Maymucki

🌿🌍 Embracing Sustainable Style: Vegan Leather vs. Plant-Based Alternatives 🌱♻️

At MAYMUCKI we want to show that it IS possible to make beautiful, cruelty-free products with a strong commitment to sustainability. We are doing this by carefully sourcing innovative next-generation plant-based leather alternatives, primarily derived from waste streams.

Traditional vegan leather is typically made from synthetic materials like polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). While it's animal-friendly, it's not always kind to our planet due to its dependence on fossil-fuel-derived resources and 100% virgin materials.

At MAYMUCKI we use Plant-Based Leathers most are made from by-products from agriculture. By using agricultural waste such as Banana crop waste, pineapple leaf waste and wastewater from coconuts, we are putting to use materials that otherwise would be discarded or burned (saving C02 from being released into the atmosphere) hence reducing the number of new materials needed. Reducing our reliance on finite resources and reducing the footprint of the products we make.

Supporting a more sustainable and ethical fashion industry and showing our love for the planet.

Today, we remember the horrible tragedy of Rana Plaza. 10 years ago today on April 24th, the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka that housed 5 garment factories in Bangladesh collapsed. 1,138 people died and about 2,500 were injured while making clothes for some of the biggest fashion brands in the world. Making this the fourth largest industrial disaster in history. Only five months earlier, at least 112 workers had lost their lives in another tragic accident, trapped inside the burning Tazreen Fashions factory on the outskirts of Dhaka.

In the days preceding this tragedy, cracks appeared in the building walls. Shops and businesses on the other floors closed immediately because the conditions of the building were deemed unsafe. Despite the fears expressed by workers and warnings to avoid using the building factory management ignored these warnings and garment workers were ordered to return to work. The high demands of fast fashion, the fast pace of the fashion industry and the lack of union representation are some of the reasons why 5000 workers returned to work in fear that day.

A few hours later the factory collapsed. Survivors have shared stories about the days and hours they spent under the rubble and machinery, many injured for life. Many of the survivors are still unemployed and suffer from trauma.

Digging through the rubble and looking for labels was how 29 brands were identified. Some of these major fashion retailers include Benetton, Bonmarché, The Children's Place, J.C. Penney, Joe Fresh, Mango and Primark. It would take years for some of them to pay compensation. For some families, providing evidence to claim that compensation would never be possible.

10 years later, conditions in the global fashion supply chain remain unacceptable. With labour inspectors and enforcement mechanisms failing to protect garment workers, most garment workers still struggle to attain decent and safe work conditions.

Let us not forget the events of Rana Plaza and today take some time to reflect on the true cost of your clothes

Ask the brands questions and let the brands know that you care about the people that make our clothes.

Today, we remember the horrible tragedy of Rana Plaza. 10 years ago today on April 24th, the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka that housed 5 garment factories in Bangladesh collapsed. 1,138 people died and about 2,500 were injured while making clothes for some of the biggest fashion brands in the world. Making this the fourth largest industrial disaster in history. Only five months earlier, at least 112 workers had lost their lives in another tragic accident, trapped inside the burning Tazreen Fashions factory on the outskirts of Dhaka.

In the days preceding this tragedy, cracks appeared in the building walls. Shops and businesses on the other floors closed immediately because the conditions of the building were deemed unsafe. Despite the fears expressed by workers and warnings to avoid using the building factory management ignored these warnings and garment workers were ordered to return to work. The high demands of fast fashion, the fast pace of the fashion industry and the lack of union representation are some of the reasons why 5000 workers returned to work in fear that day.

A few hours later the factory collapsed. Survivors have shared stories about the days and hours they spent under the rubble and machinery, many injured for life. Many of the survivors are still unemployed and suffer from trauma.

Digging through the rubble and looking for labels was how 29 brands were identified. Some of these major fashion retailers include Benetton, Bonmarché, The Children's Place, J.C. Penney, Joe Fresh, Mango and Primark. It would take years for some of them to pay compensation. For some families, providing evidence to claim that compensation would never be possible.

10 years later, conditions in the global fashion supply chain remain unacceptable. With labour inspectors and enforcement mechanisms failing to protect garment workers, most garment workers still struggle to attain decent and safe work conditions.

Let us not forget the events of Rana Plaza and today take some time to reflect on the true cost of your clothes

Ask the brands questions and let the brands know that you care about the people that make our clothes.

🍍🌱 We are absolutely in love with Piñatex - a sustainable leather alternative made from pineapple leaf fibers! ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Not only is it eco-friendly, but it also benefits our planet by reducing energy usage. Piñatex’s products and processes are designed to maximize efficiency and minimize energy consumption and here are some examples: ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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🍍 Use renewable energy wherever possible, including their first decorticating machine that is solar powered⁣⁣⁣⁣
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☀️ Optimize the energy use in their factories by making changes such as introducing sky lights to provide natural light.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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🌱 Dry their pineapple leaf fibres in natural sunlight during the dry seasons.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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🌤️ Keep their processes mechanical where possible and keep temperatures low to use less energy.

Global production and consumption of plastics have continued to rise year after year. An estimated 300 million tons of plastics were produced in 2013 and 350 million tons in 2017, confirming a significant upward trend.

Plastic can take up to 450 years to biodegrade in nature, and if we compare the path and speed of plastic components produced each year to the speed it actually disappears, it is likely that in the next 30 years we will be drowning under our consumption of plastic before it would actually biodegrade.

Consume less, think more. It's time to replace old habits with new practices.

🌿 Live and shop sustainably 🌱

Slow fashion is the opposite of fast fashion.

Slow fashion is about quality instead of quantity and pays attention to the entire production cycle. Seasonless and timeless classic styles that don’t abide by the Spring / Summer, Fall / Winter fashion cycle. Making items that can last years or even a lifetime and that is purposeful and intentional. Slow fashion is about minimizing the impact the fashion industry has on the environment by producing only what is needed by producing limited quantities or small batches. Finding the right materials to use, the right manufacturer to the right packaging is also important.

This type of approach and awareness creates a better impact on the environment by keeping excess waste away from landfills and out of our oceans.

There is no planet B.

Follow us on our journey!✨

Leather made from cows is extremely water-intensive.
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The water footprint of raising cattle for leather is 17,100L of water per kg of leather. That’s about 8000 litres of water to make a pair of leather boots 🥾 or the amount of water an average person would drink in 20 years to make one tote bag👜.

Source:

New cactus leather swatches just arrived! Take a peak ……

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ceyebx3AZA3/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Watch this reel by maymucki on Instagram Charlie Peacock • Switzerland By Train

Remembering the past, and dreaming of the future. Embrace the present and its challenges.

When you look back on the journey, never regret any of it. Even the most painful moments have a purpose.

Maymucki updated their business hours.

As a slow fashion brand that is dedicated to creating beautiful products with a minimal environmental impact, sustainably-sourced materials are a core element.

Why cactus leather? When we compare the environmental impact of using cactus leather to animal leather and polyurethane (PU), these are our findings:

Energy
Cactus leather saves 878.26% CED (MJ) compared to animal leather, and 78.96% compared to polyurethane.

The Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) of a product represents the direct and indirect energy used throughout the life cycle, including the energy consumed during the extraction.

Carbon
Cactus leather saves 1864.02% greenhouse gas emissions compared to animal leather, and 77.69% compared to polyurethane.

Eutrophication
Cactus leather saves 500% Eutrophication impact compared to animal leather, and 100% compared to polyurethane.

Water
Cactus leather saves 164.650% of water compared to animal leather and 190% compared to polyurethane.

Growing cactus is sustainable and unlike the world's largest animal-based leather producer in Brazil, it doesn’t involve clearing rainforests.

Accessorize with cruelty-free and innovative plant-based materials. 🌵👜👝🌵

All coming soon!

🌎 With Earth Day coming up we wanted to take a minute to share just some of Maymucki’s efforts toward sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint. 👣

🌿Innovative vegan plant-based material from renewable or sustainable sources 🌵🍍🥥
🧶Linings made from 100% recycled yarns
♻️Recycled zippers
📦0 plastic and sustainable packaging
🪴Plantable seed paper for cards and hangtags
🌎Carbon-neutral shipping
🌳Plant a tree for every purchase.

Samples are coming soon!!! 👜
Stay tuned for a sneak peek!!!

Making bags out of pineapples!!! 🍍👜🍍

We are excited to be using pineapple waste to create our sustainable handbags and accessories. Piñatex is a textile from Ananas Anam and it is a natural non-woven material made from pineapple leaves. It is water resistant, socially responsible, has a low environmental impact and the substrate base material is 100% biodegradable. It is a by product of a pre existing agriculture industry in the Philippines so no extra land, water or pesticides are required to produce the raw materials. Using the 825 tons of the pineapple waste leaves from the harvest saves 264 tons of C02 from being emitted into the atmosphere.

That is the equivalent to charging 33 million smartphones!

This calculates to about 8 kg of C02 saved per every square meter of Piñatex.

Piñatex is finished in Europe and is arguable the most sustainable and eco friendly leather alternative on the market.

We are excited to be using Piñatex Metallic in silver, which has a bold and glossy finish along with the traditional wrinkled texture that Piñatex is well known for.
We are also testing out the Piñatex Performance line in grey, which has a smooth, flat pebbled surface, similar to conventional alternatives to leather.

All coming soon…….

Photo credit:

Making more cactus leather!

Desserto® adds 8 acres to its supply chain.🌵🌵🌵 .pelle

Desserto® makes a beautiful leather alternative made from organically sourced prickly pear cactus. Cactus has a great CO2 sequestering capacity, acts as a natural carbon sink, uses zero irrigation, and naturally regenerates soil. Plus, 50% of the byproduct is redirected to the food industry and used to feed cattle.

We are working on our cactus leather prototypes and will be sharing some images very soon! 🌵👜🌵

Leaf is Beautiful! 🌿

Photo credit: .desserto

Maymucki is excited to be using cactus leather in our collection!

Cactus leather is a highly sustainable, resilient and organic plant based material made from the Nopal cactus. From the Mexican company Desserto, it has a soft touch and great performance with no toxic chemicals, phthalates and PVC used.

How is cactus leather sustainable and environmental friendly?

Desserto saves 164,650% of water compared to animal leather, and 190% compared to polyurethane. Only 200 liters of water is needed to grow one kilogram of biomass. The plant itself uses the humidity present in the environment to absorb those 200 liters. Hence, no irrigation system for the cactus is required as it grows with rainwater.

The organic cactus plantation is perennial, meaning that they plant once and the plantation last for about 8 years. Only the mature leaves of the plant are cut without damaging the cactus, so every 6-8 months they have a new harvest. Cactus is also tough and resilient specie and can grow in severely degraded soils. For every acre on the plantation absorbs 570 tons of CO2 per year while only generating 1.05 tons of C02 annually.

Fun fact: It takes approximately 2-3 mature leaves of cactus to create one meter of Desserto!!

Watch out for our Cactus collection coming summer 2022!

Photo credit: .pelle

Empowered women empower women.

Happy Women's day!!!

The leather industry today is linked to several sustainability issues.

For example, keeping livestock leads to deforestation, water and land overuse, and gas emissions which contributes to climate change. Not to mention, that tanning traditionally uses chromium and other toxic chemicals.

The first step to sustainability is choosing the right raw materials; the next is to process them in an innocuous manner.

That's why we decided to work only with plant-based materials for all our products. Sustainability is leading every step of our production process from raw material to end product.

Stay tuned for our launch date!!
Coming summer of 2022…

Maymucki updated their address.

You are the only flower for me!

Roses are not in season in February and naturally bloom from mid spring to fall, so 90% of the flowers bought on Valentine's day are imported.

Many of these flowers come from large-scale flower farms across East Africa and are picked by a huge workforce of women who face exploitive working conditions.

Once picked, they are preserved in fridges, wrapped in plastic and transported in refrigerated airplanes, an extremely carbon-intensive way to travel. At the same time, flowers grown locally could have an even larger carbon footprint. In cold regions, the flower industry relies on energy- intensive greenhouses.

The most sustainable way to gifting flowers on Valentines day is to shop locally and in season

Happy Valentines Day!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️