At no point will any fewer cattle be ‘processed’ for meat because of this decision.
What does change is the utility ratio of the beasts. Well use less of each beast making the tragedy of their death more meaningless.
Leather is far more environmentally friendly than plastics, with a small caveat for the tanning process’ chemicals, and emissions from the beasts themselves (though that’s attributable to beef production.)
Leather doesn’t degrade into micro plastics.
So unless Apple is also reducing its beef consumption* by the equivalent amount it’s pointless.
Making cows(not beasts) less viable to grow because they are more expensive because the farmers aren’t getting money for their other body parts is a win!
Less leather bought = more expensive cows = less people able to afford cows = less cows murdered.
Yes, the person did take that into account. That was the whole point. If leather can’t be sold, meat prices will have to become higher (if farmers are not to get less money per cow). This will lower demand for meat, and less cattle will be raised.
Leather is fine and probably the most environmentally friendly material in an Apple product. I just wish it was cruelty free, but the alternative is a lot worse imo
Edit: I’ll also add that there’s no such thing as a “leather cow.” It’s just a byproduct of the beef industry, so it’s not like ditching leather will save animal lives. As always, this is Apple finding an environmentalist message to excuse cheapening their products
Good. But fuck that faux pleather stuff too though, it doesn’t last long and is just microplastics waiting to end up in the environment. Get proper stainless steel one or even a good quality NATO strap.
They're doing a woven material. The article I saw said the rumor was using recycled nylon and polyester in some manner, but that was a rumor and I don't know if it's confirmed. But you could absolutely make a decent, reasonably rugged phone case with something in approximately the neighborhood of canvas.
Stopping trying to be leather when it sucked was needed. If you're not doing a relatively high quality grade of leather, it can't handle the abuse, and what Apple had recently wasn't that.
Sure, I'm all for this. Less body parts being sold is always a good move. I just think we need to keep in check why corporations SOMETIMES act ethically.
As much as I hate Apple (and like beef and leather), I suspect a bit of work went into making it financially viable. Maybe they’ve worked their synthetic material to be as good and cost effective.
But yeah, there’s the chance it’s all marketing and they’ve merely replaced the word “vinyl” with “vegan” and called it a day.
Maybe they want to move manufacture to India where the cow is sacred. Who knows.
Agreed. I’ve used the same leather wallet for 13 years and it’s still going strong. Not sure how cheap plastic that needs to be replaced every few months is better for the environment.
I got that, I was just repeating the number. My point is that leather is more durable than is necessary for a consumer electronic, especially one from Apple which has made planned obsolescence continuous innovation a cornerstone of their business.
Agreed, however with a phone I think leather cases are a waste. You’re not getting the longevity benefits so are contributing to less ethical environmental practises.
Boots/wallets/belts which you’ll keep for a lifetime are surely better in the long term than man made alternatives which last a year and need replacements.
That would be interesting. Not sure using bees knees to manufacture it is the best option. We currently have nothing synthetic that has the same properties as leather. It would be good to have a natural non-synthetic alternative.
For example when vivobarefoot stopped using leather for the synthetic alternative. Thier shoes fall apart so fast now and don't provide the same leave of protection.
Just like how they stopped selling chargers for the sake of reducing e-waste. Even though they can save on shipping weights and charge extra for 1st party chargers.
Now is it worse for the environment to produce extra chargers and cables? Or the secondary purchases, shipping, and manufacturing? I can’t tell you the actual impact.
Oh and remember the absolute trash 1A/5V charging bricks they included for the longest time ever? They hardly even pushed out 18w bricks before they nixed the entire included charger crap.
Those aren't cute animals though, they are also destroying the planet with their farts. I'll have to eat so many more of them now to balance it out, Thanks Apple.
If the drive for profits pushes companies to use more recycled materials and reduced their carbon footprint , that’s a good thing right? In the same way that Apple have decided that privacy is a marketing differentiator
Leather lasts a lot longer and personally I think it feels better. But the fake leathers often fall apart really quickly and can’t be cared for like leather. A maintained leather item can last centuries, not that an accessory would last very long but faux leather crumbles pretty quickly
Have you tried beyond burgers they taste just like the real thing and so humanity can skip the cruelty of lining cows in a narrow chute and slaughtering them unceremoniously.
Same goes for processed plant based products if you want healthy tasty meals there’s plenty of whole food planted based recipes out there for you to try.
I can’t get the iron I need from plants alone. Plant-based iron has very low bioavailability. I will always eat meat for health reasons since iron deficiency runs in my family.
Well meat farms produce a lot of methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas, so reducing any kind of demand from a ranch is probably better than nothing. That said, I thought the leather used for iPhones weren’t from animals we’d traditionally use for eating. Moleskin or something?
I’m curious how many animals are killed to make leather. I would think that the animal is killed for food and the byproduct is leather. If we’re still raising feed cattle and just wasting the leather, wouldn’t that be worse for the environment?
You’re tight, but I couldn’t think of a better term for it. I suspect leather is made with material that is generated not for leather making but as a consequence of the meat industry. And since when is “using the whole animal” a bad thing? Unless I’m wrong and there are animals killed specifically for their leather, that would be pretty fucked up.
Right, when we make things out of wood sure it’s killing trees, but it’s a sustainable resource that is better than mining for other materials that don’t biodegrade. Of course in leathers case it is literally a byproduct so there is very little environmental concers. Garentee faux leather is much more environmentally unfriendly
Like almost everything, this announcement sounds more like green washing.
For your wood example, wood is actually a great green resource. It’s not like they’re cutting down the old growth trees anymore. They selectively cut and they have tree farms. Trees are also not as good of a carbon sync as people tend to think they are. Yes, they absorb carbon over their lifetime, but when they die, they rot and release it back into the atmosphere. The carbon we’re worried about is the stuff that came out of the ground that was there for millions of years, which is far longer than a tree lifespan.
I would say it’s a safe guess they are not, as it’s pretty obvious they were asking you because you said “animals have no rights”. Which implies that you are okay with it and you also decided not to refute it.
I’m not convinced you even believe anything you type though, as your comments all scream “troll child”.
Sure, but no one is saying they do. Pigs don't deserve the right to vote and cows don't deserve the right to a public education.
But I am asking why its okay to harm them? If you cut them, they bleed, scream, flee, possibly attack in retaliation. All the same responses humans have. It's reasonable to assume animals feel pain similar to humans.
Is the only reason you don't harm other humans is because the government says those other people have rights? Or is there perhaps an ethical reason in which why that would be wrong?
What situations exactly are okay to cause pain in another for your own pleasure?
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