photo credit: wollombiNew Zealand has a pest-problem. Trichosurus vulpecula, the brush-tailed possum, is eating up the forests. It’s chomping on the eggs of native birds, and is a carrier of bovine tuberculosis. And unfortunately, there’s more than one. Actually there are an estimated 70 million of these critters rampaging the countryside — quite a large number for an area with only 4 million humans. It is an invasive species, and some people think it needs to be eradicated in New Zealand to protect the ecosystem.

So marketers had an idea — why not use the soft, sleek fur of these animals (a marsupial related to the koala, not related to the North American possum) to create a new, eco-friendly arm of the fur industry? Eco-Luxury Fur, LLC, has been marketing the fur in the US with the tag-line, “All of the luxury, none of the guilt.”

The problem is that, well, Americans aren’t buying it, literally or figuratively. As the Wall Street Journal’s Christina Binkley pointed out:

[I]t isn’t clear that the eco pitch will sell possum fur. For one thing, there’s little indication that people who oppose furs like mink, sable or beaver will favor possum. While New Zealand’s possums aren’t endangered or raised in cruel conditions — the usual objections to fur — there remain questions about the humanity of trapping the animals, and some consumers don’t wish to condone any animal-killing at all.

One of the stores that has added the possum line to its wares has yet to sell a coat.

While the coats aren’t taking off, other products may be, such as possum-wool-blend sweaters, and possum-fur bed throws. Apparently Tiger Woods has been known to wear possum gloves while golfing.

It’s certainly true that people are looking for greener alternatives to the luxuries they want to have. And generally people seem more likely to go with a greener alternative than they are to go entirely without an item. But will possum fur convince people who would otherwise avoid fur to wear it? And what about the people who already intend to buy fur? Will they be swayed to this alternative? The manager of Norsk Leather & Fur in Park City, Utah, one of the shops trying out the possum fur goods, doesn’t seem to think so.

The appeal to the environmentally conscious “sounds like a good idea,” says manager Paul Zembruski, “but the people who will buy this kind of product don’t care.”

What about you? Do you believe in “eco-fur”?

[Yahoo News : Radar Online : Wall Street Journal]