The environmental costs and health risks of fur (2024)

FAQs

What are the environmental impacts of fur? ›

Environmental Effects

Pollution is released during the fur-cultivation process. When animal carcasses are incinerated, the released gases – which include carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO _x), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and hydrochloric acid (HCl) – can cause atmospheric pollution.

Climate impact

As fur is promoted as “natural”, it's often assumed that it must be climate-friendly. However, factory farming is a resource intensive, carbon emitting process—and fur production is no different.

Faux fur products such as coats do not contribute significantly to plastic pollution in the sea either - they only need to be washed once or twice a year compared to regular synthetic clothing which may be washed weekly, releasing micro-plastics in the ocean.

Producing 1 kg of fur has a carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) factor of about 130 to 140 kg, compared to around 6 to 7 kg CO₂e for faux fur.

Whether a fur pom-pom, fur collar or fur trimming on jackets and scarves, each tiniest piece of trim is directly connected to cruelty to animals. No matter how much fur is used, from an animal welfare perspective , real fur is never 'ethically correct'.

The fur trade was both very good and very bad for American Indians who participated in the trade. The fur trade gave Indians steady and reliable access to manufactured goods, but the trade also forced them into dependency on European Americans and created an epidemic of alcoholism.

Fur products can be made responsibly. We source our fur with a zero-waste philosophy and create products in small-batches by hand. Fur is a beautiful, high performance material which can be sourced responsibly. All Tallis fur products are made from responsibly sourced fur.

Natural fur is a sustainable fashion material which can be absorbed back into nature's own cycle through biodegradation. A renewable resource with outstanding thermal qualities, natural fur also have much less impact on landfills and oceans than synthetic alternatives, which are made from plastics.

Now, if you're thinking of going back to real fur garments instead, we have a bit of bad news to share: Real fur isn't too great for our health and the planet either. Fur “tanning” and “dressing” to preserve fur hairs and follices involve toxic chemicals too.

What are the negatives of faux fur? ›

Not Environmentally Friendly: Faux fur is made with acrylic and modacrylic polymers fibers which do not break down easily, unlike real fur, which is biodegradable. Chemicals produced from plastics can also be highly toxic to human health.

Real fur is biodegradable and the quality is more durable than faux fur, meaning it lasts a lot longer. The biggest rule when it comes to sustainable fashion is instead of buying many cheaper clothing options, one should buy fewer more durable items that you can wear time and time again.

Cattle (raised for both beef and milk, as well as for inedible outputs like manure and draft power) are the animal species responsible for the most emissions, representing about 65% of the livestock sector's emissions.

Meat from small, non-ruminant animals, such as chicken, turkey, rabbit and duck, has a much lower GHG footprint than beef and lamb. Chicken, for example, has a GHG footprint almost nine times lower than beef's – generating 5.7kg of CO2e per 100g of protein.

Because animals need their fur coats more than we do. On animal fur factory farms around the world, millions of rabbits, foxes, mink, chinchillas and raccoon dogs spend their entire lives in cramped cages, deprived of the ability to engage in natural behaviors—only to be crudely gassed or electrocuted at the end.

Painful and Short Lives

The most commonly farmed fur-bearing animals are minks, followed by foxes.

Vegan fashion means that any clothes made of animal leather, fur, or wool aren't worn. More than this, many vegans look into how ethically produced their garments are, as animals can be treated cruelly to harvest the materials that our clothes are made from, even when the material itself is free of animal products.

Many Indigenous peoples soon came to depend on the fur trade as their primary source of income and European-manufactured goods. However, by the mid-19th century changing fashions in Europe brought about a collapse in fur prices and led to the closure of several fur companies.

The fur trade brought the spread of guns, contagious diseases, and alcohol. French demand for Native slaves resulted in Native people raiding other Indigenous communities. Slavery existed in North America long before Europeans introduced the transatlantic slave trade.

Why was the fur trade unfair? ›

But the fur trade made some Indigenous peoples dependent on European goods. While some groups profited from the new interactions, others became victims of new diseases and unfair trading practices that placed them at a disadvantage.

A dangerous source of pollution, excrement from factory farmed animals pollutes waterways and soil, and harmful chemicals used in tanning and dying processes are released into the environment as well.

As we discussed, the furrier needs the pelts on hand to start the process. This is the initial cost of the coat and one of the main reasons fur coats are so expensive. Because fur pelts are costly! A fox pelt, for example, can go for around $50 per pelt.

A fur coat can provide many benefits to an animal. Fur can be like a winter coat keeping the mammal warm by trapping heat. It can also be like a raincoat, teaming up with oils to help waterproof the animal. These hairs, called down hairs, are short, fuzzy, curly hairs closest to an animals' skin.

How Fur Production Harms the Environment. Eighty-five percent of the fur industry's skins come from animals on fur factory farms. These farms can house thousands of animals, and as with other factory farms, they are designed to maximize profits—with little regard for the environment or animals' well-being.

Each year, more than 1 billion rabbits and 50 million other animals — including foxes, seals, mink, and raccoon dogs — are raised on fur farms or trapped in the wild and killed for their pelts.

In the United States, California became the first US state to ban the sale of fur in 2019 (the ban came into effect in January 2023) following similar bans in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley and West Hollywood.

After one year, the real fur is in an advanced state of degradation, with the hairs reduced to a few fine wisps, and a few shreds of leather held together by thread and backing.

GACHA. GACHA is a step up from existing partly bio-based faux fur like KOBA, being uniquely 100% biodegradable. GACHA can be commercially composted, completely decomposing in 180 days when it becomes nutritious compost.

Using “reclaimed fur” sends the same unacceptable message as wearing newly sourced fur—that it's OK to allow animals to languish in steel traps or be skinned alive for the sake of vanity. People can't tell the fur's backstory by looking at it, so wearing any fur is essentially a pro-fur billboard.

What toxic chemicals are in fur? ›

Most tested fur items, such as hood edge, showed high levels of chromium, formaldehyde and ethoxylates, which can cause irritation, allergies, cancer and hormonal instability. When wearing such items, toxic substances absorb through the air or through the skin.

Fur farming has been banned in England and Wales since 2000 and in Scotland and Northern Ireland since 2002.

Furs from leopard, panther, lynx and gray squirrel were reserved for the elite, while everyone else has to to with the more common wolf, fox, and sheep's fur. These days, there have been many functional alternatives other than fur, but fur still remains popular due to its elegance.

Feel the difference by touching the hairs between the finger and thumb. Real fur feels very soft and smooth to touch, easily rolls between fingers. The fake fur is rough to the touch. It may become sticky in wet weather and may have the same feel as a stuffed animal toy.

Fake fur is composed of nylon and polyester, which are major sources of microplastics polluting waterways and wreaking havoc on marine life. Fake fur is harming our oceans. Pollution is an increasingly serious issue and our beautiful oceans are being gunked up with plastic microfibers that harm marine life.

Indeed, it takes at least 4 times more energy to produce a real fur coat than a faux fur coat. The making of one mink fur coat emits 7 times more CO2 than the making of one faux fur coat.

Real fur coats are both eco-friendly & human-friendly

Most synthetic man-made materials used in winter garments take a very long time to break down. Faux fur, the alternative for real furs, is a 100% petroleum-based, non biodegradable product.

Perhaps the most important reason people prefer real furs over other types of winter coats is due to the incredible warmth they can provide, even without being bulky.

Since 1959, the United States has put more 334 billion tons (303 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, about 21.5% of the global total. Those figures are based on how much carbon dioxide is spewed within national borders. But often people buy goods made in one country but consumed in another.

Which animal produces the most methane? ›

Cattle are the No. 1 agricultural source of greenhouse gases worldwide. Each year, a single cow will belch about 220 pounds of methane.

Greenhouse-gas emissions reached their highest-ever level in 2021, with global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels topping 36 billion metric tons. China is currently the highest emitter, followed by the US. Combined emissions from the European Union are the next largest, with India and Russia following.

Food's Carbon Footprint: Eat vegetarian

A vegan diet has the lowest carbon footprint at just 1.5 tons CO2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent). You can reduce your foodprint by a quarter just by cutting down on red meats such as beef and lamb. The carbon footprint of a vegetarian diet is about half that of a meat-lover's diet.

Carbon-Neutral (Net-Zero) Countries:

Comoros. Gabon. Guyana.

Examples are llamas, long-lived bats and elephants versus mice, possums, and rare marsupials such as the woylie,” said Owen Jones.

Going Vegan could reduce an individual's carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent, Researchers at the University of Oxford found. This is due to the volumes of food which must be fed to livestock before it goes through the energy-intensive process of being killed, processed, transported and stored.

Elephants. Elephants are the world's largest and most powerful land animals, so it's not surprising they have a profound impact on the ecosystem. To reach food, elephants regularly break branches, uproot bushes, and push down whole trees—sometimes several trees next to each other.

Sustainable fur is a completely natural fashion material and is a renewable resource with exceptional thermal qualities. Fur is biodegradable and has much less impact on landfills and oceans than plastic-based synthetic textiles.

The biggest environmental impact associated with our animal companions comes from producing meat-based pet food, which uses land, water and energy resources, and is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. According to one estimate, owning a medium-size dog can have a similar carbon footprint to a large SUV.

What were some of the lasting effects of the fur trade? ›

The fur trade brought the spread of guns, contagious diseases, and alcohol. French demand for Native slaves resulted in Native people raiding other Indigenous communities. Slavery existed in North America long before Europeans introduced the transatlantic slave trade.

1. Chicken. Environmental Working Group (EWG), researchers found chicken is the most sustainable choice out of all the different types of meat.

Rabbits, goats, chickens, and ducks are undoubtedly some of the most eco-friendly pets. These animals are hardly a substitute for cats and dogs, but from an environmental standpoint, they are less ecologically harmful.

On fur factory farms, animals spend their entire lives in cramped battery cages, deprived of the ability to engage in natural behaviours. Keeping wide-ranging predatory animals in small cages causes severe animal welfare problems – such as self-mutilation and infected wounds.

Natural fur is a sustainable fashion material which can be absorbed back into nature's own cycle through biodegradation. A renewable resource with outstanding thermal qualities, natural fur also have much less impact on landfills and oceans than synthetic alternatives, which are made from plastics.

Because PET doesn't readily break down, it contributes to plastic pollution. Plastics like PET can break down into tiny pieces called microplastics, which are pervasive in our oceans – as well as our bays, lakes, and even drinking water.

This increased production causes devastating environmental effects, such as climate change, water shortages, and the loss of topsoil.

Local pollution

The local impact of fur farms leads to the degradation of land, rural life, property values and economic activities. Plus, waste runoff seeps into soil and waterways, causing severe damage to local ecosystems.

What are the cons of fur trade? ›

In addition to causing the suffering and deaths of millions of animals each year, the production of wool, fur, and leather contributes to climate change, land devastation, pollution, and water contamination.

In the 1830s silk was introduced to England, lowering the demand for and price of beaver fur. Combined with over-trapping, this lowered demand greatly changed the the fur trade and the relationships between traders and Native Americans. By the 1870s, fur trading had mostly died out.