Choose fur to help the environment
Wearing fur is one of the most traditional materials for human clothing ever devised! Warm, resilient and easy obtainable, our cavemen ancestors made clothes from the animals they killed for their food, and they wore their furs and pelts in order to keep warm over winter.
Wearing furs as a practical solution to cold weather still goes on in the traditional way in some areas. To this day indigenous people such as the Inuit still make coats and protective clothing from fur as it is the only practical way to keep warm when the temperatures are way past zero. These handmade fur garments are precious and are often handed down to the next generation.
Fur Coats Today
Fast forward a few thousand years and we are still wearing fur. And although today’s fur coats have moved on from being solely practical solutions to the cold, ago they still have the same benefits to the wearer.
If you are looking for clothing that signifies style and sophistication, wearing fur is the ultimate in luxury and will always make you feel good and look stunning whatever the climate.
In addition, you can be happy in the knowledge that wearing fur is fantastically good for the planet.
So why is wearing fur so good for the environment? Let’s take a look.
First up, fur is a natural material so it breaks down and biodegrades naturally in the environment. If you were to dig a hole and bury your fur coat in the ground, it would biodegrade naturally over the next few years until there were nothing left apart from tiny vestiges of the fur and more likely just a few cotton shreds and buttons.
The American Fur Trade carried out an experiment to check this out. They buried a piece of faux fur made from a synthetic plastic material, alongside a piece of real fur.
After a year they dug the pieces up to check out their condition. The faux fur was fully intact and although there were roots growing through, it looked in much the same state as when buried. By contract the real fur had practically rotted away in a year and it is estimated that nothing at all will be left at the end of the five years duration of the experiment.
Micro plastics are killing the planet!
One of the most damaging materials in the world today is plastic. Plastic does not rot, it just breaks down into tiny particles called micro plastics and these penetrate the soil, the water supply, the oceans, our food and our animal feed. Micro plastics are any piece of plastic that measures less than five millimetres.
Scientists have estimated plastic has a lifespan of between 450 – 1000 years. It is poisoning the oceans – killing millions of sea animals each year.
Every year in the USA thousands of tons of plastic of all types are added to landfill. Clothing and textiles make up a sizeable proportion of this waste. The US alone sends around 21 billions of pounds of textile waste to landfill each year.
Fur is not a throwaway item
Although fur does not damage the environment, fur coats rarely end up as rubbish or are sent to landfill. Each fur coat is unique, precious and expensive so these beautiful pieces of clothing are rarely thrown away.
Your fur coat can last for generations with proper care and if you ever decide to sell, it will always keep its value. Vintage fur coats that date from the 1920s can be repurposed but in many cases will still look good 100 years on.
A fur coat manufactured today will last you a life time and beyond if you look after it. This can only be good news for our planet.
We are all trying to reduce our carbon footprints and to buy fewer clothing items and because fur is the ultimate luxury material you are unlikely to throw it away after a year.
The same cannot be said when buying cheap clothes , manufactured in the developing world, shipped to the USA and discarded after only a couple of uses.
But isn’t wearing fur cruel to animals?
You may have concerns about animal welfare used to produce fur and you may worry that fur coats are not strictly ethical.
If you do feel like this, how do you feel about eating meat or using leather? The sad fact is that humans do exploit and use animal products with everything from milk production, eggs to buying a pair of leather shoes or leather coat. The answer is to improve conditions for all animals regardless of whether they are used for a meal or as clothing.
The bottom line …
A fur coat is designed for longevity. It does not damage the environment and unlike most other textiles does not add plastic waste to our already garbage filled planet. This indirectly helps our whole planet including animals, plant life and insects.
It may sound counter intuitive but if you do want to help our planet without compromising on style and luxury, a fur coat ticks all the right boxes!
