EVERY year more than a billion animals are slaughtered for their skins and hides to make clothing and accessories.
Skin is ripped off from elephants, crocodiles, and snakes to make leather. Sheep are often beaten and mutilated to steal their wool and their skin for shearing. Goats are abused for cashmere and mohair.
All these are done in the name of fashion, style and beauty. No matter the type of material or where it comes from, it involves horrific cruelty to animals and can lead to animal extinction in case of elephants and some species of snakes and crocodiles. In addition to animal abuse, the productions of animal-derived materials also contribute to climate change, land devastation, pollution, and water contamination.
To save animals and environment, two Mexican young entrepreneurs created the world’s first cactus “leather”. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez who worked with leather in auto and fashion industry selected cactus as the raw material to create leather. This is because the prickly desert plant does not need any water to grow, and there is plenty of it throughout the Mexican Republic. “Also, symbolically, it represents Mexicans and everybody knows it,” said Velarde.
Both of them developed a method of transforming cactus into vegan leather that looks so realistic. They named their cactus vegan leather “Desserto” and it is made from cactus grown on their plantation in the Mexican state of the Zacatecas. The cactus is known for its rugged, thick skin, which makes it the perfect texture to mimic animal leather.
“In order to incorporate this material into various industries, it is essential to count on a stable, abundant supply of raw material. We currently have two hectares where we cultivate nopals, as well as an expansion capacity of 40 hectares. Regarding production capacity, we have 500,000 linear meters a month,” shared Velarde.
According to the Cázarez, the entire process of making this leather is organic and eco-friendly. First, mature leaves are cut from organically grown cactus plants without damaging the cactus itself, so they have a new harvest every 6-8 months. Then the leaves are cleaned, mashed, and then left out in the sun to dry for three days. No oven or additional energy (like gas) is used in this drying process. The material is mixed with non-toxic chemical, shape it with any texture and dyed it naturally which makes the material last almost as long as a decade!
Compared to synthetic alternative, the cactus leather is breathable, biodegradable and doesn’t contain any plastic as it is made of plant material. This is a true alternative to animal leather that is eco-friendly.
Since then, the company has adapted their cactus leather into car seats, shoes, handbags, and even apparel. The price of the plant made leather is almost the same price as real leather!
“We have been getting a continuous traction collaborating with great companies and designers on truly amazing projects with the common aim of reducing environmental footprint while offering quality products. We are convinced that by collaborating with brands we can have a greater positive impact.” said Velarde.
With the production of Earth-friendly alternative leather such as Desserto cactus leather, there is no excuse for animals to die violently and environment being polluted seriously for fashion.
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