Person the other week noticed I was wearing vegan Doc Martens (the tags are white for vegan shoes). I know they're polyurethane, which isn't great, but I'd prefer that over animal skin on my feet. This person was apparently also a vegan, but says they prefer wearing leather (what) because in their words "Animal leather is biodegradable, lasts longer, and is a by-product of the already existing meat industry." making the point that animal leather has less of an environmental impact.
I didn't know how to respond at all. I know veganism isn't simply consumption habits but it did make me feel weird. I still don't think anyone should wear leather.
Does anyone have advice? I'm just feeling weird and self-conscious now
If that person is supposedly vegan, that argument makes no sense. Lots of things would be acceptable for vegans if you just say ”oh, it's a byproduct of the already existing meat industry so it's OK”, including all dairy products.
Besides, the whole point is that there shouldn't be a meat industry at all, not finding excuses to fund it.
Meat and dairy demand vastly exceeds the demand for leather and therefore drives the production (raising and killing) of cows so aside from some very niche cases leather is a byproduct which would still be produced regardless of whether anyone actually bought any leather shoes. This person's argument isn't entirely crazy but it also isn't entirely correct since obviously the supplementary income from leather is still having some impact on cattle production.
Dairy is not a byproduct of the existing industry meat industry since different cows are raised for dairy than for meat however meat specifically from dairy cows is a byproduct of the dairy industry. So taking this argument to it's extreme you could eat meat from dairy cows or chicken meat from egg layers and be vegan which obviously is absurd.
I expect this person is in some form of climatarian to freegan pipeline and hasn't been exposed to animal liberation theory so much as environmental concerns.