PUMA Shoes Does Meatless Mondays, Plans To Discontinue Leather
Written by Vegetarian Star on July 3rd, 2012 in Business, Environment-Eco-Green, Fashion.
One of the biggest makers of sneakers and other casual footwear, PUMA, has implemented Meatless Mondays at the company and is moving toward the direction of using non-leather materials in its products.
Jochem Zeitz, executive chair of PUMA SE who introduced vegetarians items in the office canteens said he has reduced his meat consumption by 80% over the years. Now he’s looking to lighten PUMA’s footprint by creating fashionable shoes that look good on both people and the environment.
“It may sound crazy, but maybe there’s an economic way of producing a leather-like product in the laboratory,” Zeitz said.
“We have to find alternative ways of producing our raw materials without asking nature to do it for us.”
After examining an “environmental profit and loss” report, PUMA found that the production and processing of leather materials was the biggest contributor to its environmental footprint, according to a story at the Financial Times.
More environmentalists are agreeing that leather is a co-product and not a by-product of the cattle industry. The demand for leather items is said to increase the need for cattle in the livestock industry, many of which are housed in conditions where their welfare is less than optimal. These cows feed on land that could be used for farming grains and plants, emit gases into the atmosphere and empty manure on the land that has been known to contaminate water supplies.
PUMA’s switch to non-leather materials will bring a sigh of relief to vegetarians and vegans everywhere who are concerned about the impact of their fashion choices on animals and the Earth.
Photo: PUMA
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