Ethical dilemma....what to do with old leather?

I have several pairs of shoes and other accessories that are made of leather, that I've had since before veganism. I no longer wish to wear them, but I'm at a loss as to what to do about it.

Most of it is very high quality and in good shape. I'm pretty sure I could make a decent amount of cash if I took it to resale shops....and I could use the cash for sure.

Or, there is Goodwill.

Or, I could just toss it out.

I really can't decide. What is the most ethical choice?

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about -

I have 2 leather coats, original value of several hundred each.

2 pairs leather boots, orginally around 100$ each.

Leather gloves, cashmere lined, was 100$.

Coach bag with leather trim, was 120$.

Kenneth Cole suede bag, was $160.

And a few other pair of sandals/dress shoes, were 50-100$ each originally, and belts $30-50.

I used to have a lot of leather

I'm really embarrassed that I still have this stuff. I should never have had it, but even though I haven't had meat in 10 years for whatever reason I never considered leather. Please don't hate me My lifestyle has done a 180 in recent years/months.

Resale of course doesn't pay anywhere near the original prices, but I still think I could get a good bit....but is that an ok thing to do?

ARGGG I'm confuuuuuuused

Help please

I gave all mine to goodwill.

However, IMHO

If you need the cash, try to sell it to someone wo can use it. If you are unable to sell it give it to goodwill, get a receipt if you are able to use the tax write off.

Ya i donated my animals skins too.

It feels great to where pleather (since I was a leather lover) that looks like the real deal with Peta's

"Fake. For the animals' sake" patches sewed on.

I think it's okay to sell the stuff. Use the money for something productive.

Sell it and donate 10% to Vegan Outreach

I say there is nothing wrong with selling it, or donate if you want. Personally I hate goodwill. Did you know that the president makes over a 1/4of a million dollars every year…. Just seems strange to me, for a none profit business and all. Plus I hate to make people pay for something that I donated. There are many organizations out there that just GIVE the stuff away, like women’s shelters.

Whatever you do don’t throw that stuff away. It wont bring the animals back and there are a lot of people who could use it. Plus maybe it would stop them from buy new leather items instead.

My thoughts to this issue:

1. Do not wear leather anymore.

2. Selling or donating leather is more difficult bause others could think that wearing leather is okay because even vegans sell and donate it. On the other hand by giving your old leather clothes and shoes away you reduce the number of this stuff sold (produced).

3. One could saythat of course wearing, selling and donating leather does not hurt any animal additionally. But I think we also care about the vegan-message and most of us have a really bad feeling wearing the skin of a dead animal.

Conclusion: Destroy or discard all leather products you own. Do not sell or trade them. Especially selling makes you a "part" of the killing industry. If you want to donate shoes to someone in need, buy new leatherfree shoes and donate these. Butaway: it is not good for ones feet to wear someone elses old shoes...

My thoughts to this issue:

 

Conclusion: Destroy or discard all leather products you own. Do not sell or trade them. Especially selling makes you a "part" of the killing industry. If you want to donate shoes to someone in need, buy new leatherfree shoes and donate these. Butaway: it is not good for ones feet to wear someone elses old shoes...

What a waste. The people who think it's okay to wear leather will still think it's okay to wear leather, they'll just have to go out and buy new leather.

While I did give away the two leather coats that I had when I went veggie, I STILL have some leather boots and shoes from that period, and I wear them when the situation calls for it.

Similarly, even once I'd made the decision, I ate the rest of the meat in my fridge, or gave it away (I don't honestly recall), before I changed. It serves absolutely no purpose to discard these items.

I still have some old leather shoes and an old leather sofa, which I would never throw away just because it is leather. What a waste indeed. I prefer to wear and use leather things till they are not good enough anymore to be used. Otherwise I would have to buy new things. This is wasting money and polluting the envoirnment again. For ethical reasons I don't see the need of getting rid of old leather stuff.

For ethical reasons I don't see the need of getting rid of old leather stuff.

Maybe not for ethical reasons, but i wanted to get rid of it. I simply don't want to wear the skin of a sensitive being - it puts me off.

Thanks for all the input guys. It seems like there are a lot of different opinions about this! I will have to give it some thought

I came across another thing I wanted to ask about too!

I realized last night that I have a strand of pearls that were a high school graduation gift from my sister. They're real pearls, so obviously they're not vegan. HOWEVER, given that they were a gift, from close family, to commemorate a special event, I don't feel right about getting rid of them. Any thoughts????

I would be ok with wearing them if they were fake, and it's a gorgeous necklace, but I don't want to be seen as hypocritical if I wear them and I don't want to lie and say they're fake when they're not.

What to do?

Well... This is gonna catch me some more shit, I'm sure.

But, being as how mollusks have no brains or central nervous systems, I wouldn't get too wrapped up about the pearls. I would never advise someone to buy them, but since they were a gift and have sentimental value, I don't see any real harm in keeping and wearing them.

If push came to shove, I'd even be willing to eat mollusks. Of course, push coming to shove would require something on the order of being deserted on an uninhabited island. (I have a recurring fantasy of being a contestant on Survivor.)

Has no one read Animal Liberation? Both of these questions were addressed in that.

I say dig a hole and bury them. all that stuff is ,afterall, dead animals. and it deserves a grave.

it wouldnt be right to donate or sell as that sends the message that it is okay for others to wear or use the leather or pearls.

I personally would never try to make money off a dead animal's bodypart, but thats just my beleifs.

do what you think is right.

How about something like this http://www.furisdead.com/donate.asp . As for the necklace… I don’t know what to tell you. There are people out there who NEED shoes and jackets and the like, but I don’t think anyone needs a necklace. If it doesn’t bother you I vote you keep them. That is some thing I don’t think you would wear every day so there would be less chance of it coming up in conversation. Did you get them before you went vegan? If so, and it came up, tell people that it was a gift and they mean a lot to you, and it would be a waste to toss them.

As for topher’s comment about burying them, it would be a great sign of respect. But at the same time those things are only a physical part of those beings. Since they have passed their souls no longer have a use for them. If I was killed to make a jacket for someone then I would hope that it would be passed on when they were done with it so that my death would at least help as many others as possible.

Well that’s my view anyway.

If someone gave me a baby's head on a string and said it was a necklace and that I'd be disrespecting them if I didn't accept their gift... I would disrespect them and not use the item. I think each person has a level of tolerance and principle. Madcat is right that once something is dead and is being given to you, then it doesn't affect that dead thing if you wear it or bury it. But I would feel gross having a baby's head on a string around my neck. And I'd feel weird having leather sofa etc.

For ethical reasons I don't see the need of getting rid of old leather stuff.

As you can read in Richards, Madcats and Heros comments there are only ethical reasons not to use/sell/donate things that are made of dead animals. Of course there are economical (waste of money) and ecological (enviroment) reasons but I think most of us are vegan mostly for ethical reasons. Especially when considering how small our number still is we should try to make as few compromises as possible.

To those you think that the dead animal does not care about what is happening to his body or may want to see that something good is made out of it:

Using this kind of argumentation could justify almost every kind of action. But being vegan also means to avoid the avoidable.

Killing an animal is wrong. And using products made of dead animals is also wrong. It does not make a difference if you killed it, paid for the killing or if the killing took place years ago.

Doing something "good" with the dead bodyparts like giving it to homeless people is, from an ethical perspective, a dillemma. I think every killed animal just wanted to live and did not want to die. And constructing a reason why its dead was senseful (for us) does not work.