What is Leather on Tacoma and How to Make it Vegan

Ok... I'll admit I don't know what it means to be vegan, but based on my rudimentary understanding, I would think one would be ok unless one chose to eat their leather steering wheel. No?

 

Not quite. It’s more than just eating. Also applies to anything you wear or use (like soaps, lotions, etc).

 

Its not just about not eating animals, but also about the process used/using animals. By OP chosing a vehicle without leather trim, he is showing that he does not support the process used to get those skins. There is a lot more to being vegan than what most people think.

 

Replacing the wheels would have the opposite effect. The steel is heavy and pretty much all aftermarket wheels are an aluminum alloy. They’re lighter, so therefore better mpg, better braking, and looks better.

 

If you're an animal rights vegan then it'll apply to those things. Some vegans might be doing it more for health, or environment. Al Gore might be in the environment vegan group. Bill Clinton might be more health vegan. I'm sort of guessing here though. Not sure exactly, or if they're still vegan, or fully vegan.

 

Have not noticed this on my SR but there are threads you can search that discuss the strange sounds our Tacos make. Enjoy your new ride!

 

Oh yeah...I don’t really count health vegans when I think of someone that is vegan.

 

@Sequoia1321 seems like the only way to make it vegan is remove the seats and trim areas and recover?

 

Interesting. Might look into that. Not into the look of many of those "high end" wheels. A lot of them, even Toyota ones, seem like too much to me. But I'm sure there are some aluminum alloy wheels that look good. My Mitsubishi Montero Sport had some nicer ones. Good to know. If it makes sense practically speaking and is worth the money I might do it. Thanks.

Good to know. Thanks.

Why do you say that? I don't know. Not sure of all the details regarding that. There are various degrees of flexibility in the vegan community regarding the sourcing of materials. Some for example might be ok with used leather. Others might go even deeper into the sourcing and look at more details about a product. Leather was one thing I generally avoid and its not hugely difficult these days to avoid it. But various other aspects of the manufacturing could have animals products in them, or were tested on animals. Some manufacturers have certified vegan products, where I assume they consider things like the glues used, and all the finer detail that is not obvious on the surface. It can be a very time consuming and frustrating to try to find out as a consumer what is vegan friendly. At the same time, I noticed that many of the vegan friendly and animal rights friendly manufacturers tend to have good quality products, and often labeled on the product itself as vegan, or not tested on animals. For example, I strongly recommend to use those natural cleaning solutions. Target has lots of them. Even the company Clorox, which to me seems synonymous with bleach and harsh chemicals, I recall had an all surface cleaner named Green Works. It was my favorite because it didn't have a harsh chemical smell, yet was very effective, plant based cleaner, and it wasn't tested on animals. I don't see that on the shelves anymore, but there are others similar.

 

Congrats and enjoy your new truck.

 

Hey @Sequoia1321.. Congratulations on your new truck. It looks great! Good job ignoring the trolls.

 

I said that because the title says “and how to make it vegan”. Your response is good information and makes me think. Also concerned re animal testing. Thanks

 

Interesting. Thanks guys for the Vegan tutorial.

I am decidedly not one.

I AM a full fledged, dues paying member of P.E.T.A. though...

People Eating Tasty Animals

 

In the OP's other wonderful thread he managed to compare human bondage to eating meat, proceeded to explain that government force should be used to push a vegan lifestyle, use numerous inane and banal reasons to explain why he believes in being vegan, and couldn't even be bothered to read the stuff he found in his two minute Google search that supposedly supported what he believed in.

 

Wow. There are a lot of morons posting in that thread. From both sides. I had to give up after a few pages.

 

Do you know how many animals are killed to make way for more vegetable farming? Honestly. Dear Vegan...its fine if you believe in your veganism, just like its fine for carnivores to eat meat and vegetables. To force ideals on anyone is not ok. Just because you dont agree with it, doesn't mean everyone else should share your same viewpoint. Also, you said you own guns and aren't sure about "assault" guns...to clarify, there is NO such thing as an "assault" style gun. That is a made up media term. I feel like youre going to say AR stands for "assault rifle" so Im just going to stop you there and say NO...it doesn't. It stands for Armalite Rifle...which is the manufacturer. You dont seem to be well educated on the matter of guns since you dont even understand gun terminology. It makes me question any opinion you have, when you dont understand even the most basic of knowledge about a subject. Dont get me wrong...im glad you own guns, but you should also understand the basics way before that.
Good job on your new tacoma.

 

Imagine doing all that work and not realizing that Cooper tires uses animal based fats to get the stearic acid to make the tires. LOL!

 

It seems to me that the OP may have some misplaced values when you consider the vast amount of Human and Animal suffering in the world.
With all the wars, terrorism, starvation and disease affecting both Human and animal, the OP is worried about real leather in his Taco? Just seems petty and misplaced to me. JMHO

Btw, @OP Congrats on your new truck. Enjoy!

 

My wife is a hardcore vegan so there were some discussions regarding options on all the trucks I wanted to get. Needless to say if you live in this world there is no way to be entirely vegan as it's defined so you need to chose the best options you can live with. I am not a vegan but I didn't argue for the full leather package on my truck with my wife but the steering wheel leather accent was something that would be difficult to deal with unless I went with a really basic option, so we compromised. Her hardcore vegan friends would probably flip out a bit but I see them compromise on some things as well but for the most part they follow their chosen path. Plant based agriculture always has some percentage of animal death associated with it even if its organic. A lot of materials used in fabrication of all types have hidden animal products or are harmful to life in a myriad of ways. You try to make the best informed choice that makes the least impact while respecting your significant other even if you have differing views. My wife might be a bit chuffed that my steering wheel has a leather accent but in that same regard I don't complain that the majority of my meals are vegan (some can be quite good by the way).

Yeah there are ways to probably make a Tacoma more vegan friendly and if you want to do the work then by all means go for it. I just wouldn't go insane splitting hairs doing it.

 

I agree. A lot of people have issues with perspective. It’s been awhile since someone preached to me about diet, religion, treading lightly, not riding my MTB on muddy trails. I’ll hear them out, but I’ve set my priorities based on real life experience, not someone’s else’s basic “ham and eggs” suburban outlook. I say let the vegans white knight and virtue signal. They’ll lose steam and move on at some point.

These same people were frothing at the mouth for vengeance and full spectrum violence to humans and their habitat 18 years ago. Fuck outta here about treading lightly.