Check out the links on these stories because key words are used to link to other info. This is especially informative for students doing papers on fur industries. The 1st article makes the second two a lot more obvious that fur is a very good choice for the environment.

http://www.slate.com/id/2179086

the green lantern: Illuminating answers to environmental questions.
Whether the Leather Be PleatherOr whether the leather be not …
By Brendan I. Koerner
Posted Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007, at 7:43 AM ET
Illustration by Mark Alan Stamaty. Click image to expand.

I've recently developed a soft spot for our bovine friends, so I'd like to avoid buying leather jackets in the future. The obvious alternative is so-called pleather, which is made from plastic. But if I buy a cruelty-free pleather jacket, am I negating my good intentions by screwing the environment? I shudder to think how much oil it takes to make a fake-leather trenchcoat.

This is the sort of question that maddens eco-skeptics, who are fond of pointing out that every manufactured product has an unavoidable environmental cost. If you can't accept that fact, the argument goes, then you're free to become a hunter-gatherer in the Australian Outback; otherwise, stop fretting and enjoy the warm, affordable jackets that your great-great-great-grandparents could have only dreamed of.

In terms of the specific dilemma you propose, the skeptics are right in one respect: Both leather and pleather are far from green. That doesn't mean, however, that you should give in to apathy when it comes to jacket materials. No, you're not going to single-handedly squelch global warming by making the right choice here. But as the Lantern contended long ago, personal choices do matter—dirty industries become cleaner only in response to consumer demand.

You're correct that pleather is essentially made of oil. The jacket material that attracts the lion's share of environmentalist ire is polyvinyl chloride, better known as PVC. Greenpeace loathes the stuff, calling it "the most damaging plastic on the planet." The organization claims that PVC production releases dioxins and persistent organic pollutants, and worries about further toxic emissions when rubbished PVC is burned in garbage incinerators. (The vinyl industry strongly disagrees with this morbid assessment; the Lantern's own take is that while the industry has certainly made improvements, PVC remains a worrying source of dioxins in particular.)

Greenpeace reserves a bit less ire for a second type of pleather, composed of polyurethane. While toxicity isn't as much of an issue with polyurethane, the versatile substance is still made from fossil fuels, which means that plenty of carbon dioxide is emitted during production. According to the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe, producing a pound of polyurethane foam emits 3.7 pounds of CO2. (That makes the process slightly less green than burning a gallon of gas.)

There are greenhouse-gas emissions associated with the production of genuine leather, too, largely in the form of cow-generated methane. The real downside to leather is pollution, specifically stemming from the use of chromium in the tanning process. About 95 percent of the world's tanneries still use hexavalent chromium, a potent carcinogen. Too often, tanneries simply dispose of their chromium effluent in nearby streams; that water, in turn, is either consumed directly or used to irrigate farms, causing long-term health consequences for thousands of people.

Chromium-free tanning alternatives, like tree bark, present their own problems: The waste from "vegetable tanning" can also be toxic, as it often contains lethal bacteria. Vegetable tanning can also take several months, whereas the same effect can be achieved with chromium in under a week. As a result, tanneries in the lightly regulated developing world almost always opt for chromium. Some trade agreements, such as a recent pact between Japan and Thailand, include stipulations that manufacturers follow environmental standards. But enforcement is always a challenge, especially when it may result in higher retail prices.

So, where does all that gloomy information leave you, dear consumer? If your conscience truly won't let you don leather, then look for a polyurethane pleather rather than one made from PVC. But you should also hold out hope that chemists accelerate their efforts to create polyurethane from vegetable oils.

The cruelty issue aside, however, some leather jackets may be the greener choice at present, provided they were produced in a green manner—for example, in tanneries outfitted with chromium recovery facilities or in ones that use enzymes in lieu of chemicals for pretreatment. Look for leather goods produced by companies and tanners that have signed on to the Leather Working Group, which is auditing the industry's environmental practices. You can also keep tabs on technological developments in the industry, such as the growing vogue for turning scrap leather into passable garments.

Above all, how about hitting the local vintage shop? Or, if you must go new, don't be a total cheapskate. A quality leather or pleather jacket will last for years, if not decades, making it well worth the investment in the long run. That lesson that applies not only to clothing, but to cars, appliances, and electronic goods, too. Sometimes the greenest choice isn't the product that labels itself as such, but the one you won't have to replace a dozen times over.

Is there an environmental quandary that's been keeping you up at night? Send it to ask.the.lantern@gmail.com, and check this space every Tuesday.

http://www.furcouncil.com/earth-friendly.aspx

Fur Production is "Earth-Friendly"

The production of wild or farmed furs (or fur apparel) consumes relative low amounts of energy and generates little pollution.

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Farmed furs Farm-raised fur is a net pollution reducer because farmed mink and fox are fed leftovers from fish and meat processing, proteins that are not fit for human consumption. In fact, the 5.5 million mink raised on North American farms recycle more than 500 million pounds of food wastes annually. Less land is needed to raise mink than to produce cotton or wool, and fur farms use very little electricity, fossil fuels or water compared with other textile production. The whole animal is used: fat provides valuable mink oil (used for skin care, cosmetics, fine lubricants and to protect and preserve leather) while carcasses and manure provide fertilizers. Nothing is wasted.


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Wild furs Just like farmers send some animals to market while retaining a healthy breeding stock for next year’s production, trappers take only a small part of the surplus produced by nature each season. This is assured by government-regulated hunting seasons, harvesting quotas and other controls.

Wildlife populations must be controlled in many regions, even if there is no market for the fur -- in order to protect residential property, farmland, roads and forests (e.g., from flooding caused by beaver dams), for disease control (e.g., rabies among raccoons, foxes and skunks) and, generally to maintain a balance with available habitat.


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Processing While the processing and dyeing of any clothing material must be carefully regulated to protect the environment, fur tanning (“dressing”) and coloring are relatively benign. The main chemicals used to tan fur pelts are salt, water, alum, soda ash, sawdust, cornstarch and lanolin, which are natural and non-toxic. Local environmental protection controls ensure that there are no harmful effluents. And because furs are available in an extraordinary range of natural colour tones, only a small proportion are dyed.

By contrast, the production of a single synthetic coat can require up to one gallon of petroleum – a non-renewable resource. The production of synthetic fibers also involves chemical reactions at high temperatures, producing nitrogen oxides and other potentially harmful substances.


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Fabrication Each fur garment is meticulously made by hand. Furs are individually cut and sewn by skilled craftspeople using artisanal methods – with no heavier machinery than a fur cutter’s blade, a needle and thread, and a specially adapted sewing machine. The furs are sewn with cotton thread, reinforced with wool batting and lined with silk.


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Curious about how fur measures up to other

important ecological and social criteria?



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http://www.FurIsGreen.com


Go to:

Fur is a Renewable Resource
Fur is Durable, Reusable and Recyclable
Fur is Biodegradable
Fur is Non-polluting, Non-toxic
Fur Production, Use & Disposal is Energy Efficient
Animal Welfare: Responsible Practices
Fair Trade: Supporting People & Cultures

http://www.strategymag.com/articles/magazine/20080102/creativefur.html

January 2008 - Strategy Magazine
Creative


Fur fights back


by Annette Bourdeau
page 13

The fur industry is tired of its bad rap and is ready to fight back.

A new public information campaign from the Montreal-based Fur Council of Canada (FCC) features surprising print executions, including one with a photo of a fur-clad woman with the headline "Environmental Activist!"

The efforts aim to drive traffic to the microsite furisgreen.com, which features a list of the fur industry's

eco-friendly traits like being non-toxic, non-polluting and durable.

"We don't have big budgets, so we put out something unexpected [to generate buzz]," explains Alan Herscovici, EVP at the FCC. "The fur trade has been environmentally sound for quite some time...it seemed important to clarify things."

"There's been quite a strong response," Herscovici continues, adding that it wasn't uncommon for the microsite to get 5,000 unique hits per day in December. "It's at least making people think."

Within one week of launching, the campaign was spoofed on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, much to Herscovici's delight. "They did a spoof, but our messages are there," he says. Herscovici says the campaign has also sparked many discussions in the blogosphere, with some fur foes conceding the campaign raises some valid points.

"A large number of the trappers are aboriginals. They live on the land, and they don't need lectures about caring for nature from urban animal rights activists," says Herscovici.

"A lot of these anti-fur campaigns are extremely insulting."

The campaign was done in-house, in consultation with biologists.


advertiser: Alan Herscovici, EVP; Teresa Eloy, marketing communications, Fur Council of Canada
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http://tinyurl.com/22t3ad

Fur industry seeks to trap a green image
Launches campaign in newspapers, magazines
EVA FRIEDE, The Gazette
Published: Tuesday, January 29

When Alan Herscovici talks about fur being green, he's certainly not thinking of Yves Saint Laurent's iconic square-shouldered jacket of 1971.

The Fur Council of Canada's executive vice-president has been touting the environmental benefits and sustainability of using fur since the mid-'80s, when he wrote two books, Second Nature: The Animal Rights Controversy and Fur: An Environmental Ethic.

Finally, this winter, it's official.
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The fur council, the marketing arm of the industry, launched an advertising campaign in U.S.

magazines like Harper's Bazaar, as well as several newspapers.

One Eco-Fashion ad, of a beautiful model in white fur, points out that synthetics are made from environmentally troublesome petrochemicals.

"With all the push on green and green fashion, we thought this was a good time," Herscovici said.

He noted that the CBC show This Hour Has 22 Minutes did a satire on the campaign. "They just socked it to PETA and company," he said, referring to animal rights groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The green blitz is the latest in an ongoing effort by the council to market and brand Canadian furs, for their heritage, beauty and quality.

To this end, new technologies and innovative fashion designers have worked with fur artisans to create younger, funkier and more fashionable furs.

Coats now carry a "Beautifully Canadian" label as part of the branding effort.

Industry Canada export figures for 2007 are not yet out, but the outlook is poor, Herscovici conceded. In 2006, exports were up almost 25 per cent, to $450 million, but that was mainly in pelts. In garment exports, the figure was $63 million, down from $73 million in 2005.

"Exports this year will be down - I have no doubt,'' he said.

"It's definitely been really tough.

"Of course, China is just stronger all the time," he said, referring to China's powerhouse manufacturing industry.

Having a cold winter might have made a difference, Herscovici said, but the economic turmoil of the last few weeks has thrown a kink in hopes for a turnaround in the market. The other factor is that people place their orders in U.S. dollars. With the Canadian dollar's rise over the last three years, vendors have been losing out.

As to the future of the fur industry in Montreal and Canada, Herscovici suggests it lies in specialty niches, like wild fur, highend Canadian mink and clearly defined market segments. Those segments include FurWorks for sports-inspired garments, classics and "grand luxe,'' targeted to the Russian and Chinese market.

"It's not going to be the big mass production thing it was in the 1980s," he said.

In addition, the fur council has plans to work with the Aboriginal Design Council. Details will be announced at NAFFEM, the Montreal fur fair held in May. "That will be taking our first fur designers, and bringing them back into market,'' Herscovici said.

To see the fur is green spoof on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, go to http://www.furisgreen.com.


© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008


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