Vitra
Climate idea
Climate idea
Mario de Vries
168 w
Banning leather from the furniture industry
Livestock is estimated to be responsible for around 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions and a direct link to deforestation, it seems in popular terms a low-hanging fruit to sharply reduce the demand for leather products in order to reduce methane emissions and deforestation. As I am working in the home furnishing industry, I am very much looking forward to see furniture manufacturers following Volvo’s example in banning leather from their products. Therefore I would like to challenge iconic furniture brand Vitra to take the lead in making the furniture industry leather free!
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167 w
Dear Mario de Vries Thank you for getting your climate idea to level 2! We have reached out to Vitra and asked what they think. I will keep you updated on any progress! /Adam We Don't Have Time
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166 w
Brilliant! 💚
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168 w
I totally agree with you Douglas! However, I think the symbolic value of a leather ban would put even more emphasis on the environmental impact of meat consumption. And it would be a very clear signal from a high-end furniture manufacturer to a consumergroup with a big impact. But yes, the net-emmission wouldn't change much, a consumer mindset might..?
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168 w
It is certainly one lever to use. What else could we do as consumers to get furniture manufacturers to use more recycled / upcycled materials, and unused textiles in total products? Sustainability is a journey where there is always means to do better.
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168 w
@mario_de_vries I applaud the ambition with this post, but the only way to lower emissions from cattle is to lower beef demand, in my opinion. Hard leather is a low value co-product of the meat industry and would be otherwise wasted (except soft calf and lamb skins which high value). The market price of hard leather has fallen 70% in the past seven years, while beef prices have increased 30%. This shows that leather has no real impact on the economics of the beef industry. This means if hard leather is removed from the furniture industry then that industry will need to increase resource use of fibers and synthetics to substitute the leather, while at the same time the same amount of cattle will still be raised for beef. The real net effect would be a global increase in GHG emissions. Some data on leather prices: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PHIDEUSDA Some data on beef prices: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PBEEFUSDM