Guest guest Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hey everyone, i've been vegetarian and/or vegan since 1976 so this is my 30th year. i have dozens if not hundreds of thick spiky painful cutting-you-until-you-bleed weeds in my back yard. they cut like razor blades. i need to pull these weeds, cover my yard with anti-grass plastic and law down rock. my cloth gloves allow the hateful plants to penetrate and i end up bleeding and slashed all over my arms and hands. in the LEAST HARM model, wanting a back yard free from spiky plants that hurt animals, birds, and humans, can i buy some leather gloves to protect my hands (least harm to ME) while i pull these f'kers out???? peace, amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Dear Amy,i would say no in answer to your question.There are plenty of better materials that are superior to leather for your purpose.May i suggest that you enjoy the process of sticking to your true values and finding a peaceful solution.You sound like such a nice peaceful person.Have you ever considered making peace with your frickers:-)It is always easier to work in harmony with nature than to fight against it.Wildman Steve Brill may help: www.wildmanstevebrill.comHe is a naturalist and has a wild VEGAN cook book.He may be the type of person who may be able to answer you questions better. We all have to answer these difficult questions in our own way. i hope you find the solution you are looking for.Please share what you find.Peace,samOn Feb 21, 2007, at 2:59 PM, amylynncaplan wrote:Hey everyone,i've been vegetarian and/or vegan since 1976 so this is my 30th year.i have dozens if not hundreds of thick spiky painfulcutting-you-until-you-bleed weeds in my back yard. they cut like razorblades. i need to pull these weeds, cover my yard with anti-grassplastic and law down rock. my cloth gloves allow the hateful plants topenetrate and i end up bleeding and slashed all over my arms and hands. in the LEAST HARM model, wanting a back yard free from spiky plantsthat hurt animals, birds, and humans, can i buy some leather gloves toprotect my hands (least harm to ME) while i pull these f'kers out????peace,amy Peace,samsamhalsey(415) 309-1879 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Amy,There is no need to make the leap to leather gloves just to remove a few spiky weeds from the yard. There are several completely non-animal synthetic leather gloves on the market now, and they are available at most common hardware stores (I've seen various brands at Lowe's, Home Depot, and OSH). The main reason they're on the market now is their ease of cleaning. Just throw them in the washer and dryer - something you can't do with real leather. But it helps us humane-conscious people, too. I have two pair myself - one for yard work such as yours (which I have used for pulling spiky plants with no cuts or pokes), and one for woodworking and mechanical chores. Don't just buy the cheapest ones you can find. Try them on first and feel the thickness and toughness of the faux leather to make sure they're going to resist those pokers. Mine were about $20/pair. Regarding Least Harm, the synthetic materials the faux leather gloves are made of are not as harmful to the environment as hide tanning is, and certainly not as harmful to animals as separating them from their skin. In addition, there are also several tools in the gardening departments of the same stores that enable you to pull weeds without even touching them. Most are a type of claw or sharp spade that enable you to pull at the plant from underneath the roots while you remain in a standing position. Win-win! But some of these require a bit of a learning curve to get the hang of pulling the weeds without breaking them up and leaving some of the roots in the ground.Just ask the hardware store employees for help finding these items.Hope that helps,Mike Borg ______________________ "Man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats flesh, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite and to act so is immoral." ~ Tolstoyamylynncaplan <amylynncaplan Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 2:59:48 PM Least Harm...and leather gloves. Hey everyone, i've been vegetarian and/or vegan since 1976 so this is my 30th year. i have dozens if not hundreds of thick spiky painful cutting-you- until-you- bleed weeds in my back yard. they cut like razor blades. i need to pull these weeds, cover my yard with anti-grass plastic and law down rock. my cloth gloves allow the hateful plants to penetrate and i end up bleeding and slashed all over my arms and hands. in the LEAST HARM model, wanting a back yard free from spiky plants that hurt animals, birds, and humans, can i buy some leather gloves to protect my hands (least harm to ME) while i pull these f'kers out???? peace, amy Finding fabulous fares is fun.Let FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Hi Amy, Congratulations on your 30th anniversary! Good for you. I feel for you about those darn weeds. My backyard was full of blackberry bushes, which have thorns even on their leaves (!). When I needed to cut them back, I bought gloves made for roses (I have them, too). They have a thick plastic/rubber surfaces on the palms and fingers, so they protect against the thorns pretty well. They not impregnable but they work. You might also consider using hedge clippers to shorten the weeds to manageable size. Their long handles will keep your hands and arms away from the thorns. Needless to say, decision to buy whatever kind of gloves is yours. I don't think you need permission from the group. :-) Peace, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Why not look for leather gloves in a second-hand store? There are certainly plenty of stores in the Bay Area -- there have got to be some leather gloves around. Since second-hand stores sell pretty much everything that is donated to them, you won't be feeding the DEMAND for leather gloves in any way. And you're not promoting leather in any way since you're just using the gloves in your garden. (That's the way I see it, anyway.) Nadine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Dear Nadine,i think i understand about buying used.Just from logical point of view: "Is buying used really almost the same just a bit more indirect?"i.e. others may say "the meat in the store is already there."but when we look closer we see the connections.i am not sure if the same is true with used.i think it may be, maybe to a lesser degree, not sure.Maybe an economist or philosopher could tell us for sure.i think this is a great topic for discussion and potential learning.Maybe it is to deep, to go beyond opinions, but i think it is interesting.How about you?Any one else have any thoughts?i would really like to get at the truth even if it is a little inconvenient.Peace,samOn Feb 22, 2007, at 1:46 PM, May, Nadine wrote:Why not look for leather gloves in a second-hand store? There are certainly plenty of stores in the Bay Area -- there have got to be some leather gloves around. Since second-hand stores sell pretty much everything that is donated to them, you won't be feeding the DEMAND for leather gloves in any way. And you're not promoting leather in any way since you're just using the gloves in your garden. (That's the way I see it, anyway.) Nadine Peace,samsamhalsey(415) 309-1879 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Sam asked people to comment more on the question about how buying used leather gloves compares to buying new leather gloves. Buying used goods is certainly better for the environment and for animals in almost all ways than buying new. Nadine addressed the fact that in this instance, Amy probably won't be making a fashion statement by wearing used leather gloves (and thus won't be indirectly encouraging others to buy leather, as she might if she wore, for instance, a used leather jacket or a very realistic-looking faux leather one). In other contexts, I'm troubled by the fashion issue, although not troubled enough to wear only obviously non-animal product shoes. The other reason not to buy used is that if someone else is in the market for leather gloves, if Amy's bought the used leather pair he or she might have purchased, that person might then buy a new pair. But, how big a risk is that? We can't know. I think Amy should think about that possibility but also about the information others have shared about harm to the environment and animals from new non-leather products. And then, IMHO, she should do what seems to her to strike the best balance, given her financial resources and available time and energy. I suppose ideally she'd buy used, biodegradable, non-leather gloves, and she'd buy them locally -- which, of course, may not be possible. Peace, Thea Finding fabulous fares is fun.Let FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hi Amy, I've struggled with trying to find hand protection to deal with thorny weeds and have searched many a hardware and nursery store for good gloves that don't have leather in them. There is one model made by Stanley that has rubber over fabric that adds some protection. I've also purchased synthetic bicycle gloves that are pretty hardy. Stanley also makes some fabric gloves, but you have to be careful with these as stickers go through them pretty easily. You'll find that most plants with thorns don't have thorns below the root line so if you can grab them at that location, you can usually pull them with fabric gloves. It's best to get a hoe or shovel and dig down around the root and pull the whole root out while the ground is wet or at least cut out as much of the root as possible. Blackberries are notorious for being able to continually come back so it takes some consistent effort over time. If you find that you really need leather gloves there's always escalating up the dreaded path of borrowing a friend's to buying some at a thrift shop or lastly buying a new pair. I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of a tangent on your post and assuming I understand what you're doing to make the following comment. It appears that much more harm is potentially being done by what you're planning rather than on how you go about doing it. Worse than what glove you use is that you will be taking away animal habitat with your plan of producing a dead zone in your back yard by putting down plastic over the earth to keep plants from growing and then covering it with rocks. There are many yards like that in my neighborhood and it makes me sad to see them. This type of smothering the earth is a radical form of nature suppression and takes habitat away from animals as well as wrecks havoc with the microbiotic organisms that make soil healthy. Additionally, the rock that's brought in needs to be mined from somewhere (rough gravel) or worse pulled from riverbeds (smooth gravel) causing further habitat destruction, erosion, siltation, etc. Also over time, the petroleum based plastic liner will deteriorate and the weeds will start to come up again to which most homeowners continually go out and apply roundup on to keep the weeds from taking over again. As problematic as grass is, it's better to have it than covering the earth with plastic. Better yet, it's possible to pull plants considered as weeds in the way recommended above and replace them with butterfly, hummingbird and bee loving plants that will bring you joy as well as your animal visitors. Some of our local wild and domesticated dreaded weeds (even the ones with stickers) are really plants that offer food and home to many animals. You may already have some plants in your yard that are actually beneficial. Good luck in your process whatever you decide to do. Mike - amylynncaplan Wednesday, February 21, 2007 2:59 PM Least Harm...and leather gloves. Hey everyone,i've been vegetarian and/or vegan since 1976 so this is my 30th year.i have dozens if not hundreds of thick spiky painfulcutting-you-until-you-bleed weeds in my back yard. they cut like razorblades. i need to pull these weeds, cover my yard with anti-grassplastic and law down rock. my cloth gloves allow the hateful plants topenetrate and i end up bleeding and slashed all over my arms and hands. in the LEAST HARM model, wanting a back yard free from spiky plantsthat hurt animals, birds, and humans, can i buy some leather gloves toprotect my hands (least harm to ME) while i pull these f'kers out????peace,amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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