Luxurious Fur Without the Guilt? You Decide.

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed)
Apr 5th 2008 at 4:02PM

Eco-Luxury Fur's slogan is "all of the luxury, none of the guilt," but depending on why exactly it is that you feel guilty about fur in the first place that slogan may not be accurate. The fur doesn't come from cruelly raised animals but it still comes from animals, brushtail possum animals in particular. Apparently the possums are breeding like crazy and destroying forests in New Zealand, so the pitch is that trapping and killing them is good for the environment.

Sounds like a publicity move to me -- they're just trying to cash in on the latest "eco" craze and all the good vibes and cash that come along with it. Some people still love their furs, so I'm sure they'll do some good business, but so far (according to the WSJ) they haven't sold a single possum throw. What do you think, truly guilt free or just a gimmick to sell more pelts?

Tags: eco-luxury, eco-luxury fur, Eco-luxuryFur, fur, furs, possum

Filed under: Apparel, Decor, Green

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Meg Apr 5th 2008 4:30PM

I think thats fine. It is better than the fur not being used and if it is truly helping the enviroment to cull the possums, then yes, fine with me.

MacGregor Apr 5th 2008 5:09PM

I checked out www.eco-luxuryfur.com. The possum are non-native, the way they are killed for use as throws and pillows is better for the environment than the way the NZ government kills the animals (gov't uses a poison banned in the US). Faux fur is not eco-friendly. The throws look amazing. Capitalism stepping in to highlight and solve a problem--sounds good to me. Isn't that why any of us work--to make money? Make money and help the environment at the same time--I'm all for it.

Jeff Apr 5th 2008 11:28PM

If animals need to be culled, OK!

I think that making any fur from any animal may encourage others to try using other animals which are not being culled

Jeff

MacGregor Apr 6th 2008 4:05AM

The website says the animals need to be culled. There are 70 million of them (17 for every New Zealander) eating 20 tons of vegetation nightly and native species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction. This seems like authentic eco, unlike faux fur which is not eco-friendly.

Nee Hung Apr 7th 2008 2:51PM

"Eco" and "luxury" cannot co-exist. Consumerism (for luxurious goods) is what fuels global warming. Bigger cars. Bigger houses. Bigger golf courses. More meat. More processing plants and chemicals. The list goes on.

Taking and removing massive amount of resource or animals from the eco-system can never be "eco." If Mother Nature could have her way without any human interference, the nature would eventually take care of any inbalance.

The fur trade can market and sell the cruel products in whatever ways they want. But please DON'T LIE.

steve Apr 7th 2008 6:44PM

Whilst I agree with your comments about consumerism, the fact is that humans have interfered with the eco-system and the imbalance is simply too extreme to stand back and do nothing.

It is frightening when you see the amount of damage that can be done in just one night in the NZ bush, not to mention the endangered birds and eggs they kill. The possums will never be removed from the eco-system, but their numbers have to be reduced one way or another. Trapping is a good alternative to poison, because it prevents toxins from entering the environment.

Eco luxury may be a marketing slogan, but it's too simplistic to call it a lie. It's a much preferable alternative to mass poisoning or culling options.