Transparency & Impact
Business
We are building a fully renewable, replicable and sustainable business model as a framework for a new economy. We employ people pursuing purpose who experience barriers to employment.
We are building local partnerships and supply chains and social hiring into our business to ensure that the way we make our living contributes to a more regenerative and inclusive future for others too. We also believe in meaningful partnerships with Indigenous communities that go beyond the duty to consult. We intend to collaborate with Indigenous businesses and individuals to create win-win solutions that respect the wants and needs of all parties. Livelihoods for coastal and forestry-dependent communities, as well as urban folks, matter to us. 7 Leagues is built on a vision of a production model that positively impacts businesses, the planet, communities, and people. We know that business can be a force for good.
tanning
There are many ways to make leather. We use the veg tanning method. Every product, process, and deed has impact but veg tannins come from natural plant sources, have a low environmental impact, and generate less waste than chrome tanning. In addition, chrome tanning can be hugely dangerous to people and the environment unless every proper caution is taken in its production and disposal, which is often not the case. Veg tanning requires more water than other methods, but we are working on developing a circular water treatment system to address that impact too.
The process of tanning is one that eliminates what would rot in order to stabilize and preserve the skin, then binds the tanning material into the collagen structure for a thicker resulting material. The exact formula a tannery uses is one of its deepest proprietary secrets, as the particular mixture is what will predicate whether the leather is thicker or thinner, pliable or stiff, soft or hard, durable or short-lived, and so on. It takes training and experience to know exactly how to measure, adapt, test, and adjust the formula for the highest quality outcome. The durability of that leather - its resistance to weather and wear and time - also impacts its sustainability assessment because if you must replace the item, it consumes more material and energy to do so.
Modern tanning methods are a mixture of art, craft, and history, along with science, measurement, and innovation. We take inspiration from the past but we imagine a brighter future and work towards it in creative ways. Making leather can be fairly simple; making good leather is harder.
On the environmental side, we drive towards biodegradability, circular water use, renewable inputs, and waste repurposing. These are things that can be measured and that we will be happy to report on as we prove them. And we promise to always use the cleanest effective alternatives available.
Water Resistance
People want to believe that fish leather is waterproof because it comes from a fish but that is not the case. Any skin is waterproof when it is still on the living animal - but not afterwards. Leather can, however, be treated with products that add water resistance or waterproofing. We use waxes and oils to ensure water resistance in our leather and have invested in the machinery needed to apply it deeply and thoroughly, rather than adding acrylic, plastic, or other fossil-based or forever chemical coatings seen on some other fish leather because we don’t want to add to the microplastics problem. Instead, we always use the cleanest effective alternatives available.
Chemicals
Each of us uses chemicals daily. Acids such as vinegar (CH3COOH) are used in cooking as well as in tanning and in many other activities. (We actually use formic acid in our mixture – which happens to be the same stuff that ants and nettles produce.) Look for a company like ours that always uses the cleanest effective alternatives available.
