In 2018, 302.18 million cattle (including buffalo) were slaughtered for meat. Far more hides are produced from cattle production each year than are used for leather. In the US alone, some industry experts estimate that around 17% of hides are wasted. The US produced 33 million hides in 2019. Around 20% of leather is absorbed by the auto industry for vehicle interiors. Beef is a major driver of deforestation and conversion of habitat in Latin America, and leather is inextricably linked to the beef industry. Leather sourced from areas with high deforestation and conversion rates can easily have double the GHG footprint than without. But cattle raised far from deforestation frontiers can have high deforestation related footprints from their feed; each 10% addition of deforestation-contaminated soy to the diet increases the total GHG footprint for cattle by about 25%. Many companies, particularly in the auto and fashion industries, are touting “vegan” leather and have increased their use of leather alternatives, in part due to perceptions related to leather having negative animal welfare and environmental impacts. Often missing from this narrative is that most leather alternatives are made using plastic, which is created from fossil fuels, does not biodegrade, and has littered oceans and soils with debris and microplastics, causing tremendous damage to biodiversity. Tesla, for example, has stopped using leather interiors, yet is promoting fossil fuel reduction from its electric vehicles, which does not consider the impact of fossil fuels in its leather alternative interiors. If plastic-based leather used for a car interior is biobased and responsibly sourced and for which there is an effective, end of life management process in place (ideally, recycled), it might be a strong choice in terms of total impact.