Apple Watch Leather Bands May Be Discontinued for Series 9

This drives me crazy - I’m a leather technician and if people understood leather is made from taking a byproduct (waste, if you like) of the meat industry, and reusing it as a sustainable, long lasting material. What do we think happens if we don’t use these hides for leather - they go to landfill ?‍♂️ I’m all for apple creating different bands/using different materials, but don’t tell me something synthetic, bound by acrylics, is going to be more sustainable and better for the environment. The move by apple for sure is to appear ‘greener’ to certain consumers, but in reality will come down to cost savings.

I see people commenting that they are all for saving animals - but animals typically used for leather (Bovine) are never killed for the hides - they are killed for the meat.

These animals will be slaughtered if apple makes leather bands or not.

I fail to see how synthetic materials, which needs chemicals and energy to produce, aren't durable, and need thousands of year to be degraded, are better for the environment than animal skin... ?

Lets face it, animals are reared and killed for us to eat. Leather is a byproduct/waste from the butchering process, so what better way to use this byproduct than to create things from it. The more companies that ditch leather in a bid to appear more sustainable, the more leather is going to be put in landfill. Pointless decision in my opinion.

This drives me crazy - I’m a leather technician and if people understood leather is made from taking a byproduct (waste, if you like) of the meat industry, and reusing it as a sustainable, long lasting material. What do we think happens if we don’t use these hides for leather - they go to landfill ?‍♂️ I’m all for apple creating different bands/using different materials, but don’t tell me something synthetic, bound by acrylics, is going to be more sustainable and better for the environment. The move by apple for sure is to appear ‘greener’ to certain consumers, but in reality will come down to cost savings.

I see people commenting that they are all for saving animals - but animals typically used for leather (Bovine) are never killed for the hides - they are killed for the meat.

These animals will be slaughtered if apple makes leather bands or not.

Great perspective! Greenwashing can sometimes be super frustrating! And if you take good care of your leather boots, straps, bags etc. they will last a lifetime - no canvas straps etc. will come close

This drives me crazy - I’m a leather technician and if people understood leather is made from taking a byproduct (waste, if you like) of the meat industry, and reusing it as a sustainable, long lasting material. What do we think happens if we don’t use these hides for leather - they go to landfill ?‍♂️ I’m all for apple creating different bands/using different materials, but don’t tell me something synthetic, bound by acrylics, is going to be more sustainable and better for the environment. The move by apple for sure is to appear ‘greener’ to certain consumers, but in reality will come down to cost savings.

I see people commenting that they are all for saving animals - but animals typically used for leather (Bovine) are never killed for the hides - they are killed for the meat.

These animals will be slaughtered if apple makes leather bands or not.

Great take, important perspective.

Not for the animals/environment. Not sure why it’s taken Apple so long to do this across their range to be honest.

You really think there are cows in Apples backyard and every time a user orders a leather band, they'll have to slaughter one? That's not how it works.