I sent this letter to VANOC when I was advised that during the Olympics in Vancouver there will be advertisements on Tranlink stating "Fur is Green". I researched this claim and below is the loooooooong letter I wrote to Translink with the information I found.
From: Sarah [mailto:----]
Sent: February 3, 2010 11:37 PM
To: Vancouver 2010 Info
Subject: Fur is "Green"
Hello Scott Corbett and Bill Cooper
This letter is in regards to the "Fur is Green" advertisements that are posted on Vancouver's Translink.
The most recent marketing gimmick of fur and fur-trimmed products is claiming their products are “green”, “ecological” or “environmentally friendly”. In reality those terms are not regulated and the industry of Canada has confirmed that Canada’s Competition Act does not specifically restrict the use of terms such as "Eco" or "Environmentally Friendly". (August 13, 2007). Wikipedia’s description of the term "Environmentally Friendly" states: "Due to the fact that there is no existing international standard for this term, the International Standards Organization [ISO] deemed it too vague to be meaningful."
So is fur green? Consider the chemicals and harsh treatment that must be necessary to turn an animal (fur) skin, peeled off the tissue of a live creature, into a consumer product to be worn against human skin and stored in our closets, without decaying and collecting bugs. The Encyclopedia of International Labour Organization states that the chemicals commonly used to process fur include acids, hydrogen peroxide, chromates, formaldehyde, bleaching agents, and various types of dyes. Many of these are potential skin irritants. Formaldehyde is classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and a probable human carcinogen by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Chromates, depending on the type of compounds, can cause breathing problems and other health issues.
The Industrial Pollution Projection Systems, published by the World Bank (1995), ranks "Tanneries and Leather Finishing" third on the Linear Acute Human Toxic Intensity Index, after "Fertilizers & Pesticides" and "Industrial Chemicals Except Fertilizer". The USA's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that the waste from fur processing plants "may cause respiratory problems, and are listed as possible carcinogens." And the fur trade's own recent publications (2007) admitted that China, the largest manufacturer of fur products and textiles made with fur, was considering imposing an extremely punitive Value Added Tax on fur dressers and tanneries because they are considered "industries causing excessive pollution".
What does this mean? It means buzz words, such as "organic" or "natural" have also been misleadingly used by the fur trade. To describe a product as "organic" or "natural" is to imply that the production of such product involves neither artificial chemical treatment nor disruption to our eco-system. The washing, drying, tanning, dyeing, and trimming of fur require extensive chemical treatment. The trapping and removing of millions of wildlife from our environment is disruptive to our eco-system and you VANOC are advertising this lie in the year two thousand and ten on Vancouver’s TransLink advertising. You have blacked out Canadian Media and taken control over every ad run on every bus, skytrain and train meaning you are 100 percent responsible for spreading these lies. VANOC respect the nations of the world and the animals within them do not promote a dirty cruel industry.
Sincerely,
Sarah ----
