Part three or four or something of the apparently ongoing obsession with being a responsible consumer. Fair warning if you're getting bored with that =D.
So I just ditched this mindset where I
didn't pay attention to how leather is obviously made of dead animals
and helps perpetuate the idea that killing things to make clothes you
don't need to survive is okay. And now a good chunk of the stuff I
use almost literally every day contributes to this societal concept
for everyone who sees me.
I had good intentions. I swear. And
most of my leather (except for the pyramid-stud belt and the o-ring
collar... and the gloves...) was bought secondhand, so it's not like
I've supported the leather industry much directly. I tended to
specifically look for real leather and avoid manmade substitutes
because I wanted things that would last so I wouldn't have to buy
more or generate as much waste (most imitation leather that I've come
across is cheapass crap that falls apart faster than you can say
"meat is murder." And the good quality stuff is not
something that seems to pop up used very often.)
So by buying secondhand leather I was
taking things out of the waste stream, and decreasing my own future
garbage (in theory, at
least--*coughleatherbootswithcheapasssplittingsolescoughcough*). I
also think that the leather products already in existance should be
used. The idea of something some creature had to suffer and die for
the production of getting burned or buried or otherwise squandered is
kind of awful (as you've probably already heard from me >__>). At the same time, I have a rather unpopular ethical
agenda I should probably at least not blatantly contradict every time I go to class.
I do want to get rid of my jackets,
gloves, and belts at some point. Those are all in good shape and
pretty versatile/awesome-looking in general, so I'm sure they'll find
good homes with stubborn omnivores whenever I'm able to replace them.
My shoes and book bag, on the other hand, are already a tad ragged,
especially the shoes. They've got years of life left in them,
especially with repair. But I worry that they'd get chucked if I
donated them and that they wouldn't sell on eBay. They'd also be very
expensive to replace, and they both have some sentimental value--the
shoes have been to all kinds of amazing places with me, and the bag
came from a Paris flea market after years of coveting such a bag but
not being able to find one at a price I could afford.
I'm thinking I'll get a new pair of
default shoes to replace the current pair as soon as I can afford it
(I already have my eye on a certain pair) and use my current pair as
a back-up for when I go somewhere muddy or do something messy. I
don't know yet about the bag. I don't like the look of most fabric
laptop bags--they have too much of a clunky utilitarian vibe to them.
I'm thinking a canvas bag like the one I was using before would be
nice, but the trouble with that is I require a briefcase handle,
which most decent-looking canvas bags (including mine) don't seem to have.
At any rate, I'll just have to live
with my choices for now. It'll help keep me from forgetting that I used to eat animals, I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment