America’s Oldest Furrier
Est. 1889

We already associate the color green with the holidays, from adornments of holly swags and hanging sprigs of mistletoe, to decorated trees.  But we also really seriously need to associate “green” with sustainable use.

This is the time of year we see a lot of faux fur in fashions and holiday trims.  Faux fur was first introduced in 1929, and is made from petrochemicals, and is essentially a form of plastic. The raw material is in powder or pellet form before getting melted down and spun like cotton candy. Those fibers are then woven through a fabric backing before being trimmed or sheared to length.

Faux fur, like real fur, sheds.  Unlike real fur, those tiny fibers that won’t biodegrade range in size from a grain of rice, all the way down to as tiny as a virus.  Plastics are now so prevalent on our entire planet that the most secluded regions of the Pyrenees Mountains are covered with airborne microplastics.  And there are four times as many plastic particles are in the deep waters of “clean” ocean areas than on the surface of The Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, which is larger than twice the size of Texas.  Even humans now consume enough microplastics to equal about the size of a credit card EVERY SINGLE WEEK.

Faux fur does not start to degrade for at least 600 years and may take thousands of years to completely decompose, even if it’s labeled as biodegradable!

“Real fur garments are much less polluting than synthetic faux furs, which are made with some of the most toxic chemicals known to man,” says Eugene Lapointe.  He is not only one of the world’s leading experts on Earth’s wild resources, he is also the president of the International Wildlife Management Consortium World Conservation Trust, a non-profit that advocates for the sustainable use of wildlife resources across the globe.

Real fur, organic and biodegradable, IS the “green” choice, not only for the holidays, but any time of the year!

Enjoy these pictures of gorgeously green furs!

– From Tina & Everyone at Mano Swartz, we wish you the Happiest of Holiday Seasons!