Theatre without the meat and gravy!

I've got quite a collection of vintage furs that were given to me many moons ago when I had an amateur theatre company. We did use them - and often - in period pieces. I've still got a few, though I've relocated many over the years. I would NEVER use real fur unless it was vintage and from 1960 or earlier. While I didn't love using the real ones, authentic-looking stoles are hard to find - at least here in America.

Yeah, I've heard the same about faux fur, which is why I've used vintage pieces. However, I needed a fur coat for a play and we only had minks and stoles, so I got a faux fur coat from a charity shop.

It's going to depend on the situation and a lot of factors will come into play.

From an environmental point of view it's definitely better to re-use an existing garment than use something new. That's true for all stage clothes, not just furs and fake furs, but if you can get a good looking fake fur second hand, then it might be a safer option. 

I have a friend who went Vegan recently and was going to get rid of all of her leather shoes. At one point she was trying to give them away, but as the environment was a factor then when she gave it more thought, she realised that was counter-productive. She's keeping the shoes she wears regularly, and will donate hardly worn dress shoes to charity shops. 

Charity shops won't accept fur coats or anything ivory, but I assume that's because they can't be sure it's genuinely old. The other worry was that people would just pretend their new fur coat came from the charity shop.

From an ethical point of view, most people accept that the use of genuine 'vintage' items are fine. Different people will have different definitions, but IMO the important thing is not to support the fur industry. So no new fur, and no doing anything that makes fur look fashionable. In that respect, new fake fur is also problematic. But if it's a period play and the actors are wearing period costume, then you are just reflecting those times. If it's a big West End production, then something new and fake is likely to be best, but if it's an amateur production with a one week run, then something from the back of a cupboard is fine IMO.

The most important thing is that the actors using the items are comfortable with it. Also, does the character need to wear a fur coat in the first place?

The move to LED lights has certainly reduced power usage in theatre due to lighting. Same can't be said for automation, revolves and the like.

Costumes do often find their way from professional productions into costume hire companies which gives them a much longer life.

I suspect the amount of print media produced to promote shows has declined significantly over recent years which again is a positive from a paper waste perspective