Tag Archives: fur

Making vegan fashion choices

Posted on by

When choosing your clothing, it’s easier than ever to avoid animal products and make cruelty-free fashion choices.  Vegan fashion no longer means having to sacrifice style, durability, quality and practicality, as more and more options are developed made from plants.

Clothing and accessories made from hemp and bamboo, along with common fabrics such as cotton and polyester, are readily available.  Choosing organic or recycled materials can help reduce your environmental footprint further.

It’s particularly important to avoid animal leather, which is usually made from the skins of cows, but can also be derived from the skin of pigs, sheep, snakes, horses and more.  It’s made through a lengthy process in which the animal skin is heavily salted, soaked in calcium oxide, tanned (often using chromium) and then put through a liquoring method which includes adding fats and oils to the leather to make it softer and stronger. In addition to the need to raise and then kill the animals to make animal leather, this process is resource intensive and damaging to the environment, particularly when chromium is used.

New creative “leathers” can be made from cork, mushrooms, pineapple leaves, apple peels, and other fruit waste, along with recycled plastics. These are softer and more sustainable than the cheap PVC-based leather alternatives that have been around for many years.

In addition to avoiding leather, there are now substitutes available for other animal based fabrics such as wool, silk, down and of course, fur. While there are already many specialty brands available online, as mainstream brands recognize the popularity of providing vegan selections, you can expect to see more fashion choices become available.

Catching Coronavirus from Mink

Posted on by

People have been catching the coronavirus from mink, animals raised to make fur coats. Here’s yet another reason to not buy fur coats as we head into the holiday season! More than 200 cases of coronavirus appear to be linked to sick minks on fur farms in Denmark, according to new data released last Thursday by the country’s public health agency. Worse, there’s worry that the strain of the virus in the mink might make the vaccine ineffective.

Danish officials said that they now want to cull all 15 million mink at the country’s roughly 1,200 fur farms as a precautionary step to protect people from contracting the virus. Mink on at least 220 fur farms in Denmark have already tested positive for the coronavirus.

We may be at risk here too. The United States, too, has confirmed that minks have contracted coronavirus on fur farms in Utah, Wisconsin, and Michigan, although so far there is no evidence that the minks are making humans sick in the U.S. “These investigations are ongoing, and we will release data once available,” says Jasmine Reed, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson.

When people catch a disease such as the coronavirus from animals, it’s called zoonosis. While we’re on the subject, it is important to note as we go into flu season that influenza, the flu, is also a zoonosis, one that is spread from chickens and pigs. Since these diseases come from keeping animals in close confinement, the way to prevent such diseases is to stop confining animals.

Besides the risk to human health, raising mink is very harsh on the animals themselves.  On fur factory farms around the world, millions of rabbits, foxes, mink and other wild animals 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.

Many vegetarians extend their choices to what they wear on their body as well as what is consumed as food. There are many good artificial furs, and there’s really no reason why anyone should choose to wear animal fur.

Vegan Clothing – Easy to Find

Posted on by

Have you considered how veg-friendly the clothing you buy is?  More and more people want to know how the clothes they buy are produced, and whether animals were harmed in doing so.  Like factory farming in the food industry, raising animals for clothing and accessories is often cruel to the animals and harmful to the environment. Even “humanely raised” animals are kept in captivity and slaughtered years before they would have died naturally, so it’s hard to argue that any animal-based material is truly humane. Vegan clothing is any clothing item which is made without animal products, and nowadays there are abundant choices.  You just have to know which materials to avoid, so here’s a list to help you, along with suitable alternatives to look for:

Leather or suede – look for labels such as manmade leather, all-manmade materials, pleather, or synthetic. The price may give you a clue since synthetic leather sells for much cheaper than the price of real leather.

Read more

Queen forgoes fur

Posted on by

Queen Elizabeth

Good news!  One of the biggest celebrities in the world, Queen Elizabeth II has just banned fur from the royal wardrobe. Great Britain banned fur farming almost two decades ago because it was deemed too cruel. Now Queen Elizabeth will opt for faux fur in the future, according to her senior dresser Angela Kelly. According to Kelly, who has written a memoir, Elizabeth II has decided to officially ban fur from her royal wardrobe in response to changing societal attitudes. Read more

Who are the Fur-Bearer Defenders?

Posted on by

Lesley FoxMany vegetarians these days are extending their practice to products they use on their bodies, such as beauty aids and clothing, in much the same way as they do their food choices. This is especially true when it comes to fur coats and other fur products. To find out more, we contacted Lesley Fox, the Executive Director of the Fur-Bearer Defenders, based just north of the border in Vancouver, BC., to ask her a few questions about her organization.

Tell us something about Fur-Bearer Defenders:

The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals (affectionately known as Fur-Bearer Defenders) is one of the oldest animal protection groups in North America. We started in 1944 and have focused specially on working to end the cruel fashion fur trade.

How did you first get interested in this issue?

I am passionate about all kinds of animal issues. Environment issues and other social justice issues also concern me. I feel as though many of these issues are interconnected and sometimes that can feel overwhelming as an activist.

One of the biggest things that attracted me to working for Fur-Bearer Defenders is that I get to focus on one issue. It makes the stress a bit more manageable when I can concentrate on one topic and devote my resources to issue. In my opinion, it’s more effective too. I believe it’s more sustainable to fight for change one step at a time.

I think the fur issue is good starting point for many people. It doesn’t take a lot of convincing to ask a reasonable person to give up a bit of real fur trim on a coat. Once people are willing to recognize the suffering of fur-bearing animals and are willing to make a change as a consumer, it’s a step forward for them to naturally learn about more issues involving animals, including food issues.

Are you a vegetarian or vegan? What inspired you to make the change?

I went vegetarian in 1996 after I read an article called “Does your Food Have a Face?” I found it really easy to go vegetarian, because to be honest, I just ate more cheese. Cheese pizza, cheese lasagna and grilled cheese sandwiches. I was addicted to cheese and I remember wondering why the whole world didn’t go vegetarian – it was awesome!

In 1999 my cheese addiction came to an end after I read “Diet for a New America”, by John Robbins. Overnight, I went vegan because I learned that dairy caused just as much animal suffering as the meat industry. All dairy cows end up at the slaughterhouse, and male calves are sold to the veal industry. Being vegan just makes me feel better about myself. As much as possible, I want to avoid causing harm to animals.

What’s wrong with fur coats?

The fur industry is responsible for inflicting extreme terror, suffering and death on millions of animals each year for fashion. Real fur is a frivolous product that no one needs. There are a wealth of animal-free fabrics, many of them are now eco-friendly and designed for weather extremes. Companies like Vaute Couture and Fjallraven offer excellent fur-free options. We can all live without fur. The animals can’t.

What is it that you wish more people understood better?

I wish people understood that fake fur isn’t the answer to ending the fur trade. While certainly fake fur is always a better choice than real fur, fake fur can promote the idea that “fur is back”. The fur industry shaves, dyes and uses small bit of inexpensive real fur trim on garments that can confuse consumers. Labels can lie too. Many companies, most recently Kohl’s, have been caught advertising “fake fur” when it was real fur. I like to keep things simple and play it safe. Therefore fake or real – don’t buy fur.

Are you optimistic about the future?

There are times when I am really optimistic about the future. Lots of vegan restaurants are popping up, more celebrities are talking about animal rights, some great documentaries have been made – – you must see Ghosts in Our Machine and Blackfish!

These things are encouraging and social media is bringing more and more transparency by exposing cruel companies. While these things are positive, it’s hard sometimes because it feels so slow moving.

There is an urgency to getting animals the help and recognition they deserve, but we are fighting a world that profits from their abuse. It’s tough work! But yes, I do have faith that change is happening, and groups like Vegetarians of Washington give me much hope. Your events are hugely successful – and get noticed even up here in Canada!  It’s going to take a strong collective voice, but together, on both sides of the border, we will save the animals!