When we think of a leather product, we think of animal leather. But not any more. Thanks to the innovations in sustainable designs that now we have many choices of vegan leather available. One such vegan leather is made with a material called Pinatex. We bet you already try to guess what it’s made of. Yes, it’s made from pineapple! What's more interesting is that it is not the part of pineapple that we eat, rather the part that gets thrown as waste!
Pinatex, the pineapple leather is made from the cellulose fibers extracted from the pineapple leaves. The pineapple industry globally creates 40,000 tonnes of leaves which are usually thrown as waste. Using these leaves for creating Pinatex brings an additional source of income to the farmers who can now sell the plant leaves too.
Did you know that the production of traditional leather not just hurts the animals, but also the environment, the workers who manufacture it, and the people who live near such manufacturing houses. The very thought of killing an animal to carry a leather bag or wear a leather jacket is nerve wrecking! But even if you don't care about that, most of the leather produced worldwide is tanned using chrome, which is a highly toxic process that results in harmful health effects on the workers and release of toxic waste in the waterways. The risks of having cancer in such areas are much higher than national averages!
Pinatex comes in different textures and finishes and is being used for bags, wallets, shoes, etc. This is another example of Waste to Treasure where we can harness mother nature’s amazing resources.
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