Leather has long been associated with luxury goods — and the price tag puts Apple Watch firmly in that category. Still, at its Apple Event today, the Cupertino-based company announced that it can no longer stomach the carbon footprint of leather in its products.
The truth is, the carbon footprint of leather goods is something of a stinker.
You see, leather starts life as, well, a cow. Cows are not exactly climate-friendly; they emit methane like a teenager emits angst. This “bovine burp” factor contributes significantly to global warming. Cows also eat a lot, and growing their feed often involves deforestation, which is another no-no on the eco checklist.
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But the fun doesn’t stop when the cow’s life does: Once the skin is carved off the poor animal, it has to go through a tanning process to become the luxurious material. Traditional tanning methods involve heaps of chemicals that can be harmful to both the environment and humans.
Of course, there are more sustainable, vegetable-based tanning methods out there. Imagine that, vegetables saving the day! Yet, these are far less common, so most of the leather lounging around still has a carbon hoofprint that’s hard to ignore.
From today going forward, it is going a-bovine and above, phasing out existing products that use leather and pledging to not use the material in future products.
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