Are fuggs vegan?
Are fuggs vegan?
Hi, just wondering if fuggs are vegan. As in, do they contain products made from animals?
As far as I can tell, "fuggs" is a portmanteau of "fake" and "uggs", and so fuggs are "fake" uggs, meaning fake ugg boots. Uggs or ugg boots are a kind of boots traditionally made from sheepskin/shearling, and sometimes with suede leather (cow skin) on the outside.
But there's a bit of confusion about what "fuggs" or "fake uggs" means. Unlike something such as "faux fur" or "faux/fake leather", where it's pretty clear that will be vegan and not made from animals like the traditional kind is, "ugg" has some weird brand authenticity thing going on.
I might get some facts wrong here, but from what I could gather, there are 2 companies, called "UGG" (American brand) and "UGG Since 1974" (Australian brand) which both lay some kind of claim to what can be considered an authentic ugg boot. Uggs were first made in Australia, but I think the American UGG brand often sues other companies, including those in Australia, for using the "ugg" name. However in some places ugg simply means the style of shoe rather than the brand.
So unfortunately due to this, I think there might be 2 different meanings of "fuggs" - one I believe indeed means vegan ugg boots which don't use animal skins/products, while the other meaning is simply an ugg boot made in the traditional way from animals but just not by the "official" UGG brand.
In all this confusion, how can we truly answer the question of "Are fuggs vegan?" Is the answer somewhere between "They could be, sometimes." or "No one knows, really." ?
In my opinion, this is like asking "are cookies vegan?". What kind, which recipe, has it been altered, all questions that need to be asked any time you want to eat a specific cookie to know what ingredients were used to make them.
Each brand of 'fuggs' will be made differently, and only the ones without animal products are vegan. If people want to know if their specific shoes are vegan, they can contact the manufacturer for a list of materials used.
You may want to ask about the glue as well.
On a slightly unrelated note I want to break a lance for real leather. While not vegan it is much better for the environment than any kind of synthetic approximation, most likely derived from some sort of plastic. Our planet can’t afford that, just for our eased conscience. Real, quality leather can last many decades if treated properly, and i would argue that making use of inevitable animal remains is just another form of appreciating the creature, and the good it has done for us.
The only downside is of course the sourcing, though I personally hope for a sort of ethical leather sourcing from animals who died of natural causes or had to be put down for medical reasons.
Setting aside plant-based leather which is definitely more eco friendly than animal leather (and the fact most of the ways in which leather are used are wholly unnecessary to begin with), I don't agree that synthetic leather is worse for the environment. In fact it seems like it's still a lot better than leather products.
A 2017 report entitled "The Pulse of the Fashion Industry" went into some detail on this subject. Real leather is regarded as being much worse for the environment than faux leather, primarily due to the massive water requirements, fossil fuel usage and contribution to the eutrophication of waterways. The report concluded that synthetic leather has less than half the environmental impact of cow leather and rated cow leather as the least environmentally friendly of the commonly used raw materials in the fashion industry.
This video also goes into some of the reasons why animal leather is so damaging to the environment and why not only plant based leather but even synthetic leather is a lot better: https://youtu.be/x-UGgf7i0qM?si=tcnfiT8wVOj4ii4_
All that aside, veganism is about not exploiting animals, and buying leather definitely does that. By supporting leather you're supporting beef. There are even some cattle farmers that raise animals specifically for leather. It's a highly profitable industry and can probably be considered a co-product rather than a byproduct. The ethical thing to do both for animals and the environment is to boycott leather and either avoid any kind if you want to or use plant based or even synthetic leather.
Sorry and I hope we can set this issue to rest since it was not the purpose of my post at all. I'm here to talk about fuggs
I agree that most currsnt fake leather is not durable enough. Many of the newest vegan leathers are made from plants. They still aren't very durable, but at least they're not plastic.
hope for a sort of ethical leather sourcing from animals who died of natural causes or had to be put down for medical reasons.
I appreciate the sentiment but even if everyone will have their pets flayed after they die (and they should die young enough for the leather to be of high quality), this won't satisfy the global demand for leather.
My best guess (predicting the future is hard) for a proper solution is for plant-based or precision-fermented (or something else that is sustainable and has low energy needs) leathers to become better. To get there, they need R&D which costs money. So maybe buying very specific types of non-durable clothing is net positive, if it gets us closer to a good leather alternative.
Also, look up energy costs of production of plastic products vs plant-based. Plastic is not that bad for the environment if it is properly disposed of and not thrown straight into a river. I know plastic bags need many thousands of times less energy and water for production than cotton bags. Not sure how it is for leather but don't just assume "plastic = bad". It's not that simple.
Also, leather uses plastic coating. A fact many people don't know. It's also dead flesh that's been heavily preserved with chemicals in order to not decompose and to remain usable. It's far from the natural product people would have us believe. Keep in mind the massive size of the industry and propaganda similar to the meat and dairy industries which it's directly connected to.
This is a difficult topic for sure. I think buying used leather products is the best thing to do right now, but outside of that buying quality long last clothing, even if made with animal products, is better than cheap quality clothing made without animal products. Definitely difficult though, as expensive doesn't equal quality in our current clothing ecosystem.