Buffalo Exchange runs fur drive to keep animals warm

Resale retailer Buffalo Exchange has partnered with Coats for Cubs to accept donated fur attire and repurpose it as blankets to protect animals from wintry cold temperatures.

Shoppers can drop off their real fur coats, scarves, hats, and other accessories at any Buffalo Exchange store. The fur will be shipped out to animal rehab centers and disassembled to create bedding for orphaned and injured animals.

In 2011, Buffalo Exchange, along with the Humane Society of the United States, Gucci, Macy's, Charlotte Ronson, and other major retailers, endorsed the Truth in Fur Labeling Act of 2010, which stopped manufacturers from mislabeling real fur priced under $150 as faux fur.   

Only real furs will be accepted starting this week till Earth Day on April 22. Information is available at: http://coatsforcubs.com.

Fashionable faux fur vests @ Buckle

Fall's here, and a great accessory to have that's making a seasonal comeback is the faux fur vest. 

Daytrip Leopard Vest, $69.95, buckle.com.

Some are fancily cute for a day-to-night affair, some are made with the ever-trending animal print, and some are perfect for those laid-back times. 

Daytrip Faux Fur Vest, $64.95, buckle.com.

Buckle, a clothing store staple at many malls across the country, offers a few choices to complement every fashionable mood at a decent price for the latest must-have.

Daytrip Faux Fur Vest, $79.95, buckle.com.

Eco-fashion eye candy #6

Animal Print Rabbit Fur Trench
Coat, $4,495, burberry.com

There's a battle waging between real fur and faux fur. Can real fur be eco-friendly? Or is faux fur eco-friendlier? Is vegan always the way to go?

Fur activists say real fur is a natural resource with limited waste. Faux fur takes extra resources, some are considered tainted with chemicals, to create the same effect. 

Well, whatever the argument, I found this wondrously sophisticated piece of clothing made from rabbit fur. It definitely fits the definition of 'eye candy.'

Faux fur vs. real fur: the greener choice

Is fur a green fashion source?

Eco-fashion is rising to become an important aspect in an industry where it's difficult to use ethical resources. Conventional cotton uses pesticides, so we prefer organic cotton. But when it comes to animals, things change.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We have ahimsa or peace silk that's taken after a silkworm finishes its life cycle. We have organic wool that's taken from sheep, alpaca, goats, and other animals that were not exposed to pesticides. But for fur, the ecological choice is faux fur. But is this the right choice?


Usually made from various petrochemicals, faux fur is made up of synthetic fibers. Most synthetic materials are made from chemicals, yet still considered to be better eco-choices because they're fake. 


Real fur comes from animals without their permission, going against the odds of ethical fashion. Do we have the right to take this creature's fur? No, but we do. Real fur may be eco-friendlier than faux fur since it's naturally occurring and sustainable as in we use the resources available to us.

It's a technical debate as in many topics within eco-fashion that falls under the umbrella of ethical fashion. Things depend on what's considered to be ethical and who makes these considerations. 



Fur is Green is a pro-website for fur as an eco-fashion material. It also explores the separate debate of killing and using the furs of invasive species whose populations grew too large to the point the environment is suffering.


Do we still have the right to decimate a certain population because it's messing up the water resource in an area? Or do we just send the invasive species back to the homeland and hope they can re-adapt there? Though this practice seems to be sound now, it could lead to the foreign, overpopulated communities turning into endangered species.

As two major clothing materials, fur and leather falls in the middle of the dispute whether they're eco-fashion or their chemically-created faux counterparts are.