromise when going green? This is a choice you have to make for yourself. What is most important to you? Plastic free or mostly plastic free, low carbon footprint, animal rights, human rights…
It’s not always easy, that’s for sure, but don’t beat yourself up if something doesn’t tick all the boxes you want it to; just know that at least you’re making the effort and doing the best you can.
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