Sustainability in the Fur Industry

Abstract

A common understanding of ``sustainability{''} is to manage the resources today so that future survival can be secured. Many people focus on the issue of environmental protection, and recycling. Yet, there are other perspectives of sustainability. Firstly, at the micro-level, will the demand of fur products as luxury products be sustainable? Are there any supporting reasons for the survival of the demand of fur products? Secondly, will the supply of fur products diminish? Are there evidences of the continuation of the supply? Will the man-made substitute of fur, namely faux fur, replace the genuine fur? Thirdly, at the macro-level, what kind of political impact will the fur industry create to help her own survival? Fourthly, how about the social and economic impact that the fur industry creates to ensure her existence? Is the economy of the fur-producing country heavily depending on the tax from fur industry? Is the employment also depending heavily on the fur industry? Consequently, is there a holistic model of sustainability in the fur industry? Will this model be able to explain how the existing resources affect the future survival? In this chapter, a qualitative holistic model of sustainability of the fur industry is proposed. The research method consists of both secondary data research and primary data that are acquired through interviewing delegates of different roles in the fur industry. The results were compared to check if they are coherent. Finally, the result was analyzed. The holistic model was extracted accordingly.