#fr i cant prove i did the research but i didnt want to had a fuck ton of graphs and links on mobile

[sereniv]

So most things are technically biodegradable at some point, except for some stuff like polyester (PET, most commonly used) which can take up to hundreds of years to degrade. which can technically be considered biodegradable but compared to chromium tanned leather (most common process), it isnt.

polyester is nearly half of all material used for clothes in general, and most when looking at synthetic materials for clothing (which also includes rayon which is semi-synthetic, and polyurethane which is synthetic).

there are different types of polyester but generally, polyethylene terephthalate is most common which is one of the most common microplastics also.

polyurathane on the other hand, which is what most fake leather is made from (usually painted over polyester, rayon, or cotton), is not toxic and biodegrades in 20-30 years. Vinyl is also used and is not biodegradable and can be toxic for the enviroment.

and rayon biodegrades even faster at a few weeks, which is another commonly used fabric.

Now these all have some sort of toxic chemical added to them whether it be polyester, rayon, or polyurethane (which is usually painted on polyester, rayon, or cotton).

so saying something is biodegradable doesnt mean anything in terms of environmental impact or even longivity. All it means is that it eventually breaks down naturally. What it also doesnt mean is that that break down is always free from chemicals bleeding into the enviroment.

Because thats what happens. You have the people who work with the chemicals to make the fabric, and then you have the fabric leaking its chemicals into wherever its left to degrade.

anyway, the most common way of tanning leather is with chrome which poisons people, the water, the land, and air.

the most common clothing material overall is polyester and cotton

for most common material used in faux leather, it would be polyurathane, which is again, painted on polyester, rayon, or cotton.

polyurathane clothing can last 30 to 100s of years depending on how its manufactured, while current chromium tanned leather lasts up to 50 years or longer, and polyester can last hundreds of years, and cotton/ rayon last years.

Leather of which is more expensive than polyurathane. So with this comparison, Leather lasts longer (with proper care) but is more toxic and more expensive, Polyurethane Leather usually has a shorter life span, but is not toxic and is less expensive.

When in comparison to all clothing, Polyester is most common, toxic, and isnt biodegradable.

Just over 1% of people are vegan (original coined Vegan Society definition);

8 million vs nearly 8 billion people.

Most vegans make under 30k and thus are low income and cant afford real leather anyway unless it was at a thrift store.

The average person is working class and probably low income and though i have no data, id say that most people arent buying genuine leather products often, because its too expensive.

So you have chrome tanned leather which is the most common type of leather bought (around 90% of all genuine leather),

and polyurethane used in fabrics which takes up only 18% of the overall uses of polyurethane, the rest is in furniture and foam for thermal insulation.

You have the most common fabric overall is polyester and cotton,

and you have approximately 8 million vegans world wide, compared to the rest of 8 billion people who arent vegan

The conclusion of all of this is:

There is no ethical consumption under capitalism

Those of us that have less money cant afford premium stuff, and when we do we want it to last

But most of the time there is a choice when shopping anywhere that isnt a thrift store.

To know that the leather you buy (unless brain/vegetable/etc tanned) is destructive inherently to the people who process it, who slaughter the animal, and the toxins it releases

and to know that there are alternatives that are less destructive- that dont even have to always be polyurathane either

to know that we all have something in our closet that involves polyester

To know all this now, not only should you take these into consideration when shopping (when youre able ofc) but to stop spreading the misinformation that "vegan" leather is worse that real leather

because vegan leather doesnt describe anything other than it doesnt come from an animal. And genuine leather doesnt even tell you how its tanned

We are not going to be the main ones buying fake leather of any kind. Just by the fact that there are more non vegans than vegans

This post is neutral, but also has an agenda. That agenda is to lay it all out so that people can see that everything has its pros and cons, but ultimately there is going to be a better choice

and the better choice isnt even "vegan" leather as a whole. If youre shopping for "vegan" leather, try and go for the more sustainable kinds of material

this post took me a week to research and write up. Id provide the graphs and sources but this is already so long, so if anyone wants to add to this and add sources please do that.

[tova-onova]

the school system in Bulgaria is broken. i felt underdeveloped in my school. i wanted to be in what i later discovered is a japanese type of school - where i did sports, arts, and a lot of studying simultaneously. i didn't receive any structured education and any direction for further development from the local education system. in fact the opposite - i was moved from school to school, breaking bonds with teachers and classmates, and falling into communion with delinquent people that were in the classroom with no reason other than breaking order. in bulgaria everything is corrupted and people are placed in every institution deliberately, based on records of services that track information. so you can't end up in any dream place. you are always mushed together with people who are not near your level and they make competition between students and general advancement for the class impossible. i received my best education experiences at The British Council, while studying English when I decided to apply for University at the U.K. Another aspect of education that was beneficial for me was a form of apprenticeship in craft - photography - that my stepfather provided me with, because he was working in that industry. he gave me a way forward and a career i want to develop further into - a photographer. i was very angry and insulted by the education system. because i was set back by everybody who didn't want to study but came from families that believe you have to work from an early age, and not study, because studies are irrelevant. this is the ruling class in bulgaria - people with no education who are acting brutally and vulgarly . and they operate through aggression and terror. so we don't have intelligence. this is just a cattle-upbringing, into a real education system. i was happy with my experience with the UK system because i advanced and developed many skills, apart from my language skills, very fast. i believe my CAE course gave me a structure to follow in my University studied to become better than my average classmates at making academic research and structuring my analysis. i wanted to study in Wales ad continue my development as a photographer professionally, but my family didn't support me financially and emotionally and i became frightened to take the loan, after being accepted in Newport. in my opinion the world is in this state exactly because of lack of structure. People with the most potential have to be selected and trained deliberately. I am gifted in the arts - especially singing. But i have a mindset of a professional in the classical scene. i need very long and personalized training. what music has been marketed as and turned into today by popular media, is outrageous. in my opinion there should be branches of education systems that look for talents and assess every student's capacities for further development. what i experienced was a lack of any mentorship and a sensation of being abandoned and thrown at the wolves to find my way amidst ruins in a desert. children need guidance. not to be ordered what to do and chose, but to know what options there are, and what consequences there are if they chose certain things or fail to chose certain things in the right moment. because bodies change, and so abilities decreace further with age. at least that is the general concept about it. now many people try to break those stereotypes proving that you can become a proffessional in a different area eve t an advanced age with continuous training and re-training. but ecoomies shoudl be structured in a supportive way for that. i cant afford to even pay my rent, let alone to cntinuemy studies. because i'm not in the right place - i made a mistake not following my passion fr photography to wales and i have been devastated nad lost in the last ten years. 'making ends meet' isn't what my standards look like. so i cant be happy with mediocrity. but becaus ethere is not free access to everything, people fight over resources, lie and cheat to get their children ahead and leave you in the dirt even though you are talented and the others are not. we don't exist in an educated reality in eastern europe. its like a madhouse jungle and i have been depressed because of this lack of structure and the sensation of lack of future because of it ever since i was i highschool. to be honest in today's world education is only for wealthy people. because to truly be educated you nee to invest a lot of time and you need to be financially supported throughout that entire time. i have been so i developed a lot of skills beyond my social circle. but i lacked financial education and strategic thinking and planning so i was scared to become an adult ad take a loan to go to university which i regret. i still hold undeveloped potential and this drives me unstable because i don't fit anywhere currently because i am no one i want to be. so i started engaging in activism instead of a career because it seems pointless to strive for money when i feel so isolated and alone. and the isolatio came exactly form breakignthe trust i had in my parents and school that they will discover my abilities and direct their efforts into helping me grow into sucessful humn beig. nobody wants that. the system wants to produce machine replicas who make repetitive tasks. and i cant. i need change and reinventig, since i didnt receive the career i wanted but it seemed so unbearaly expensive to me. i order for childre to get a feel of their capabilities they have to be engaged in a variety of ways - non stp changing - first beig listeners and followers, then eing the teacher and lader, etc. only a dynamic type fo education environment ca crete actual intelligece. nothin static can. you end up in abox if you chose the unilaterl approach to develping self. the self is very complex. so we need open schools and uiversities. which are very hard to manage and a lot of peopel are lazy to do that,this si why they havent still been implemented everywhere. in bulgaria, for example, oly droputs becoem teachers.there is no dignity in that poffession. and it feels shmeful to be a student in this environment. you fel lie second hand citize, eve though you aer supposed to just begin t lear bout the world ad feel fresh and enthusiastic. i honestly dont know by now if there is ny system that helps people into becoming more educated ot its ony a matter fo personal iteersts and desire to ler deeply. my expereice is ot consistent as i have been moved about and didnt receive contiuing support from my family, so i had to reinvent mysef and my choices so many times, i was so stressed at the end, i developed diabetes of the sesation of not being accepted, and not beign good enough, ot fitting in. not because i didnt have capacities, ut becaus ei ddint have uidance nad mentor.i m the kind of person who needs a very profound connection with teachers - based on trut and values. and my etachers were just doing a job. so i didnt connect with any of them. and i still feel empty of that expeeice in education. it was pointless from many sapects. ecause it gave me tons of information, but no sustace. and i dont want that. i was to be directed and given real value. not only used as a recycling bin for someone's handouts on stuff they had to read i uiversity to write a paper. i need personalized approach as a student - lecturer who thinks about their lesson and their audience personally. not mechanically. this demonstrates respect to the listener - and invites them to be a part of discussions and to continue the learning process further than the classroom. it really is an invitation (respect for your audience/students).