I bought a nice leather sofa years ago, long before becoming a vegetarian, but now I feel like an idiot owning it. But in all honesty, I CAN'T afford a new sofa right now. What should I do? Get rid of it and go sofa-less for a few years?
Just keep the sofa and use it until it wears out, it's not like you are going to bring the cow back to life if you throw it away.
Keep it until you can afford another one. Then, either sell it or give it away. A decent sofa of any kind should not be wasted, and someone will enjoy it. In the mean time, if you are very embarrassed, put a cotton, hemp, or synthetic throw over it. You can either use a large, decorative blanket, or get a cover specifically made for sofas. If you explain that you bought the couch before you went veg, your vegetarian friends will not criticize you. We all have remnants of our pre-veg lives, and most of us recognize that throwing out perfectly usable items is a bad idea. By eliminating meat from your diet, you are making a choice more important than any furniture choice. If you eliminated eggs and dairy, it would be even better. More animals die every year from the meat, egg, and dairy industries than from leather, fur, and animal testing combined. Though we should obviously seek to eliminate all of these things, what is needed most critically is more vegans.
You should keep the sofa for the moment, because you've already bought it and it would be wasteful throwing it out. I'm a veggie, and my dad has leather sofas, but he bought them before I went veggie, and he isn't a veggie himself so I haven't asked him to throw them out. And I'm only round at my dad's house Wednesdays and every other weekend, so I don't have to sit on them too often. But if you don't like sitting directly on the leather, then you should get a blanket to cover your sofa up with. But the cow has already been killed, and you have already bought it before going veggie, so you should keep it until it wears out, and then buy a vegan-friendly sofa. And if people ask you why have you got a leather sofa when you're vegetarian, just tell them that you bought it before going vegetarian and you can't afford a new one at the moment. Hope this helps!
You already have the sofa, I don't feel it's a big deal to keep it. I had the same issue when I first became vegetarian 8 years ago - we had a car with leather interior. I have to admit it DID bother me, but what's done is done. If it continues to bother you, sell it and use the money to get an animal-friendly one. Otherwise just use it. You could always get a sofa cover so you don't have to look at it:-)
I had this issue when I became a strict veggie a while ago, I decided that it would just be wasteful to get rid of the shoes I had that were leather (which wasn't many, I just had a couple of pairs that weren't very worn), especially given that at the time (and now, actually, not that I've got them anymore,that was ages ago) I didn't have the money to replace them just like that. The damage is done, you've bought it and spent the money, just cover it with throws if the idea of sitting on leather isn't so nice. Leather sofas have always completely grossed me out, even before that, it's like sitting on the back of a tanned cow who's sat down on the grass because they think it's going to rain. You could try freecycle or the yahoo group in your area or gumtree or something like that to see if anyone's after a swap?
