First off, this is going to be a blatant s**t stirring question, and so lets keep that in mind, personal views are welcomed as that's all we really have, but lets also make sure we don't read anything as a personal attack, because that's pretty easy given the nature of the question.
the impetus for the question came from an ad I just saw for a new marmot synthetic insulation, being as compressible (or nearly) as down, but obviously not with the concerns some have regarding feathers.
So! here we go.
Which is the better option, Feathers/down sourced by unknown methods (lets all be honest, folks can ethic-wash all they want, but we have no idea who's pulling the butt feathers from a goose unless its us, and I can't be bothered to raise geese on my balcony)
Or synthetics, no goose-butts harmed, but knowing what we know about micro-plastics....
Yep, opening a can-o-worms(tm) And I'm sure its been talked about in the past, but just wanting to spark some conversation.
And for round two, no dry treatment on those feathers, because we know that DWR is not exactly great stuff, so lets just say no middle ground, (unless you want to pull a Doc Holiday) in which case be my guest. I can't stop ya because as the man (or rather Val Kilmer) said "My hypocrisy knows no bounds'
From my perspective, yes, I would love to use non-synthetic products. But its not practical to my location or uses, and while I understand that I'm just as culpable as the rest of us when it comes to plastic waste, I just have to do what I can when it comes to harm mitigation, and maybe the karmic balance won't tilt in my favor, but maybe what I do gets enough kids interested in saving the planet that by the time they are able to make decisions, they will have good choices available. (Oh yeah, justify the pants off of that bit of double-think!) so yeah, I'll accept my double standard.
any takers? Where does the balance fall for you?