Kombucha leather...what if?

Every year, about 300 million cattle are killed, and out of those 300 million cows, 99% are turned into leather, creating more greenhouse gases and deforestation. Now you may be thinking, what about faux leather? Well, faux leather still contains plenty of toxic chemicals and is not biodegradable. That’s why I researched a non-toxic, biodegradable vegan leather created with materials most likely found in your home. Now, this leather, as you have probably already guessed, is kombucha leather.

The purpose of this project is to provide a leather option (that's not only non-toxic, biodegradable, vegan, and super accessible) that can help save our planet! Kombucha leather can help make the world a better place by not only preventing animal slaughter but also by helping to prevent the emission of greenhouse gases that come from the leather industry, stopping deforestation caused by leather production, and reducing the use of toxic chemicals in leather and synthetic leather.

That’s why I need YOUR help (yes, you) to spread awareness about the leather industry so that more people can learn about the side effects it has on our environment. And while you’re doing that, I’ll be here providing an eco-sustainable, biodegradable, vegan option that's way better for our environment.

This project took three parts:

Part 1: Making the kombucha leather

I made my kombucha leather by washing our glass jars and measuring cups with hot water and white vinegar.

I added 4 black tea bags to 7 cups of distilled water and let it steam for 20 minutes. Afterward, I removed the tea bags and added 2 cups of sugar, then let it sit at room temperature.

Next, I poured the tea into the washed-out glass jar, added a premade kombucha sample, and placed a cloth on top to allow it to breathe and ferment for 6 weeks.

After the six weeks were over, I took out the SCOBY and placed it on a drying rack. A day later, I added melted coconut oil as a natural preservative.

Part 2: Testing kombucha leather and real leather

I tested my kombucha leather and real leather by putting them through three different tests to simulate day-to-day wear and tear.

The wind test — I tested how my kombucha leather and real leather held up against wind by pointing my hair dryer (on max power) at both and seeing if they withstood the air pressure.

The heat test — I tested how my kombucha leather and real leather held up to heat by pointing my hair dryer (on max heat, 82°C) at both and observing how they fared.

The water test — I tested how my kombucha leather and real leather held up to water by dipping each into a glass of room-temperature water for 2 minutes and seeing if they were water resistant.

Part 3: Making things with my kombucha leather

For this, I simply sewn/made various items out of my kombucha leather, such as a purse, a wallet, a belt, etc.

To start off the testing, I began with the water test. I grabbed my kombucha leather and genuine leather and dipped both into a room temperature glass of water for two minutes (kombucha leather first, then genuine leather). After the two minutes were up, I pulled the kombucha leather and genuine leather out of the water. Both the kombucha leather and genuine leather showed no signs of damage to the water test for the full two minutes.

Next, we moved on to the wind test. I started with the kombucha leather, grabbing it and pointing my blow dryer (on maximum power) at the kombucha leather for about two minutes. The kombucha leather held up great. Afterwards, I took my genuine leather and pointed the blow dryer at it for two minutes. The genuine leather also showed no signs of damage.

Lastly, I tested how my kombucha leather and genuine leather held up to heat. Again, I took my blow dryer and pointed it at my kombucha leather for two minutes, this time turning on heat mode (which reached approximately 82°C). The kombucha leather held up to the heat test. Then I did the same with the genuine leather. The genuine showed no damage to the heat test after two minutes.

After successfully testing both kombucha leather and real leather, we see that the kombucha leather held up just as well as real leather in the water, heat, and wind tests. This simulates what it would be like if you were to wear/use kombucha leather and genuine leather in your day to day life, whether it's raining, windy, or just really hot outside it's important that you know that your kombucha leather will not be damaged. In dry conditions (in my own experience) kombucha leather is just like real leather. I still have pieces of kombucha leather that are almost two years old. And honestly they're still the exact same as they were when I first made them. They show no sign of wear/tear. However in wet conditions as long as you are not trying to destroy (ripping it, scraping it etc) your kombucha leather should be able to withstand up to 12 hours in water before any permanent damage happens. (After it's been wet it does need to dry before it goes back to its normal properties.)

Now that you've seen that real leather pretty much acts the same, then why aren't you using kombucha leather?

Let me guess..Is it because you have no idea what it is?

My goal today is to not only show you how to make the best kombucha leather but also to demonstrate what you can create with it! If more people know about eco-sustainable leather, perhaps we can help save our planet, one step at a time.

It's so important that we help our planet; otherwise, someday we won't have one to live on. With the crazy amount of deforestation, greenhouse gases, and climate change going on in the world today, it's important that we at least try to stop it!

The possibilities are endless with kombucha leather! And there are so many problems it can help fix, such as:

Leather is a byproduct of the cattle industry, a major culprit of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions globally. Cattle ranching is responsible for 80% of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and contributes to significant biodiversity loss, increased fire risk, and soil erosion. -What is the environmental impact of leather? | World Wildlife Fund

Raising animals for food and leather requires huge amounts of feed, pastureland, water, and fossil fuels. Animals on factory farms produce 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population, without the benefit of waste treatment plants.-Environmental Hazards of Leather | PETA

With kombucha leather we wont have to slaughter or raise the animal, solving these issues.

The next steps for kombucha leather would be to start selling it (which is exactly what I plan to do this summer at my local youth market), to begin introducing it (The Vegan fashion show has showed interest), doing more testing to make the material as strong as possible by testing different variables such as sugar content, temperature or fermentation time, upscaling production (aka looking into methods to make more kombucha leather in easier ways to  mass-produce the product in a sustainable way so that people can stop using leather and switch to this much environmentally friendlier alternative!)

There are so many people I want to thank for guiding me on this science fair journey! All the volunteers who make the science fair possible, the judges who gave some great feedback, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories for funding this amazing opportunity, Aidan Leach for being such an outstanding chaperone to not only me but the entire Renfrew County.

Now, there are two very special people I would like to thank for making any of this possible:

My mom and my aunt.

My mom for not only providing me with materials but also supporting me throughout this entire process!

Additionally, my late Aunt Jenn, who introduced me to kombucha. She helped spark my interest and even provided me with some of her kombucha to start my very first batch!

Lastly, I would just like to thank everyone who made this opportunity possible!

References

Concord, D. (2024, August 13). ILC - kombucha leather - the biomaterial-based Vegan Leather. International Leather Club. https://www.internationalleatherclub.com/kombucha-leather/?srsltid=AfmBOooz2WU7P9b5-yDlBFN89Cjb4cFC8RaV9DYR0ONWyNYBcXKVICwm

The connection between Leather & The Meat Industry. Leather Naturally. (2023, April 19). https://www.leathernaturally.org/resources/fact-sheets/faq-the-real-connection-between-leather-and-the-me/

Environmental hazards of leather. PETA. (2024, April 2). https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-industry/leather-environmental-hazards/#:~:text=Raising%20animals%20for%20food%20and,benefit%20of%20waste%20treatment%20plants.

Guide to sugar: You brew kombucha. youbrewkombucha. (n.d.). https://www.youbrewkombucha.com/sugar#:~:text=I%20recommend%20at%20least%20%C2%BE,you%27re%20starving%20your%20SCOBY.

Kombucha brewing ratio: A reliable ingredient scale guide. Fermentaholics. (2026, January 15). https://fermentaholics.com/kombucha-ratio-tea-sugar-water-and-starter-tea-ratios/?srsltid=AfmBOorL5vNC84Kvt1YIl206gdKLHZ1GoLd7M1tHFONc_N7gXx7nipAp

Smith, N. (2021, November 4). Biomaterials: What is Scoby Leather?. Environmental Center. https://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/2021/11/04/biomaterials-what-scoby-leather

Wang, B., Rutherfurd-Markwick, K., Zhang, X.-X., & Mutukumira, A. N. (2022, October 31). Kombucha: Production and microbiological research. Foods (Basel, Switzerland). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9658962/

What is the environmental impact of leather? | World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). https://www.worldwildlife.org/news/magazine/fall-2024/what-is-the-environmental-impact-of-leather/