POST FOUR: REFLECT ON YOUR PRODUCT

The idea of a "leather industry" is somewhat of a paradox. Leather, depending on the volume of production, can be a problem or a solution. After all, many societies before industry have used leather and have not harmed the environment as a whole, nor even their local ecosystems.

But I would be remiss to ignore that the worldwide leather industry that my boots are a product of are a problem. As I explored in my previous post, intensive leather production harms just about every imaginable facet of the environment no matter where the industry is located. But, as said above, if preindustrial societies succeeded in not overproducing leather, can we as a planet do the same?

The start to using leather as a solution begins in analyzing the old nature of leather. For example, Indigenous American societies - particularly those in cold climates - hunted selectively or depended on the whole use of livestock to produce leather. With that, leather (not to mention hides/pelts in general) was a very finite but still a long-lasting product. Let's look at some Indigenous examples of leather-working that, yes, have survived to this day-

https://whitneyyubai.com/2014/11/01/whitneys-notes-traditional-leatherwork-of-the-indigenous-peoples-of-north-america-work-in-progress/ 

This inner parka layer is almost 100 years old. So is the leather industry, approximately. Leather jackets started to become mass produced during the 1920s, even more so during the 1930s with the advances made in zipper technology during that decade. With all that growth that has already happened, is it even possible to return to time where we all used less leather, but used what we had for life, and our descendants' lives?

To do so would require a worldwide reduction of a powerful, not to mention very in-demand, industry. Everyone wants leather. To tell the world, "enough is enough" or "you don't need another", is beyond my power. But, in the same way I bought my Doc Martens as a (perhaps ill-advised) long-term investment, I would encourage people to be aware consumers and buy from more ethical shops. (Where ethical does not equal vegan leather... You guys, vegan leather is plastic. It's worse!) I would especially encourage supporting genuine indigenous brands, as they know their crafts best of anyone and to purchase from them is to support their specific tribe monetarily.

Let's begin here- http://www.beyondbuckskin.com/p/buy-native.html

It seems that Manitobah Mukluks makes some nice winter boots. 

Buying Native is not necessarily a catch-all for everyone everywhere - had we all wanted to buy from one tribe that would quickly exhausted with the demands of a nation. But, Indigenous peoples are everywhere and, chances are, do sell their product officially. If we spread out our leather needs (not to mention other needs, such as jewelry and body care) as consumers across various tribes globally, we could reduce our individual participation in harmful industries and invest our money in ethical, not to mention high quality products.