OUR COMMITMENT
At The Lovely Things we are committed to using only cruelty-free materials, we will never use leather or animal skin in our products and here are the reasons why:
ANIMAL CRUELTY
It is a common misconception that all leather is a byproduct of the meat industry. The truth is millions of innocent animals are killed specifically for their skin each year. Leather is not produced in efforts to minimise waste, it is produced because it is a highly profitable business. Animals suffer from extreme crowding, confinement and deprivation as well as cruel treatment during transport and slaughter. Besides cows and lambs, pigs, goats, cats, dogs, horses, snakes, crocodiles and deers are also among the victims of the leather industry.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
All animal skins need to be treated in order to turn into leather material. The treatment called tanning permanently alters the protein structure of skin, making it more durable and less susceptible to decomposition. Chemical and organic compounds, as well as large quantities of water are used which generate large amounts of chemical wastes, polluting the air, soil, rivers and groundwater. The use of old technologies in some countries plays a large factor in how hazardous wastewater results in contaminating the environment.
HEALTH PROBLEMS
The workers at the tannery, where the skins are processed, are constantly exposed to heat, leather dust and chemicals. The chemicals not only negatively affect the health of the workers but also pollute rivers and groundwater which affect local human and animal populations. Decades of contamination in the air, water, and soil have caused local residents a variety of diseases and health problems such as respiratory illnesses, skin diseases and eyesight problems.
Leather is not only cruel to animals but also to the environment and the health of the workers at the tanneries. We do not want to contribute towards this cruelty so we vowed to never to use any animal skin or animal ingredients in our products.
Find out about the materials we use at The Lovely Things here.