Why faux fur

Opting for faux fur should eliminate the animal welfare issue. But it doesn't remove the planetary impact, especially when bought for a low cost. Popularised in the s , per Fashionista, fake fur tended to be created by chemical companies.

And there lies the still-existent problem. Today's faux fabric is made up of synthetic fibres; many, including acrylic and polyester, are forms of plastic , notes Harper's Bazaar. Polluting petroleum-based products also tend to be included in the composition. Unlike real fur — which will eventually biodegrade , per Refinery29 — faux fur fibres could take hundreds of years to break down.

In the meantime, it's likely to take up space on landfill sites. And when faux fur garments are washed, microfibres may leak into the water system. In a report by environmental organisation Friends of the Earth, synthetic clothing was named one of the leading sources of UK microplastic pollution.

Look at it from the animal point of view, and it's clear that faux is the way to go. Words: Lara Robertson. Category: Made From. Share for change FB TW. What is faux fur made from? So what are the ethical alternatives? Buy less, buy quality, buy timeless At Good On You we believe the old adage that less is more. Buy second hand There are no shortage of fake and real second hand fur garments on the market.

Learn more about sustainable and ethical materials. Editor's note Feature image via Unsplash. And Is It Sustainable? Faux fur is having a real moment these days. When it comes to fur, questions of ethics and sustainability arise. The general opinion of the pro-fur community seems to be that real fur is superior to its faux counterpart because it is a natural product that will eventually biodegrade, unlike plastics.

Faux fur, like real fur, sheds. For added context, millions of tons of textile waste , of which faux fur coats and their fibers are included, are generated in the United States every year. Byrne explains that carbon dioxide emissions caused by farming animals for fur, the harmful impact fur has on waterways with agriculture being the number-one culprit behind water contamination in the U.

Wicker gives the example of coyote fur on Canada Goose jackets, which is sourced from coyotes that have spread beyond their traditional habitats in Canada and have been trapped in the wild.

Yet there is an increasing number of more sustainable faux alternatives. Twenty-five-year-old sustainable fashion activist Marina Testino encourages us all to look to organic or natural materials where possible when purchasing clothes.

While plastic in our clothing is clearly a major environmental issue, the environmental devastation caused by animal agriculture means that the recent shift away from real fur could still be considered an environmental win — if we steer clear of synthetic-based alternatives and look instead to secondhand fur or natural clothing.