I mindlessly slip on leather shoes all the time. I buy handbags based on the style, not the material. But after coming across this post and watching a heart-breaking video this morning, these will never be “mindless” acts again. I am very grateful to Stella McCartney for raising awareness on the brutality with which cows are treated in order to make us shoes and handbags. And let’s face it, we all have more than we need already.
My first thought after seeing this horrific video was that I could swear off leather shoes and bags forever. However, I can’t make that commitment. I can TRY, but I’m not willing to make a vow. What I can commit to is no longer mindlessly buying leather shoes, say, to go with one specific dress or “because I have a wedding to attend.” In fact, I have so many shoes, I can go for years without buying another pair.
I vow not to buy any leather shoes for two years.
I just marked my calendar! Hopefully on President’s Day 2014, I can vow to go another two years, or maybe even longer.
Handbags are easier for me, most of the bags I like are not leather, so I’m going to make a bolder statement:
I vow never to buy a leather handbag, wallet or accessory again.
Now it’s your turn…What do you vow?
For more information please see PETA.org and watch the video below:
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Ellen Padnos lives in Manhattan Beach, CA with her husband, Ben, her children Anthony (5), and Annie (18 months), and her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Lola. You can also follow her on Twitter (@ellenpadnos).
I heartily vow to eat more meat, need a Cro Magnon man diet to thrive, I’m a pituitary type. Instead of calling for more humane treatment or boycotts unless they change, you vow to give up leather accessories for 2 yrs.? PETA is nuts and so hypocritical. It’s a tool of the NWO. They want everyone to hate humans and let all the animals inherit the earth while they cage us up in concentrated high rises. Agenda 21. You young whippersnappers would be wise to get a clue to what is happening on your local level with rezoning, eminent domain seizures, “sustainable development” (yeah, right) and local land use and planning agencies. Google ICLEI and Agenda 21. The UN is about to dictate every lil thang you put on and in your body. Meantime, the FDA is allowing all kinds of crap like aspartame (can you say diet everything, esp. Splenda?), GMO’s (you should really be jumping up and screaming about that one, seriously! Wheat is next, and when that happens, you can kiss it all goodbye). Fight the New World Order with all your might.