Vegetable Tanning; A Green Initiative

Nimra Zafar, Green Blogger.
All sectors of our society generate waste: industry, agriculture, mining, electricity, transport, construction, and consumers. Waste contains pollutants that are discarded materials, process materials or chemicals. These pollutants could cause pollution when they are released beyond environmental assimilation capacity. Industrial waste is derived from various processes, and the quantity and toxicity of the waste released varies with its own particular industrial processes. Tannery effluents are listed amongst all industrial waste as the highest pollutants. They are especially significant contributors to the emissions of chromium.

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Tanning is a process that converts animal skins into soft leather. The most common tanning is chrome tanning, because it's cheaper and faster, but this type of tanning is increasingly denounced. 85% of the tanned skins in the world are made of aluminum or chrome salt. These chemical products are polluting and may cause allergies. With chrome tanning, the company increases productivity and output but reduces the quality of the product and the environment. The environmental issues facing the tannery industry are of particular concern, and wastewater discharge, air emissions, solid waste disposal, environmental pollution, and employee health and safety concerns have become increasingly important. Chromium has adverse impacts on Environment. It detoriate the quality of soil, water and air. Chromium is dangerous to human health and may accumulate in food chain and cause health problems also. Due to its negative impacts it is not considered as safe tanning. An alternative chrome free tanning vegetable tanning is eco-friendly tanning. Vegetable-tanned leather is treated with entirely natural and organic tannins. They are extracted from vegetables or trees and infused into the grain of the hide. Vegetable tanning uses plant extracts to naturally create leathers with a varying range of texture, temper, strength, and softness. As the term states, vegetable-tanned leather is treated with entirely natural and organic tannins. They are extracted from vegetables or trees and infused into the grain of the hide. Chestnut tannin is a common natural leather extract that penetrates into the fibers and creates deep earthy tones of tan and brown.
There are a lot of benefits of vegetable tanning. First of all, it is a healthier process for the worker, because no chemicals are used. It's not dangerous to him, therefore. This approach is less toxic to our Planet and more environmentally friendly, as tannins come from nature. It is safer for the health of consumers because of protection and hypoallergenic properties. Unlike chromium, which is supposed to cause a lot of health problems.

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In Conclusion, we should adopt green eco-friendly vegetable tanned leather to reserve the manufacturer and user health, the environment, as well as for its qualities as a sustainable material. The tanning method should use natural raw materials as this will ensure that it does not pollute the environment. Vegetable tanned leather value natural materials thus minimizing the damage that the fashion industry causes to the environment.


About the Author: Nimra Zafar, a student of Environmental sciences at GCWUS, is a green blogger who finds it her duty to inform others about sustainable initiatives.
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