Why does choosing vegan clothing matter?

Welcome to Veganuary, a month long challenge to educate about veganism by encouraging us to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January. 

Most of us have heard of a vegan diet, but avoiding meat and animal by-products like eggs and dairy is just one piece of the plant-based puzzle. Our cotton and the manufacturing processes we use are PETA-approved vegan. But what does vegan clothing even mean, and why does it matter? 

Clothing: Eat Beans Not Beings t-shirt, grey neck gaiter

Firstly, what exactly is vegan clothing?

Vegan clothing is made without animal products. Leather, wool, silk and feathers are a few obvious non-vegan materials found in clothes. Some are less easily identifiable which is why it’s good to check if a garment is PETA-approved vegan.

 What’s wrong with non-vegan options?

1. Animal cruelty:

Mulesing, tail-docking, dehorning, debeaking, branding and feather plucking are used extensively for leather, wool and feather farming. Often without anaesthetic. All this is before animals are trucked to slaughterhouses, often across continents in overcrowded conditions and in extreme temperatures.

2. Environmental impact:

Intensive sheep farming, especially in Australia, is responsible for the degradation of natural waterways and land habitats. It’s also responsible for the emission of greenhouse gasses, such as methane, into the atmosphere.

3. Human impact:

Animal skin is turned into finished leather through the use of dangerous mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, cyanide-based oils and dyes, chrome, and other toxins. People who have worked in and lived near tanneries are dying of cancer caused by exposure to toxic chemicals used to process and dye the leather.

Clothing: Vegan AF t-shirt

What are the alternatives?

Natural, plant-based fabrics like cotton, linen, and hemp are ones to look out for if you’d like to lessen your impact on the environment.

Be a responsible human being and do your homework on where your clothes are coming from. 

All Fferal clothing and accessories are made from 100% sustainably sourced cotton, so you can shop vegan clothes with confidence. 

Read about The Fferal Movement here to find out more about our cotton’s journey and our commitment to making clothes in a kind and low impact way.