These guys just make me smile:

Leather production is a very toxic process. It uses an amazing amount of water that is contaminated with toxic chemicals for processing and tanning. And of course, cattle take a lot of water – in growing feed and growing cows.

And the final insult to the environment, tanned leather can take decades to biodegrade, becoming just another burden on landfills.

And what of “vegan” leathers – most are made of petroleum products, with all the issues around plastic production and disposal.

Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez offer an alternative:

Desserto®  is a highly sustainable plant based material as an alternative to leather made from cactus, often distinguished by its great softness at touch while offering a great performance for a wide variety of applications and complying with the most rigorous quality and environmental standards. The aim is to offer cruelty free, sustainable alternatives, without any toxic chemicals, phthalates and PVC. The result, Desserto® , the cactus material, is partially biodegradable and has the technical specifications required by the fashion, leather goods, luxury packaging and furniture industries.

That’s why I find Desserto leather alternative products so inspiring and I hope their process proves successful over time. For now, I am going to search out products made from their cactus leather and give it a try for myself.