It’s not true that leather is a by-product of the meat industry. It’s usually a separate industry with high pollution rates for tanning – and most items are made in countries with little or no animal welfare laws (even the designer brands). Although we are not quite there with ‘biodegradable vegan leather’, things are getting better – Mirum is an new greener plant-based leather that is coming onto the market.
These pretty canvas coin purses are made in Sussex, from offcuts of the company’s canvas and cork rucksacks. Ideal to stop coins falling to the bottom of your bag, the purses use YKK zippers, and the logo is stitched in vegan cork.
Cork looks and feels like leather, and does not require trees to be chopped down. In fact, stripping the bark helps to keep the industry alive, in a world of plastic wine corks. And therefore protects native wildlife, to stop forests being chopped down for other uses.