Greenpeace

    It seems to me that we don’t hear enough about young environmental leaders. People are doing great work all over, and yet, we hardly ever know their names (or even their actions). This was made clear to me when an ex-boyfriend who works in publishing started ticking off the names of “famous” people he had seen at his bosses’ (two of his bosses were getting married) wedding. After excitedly listing all the young writers/publishing people he had seen at this event, I started thinking about the people in my field who I’d be excited to see at an event. And though I’ve been a committed environmentalist since before I can remember, I couldn’t come up with a single name. Rachel Carson? Dead. John Muir? No longer with us. Edward Abbey? Departed. I thought hard, and I was still at zero.
    Well, not quite. I spent yesterday morning talking with Mark, who is in Greenpeace’s GOT (Greenpeace Organizing Term) program. Mark spoke quickly in a friendly Midwestern manner that reminds me of my Ohio college days. Excitedly, he told me about someone he met over the phone—a committed college activist who is vigorously trying to change her world.
    Minneapolis-born Kate Hunt’s favorite quote is from George Adams: “. . .but if your mind is imaginative, if your heart seeks the unexplored, the setting does not matter. Your life will be an adventure.” She arrived on the Wartburg Campus in small-town Waverly, Iowa ready for action. Before she got there, Wartburg was very quiet. The 1,200-student campus was conservative, with little political activity going on.
    Growing up with an activist mother who was the executive director at the Voyageurs Region National Park Association, Kate's activism roots started early. She continues to grow these roots at Wartburg, establishing a politically active base at school. She is known around campus for always talking to people about how they can become involved—whether she is at parties, or getting a meal in the dining hall. Despite that Wartburg’s administration remains slow to implement change, hesitant even to establish a school-wide recycling policy, she manages to stay positive and actively engaged.
    When Mark contacted Kate about partaking in the K-C Student Day of Action on April 5, she was excited to be involved as ever. But when Mark mentioned that the goal of the Day of Action was to get 20 phone calls from students on each campus in to the K-C headquarters, Kate’s end of the phone fell silent. Mark grew worried. “Is this going to be a problem?” he wondered. Then Kate spoke. “This campus is going to get 100 phone calls in. We can do it,” she said.

To learn more about how you can become involved in the K-C campaign, visit www.kleercut.net and if you want to attend a K-C Day of Action, check out www.stopkleenex.com/april5.

    This is the Greenpeace blog space, so I’m sure everyone here already knows about Kleenex’s kleercuts in the Boreal forest, as well as understands all about the Boreal’s importance. So I shouldn’t bother to point out that even though it’s far away from us (those of us in the US and most of us in Canada, also), these wildlands are an essential guard against global warming, storing carbon dioxide in thick layers of moss, soil and peat. I won’t go into the Boreal’s totally incredible landscape of granite outcrops, lakes, rivers and marshes interspersed with pine, spruce, fir and polar forests. I won’t even mention that the Boreal is home to hundreds of wide-ranging wildlife species, such as moose, caribou, lynx, bear, wolves, eagles, hawks, owls. And of course, I’m going to tell you nothing, absolutely nothing, about the nearly 50% of the other 700 North American bird species that nest or breed in the Boreal.
    All this not being said, there is something that I bet you don’t know, and this is what I want to tell you about. The Kleercut campaign has a student component. Students can—students are—working across the country to influence their universities and colleges to not buy Kimberly-Clark products. So, just as individuals and small businesses (check out the Forest Friendly 500, www.forestfriendly500.com, if you haven’t already) are saying “No” to Kleercuts, if the students have their way, soon too will schools be wheedling their purchasing power against K-C. Yay!
    More stuff you might not know: there is a Day of Action against K-C coming up. On April 5th, students across the country will be hosting “Kleercuts Stink” events. To learn more about the activities planned, or to see events near you that you can attend, or to sign up to host an event, go to www.stopkleenex.com/april5.
    Students have already had a Day of Action this past fall. While the fall’s activities got K-C’s attention, they responded by only paying lip service to our demands to stop kleercutting the Boreal. This time, with your help, we’re going to raise a stink that K-C can’t ignore!

    I have never been to the Boreal forest, but it sounds pretty amazing. Stretching across the northern portion of Canada from Eastern Alaska to the province of Newfoundland, this wild land has been evolving for more than 10,000 years, and by now it’s is a diverse and awe-inspiring landscape of granite outcrops, lakes, rivers, marshes, pine, spruce, fir and poplar forests. The Boreal also is home to hundreds of animal species, including moose, caribou, lynx, bear and wolves, not to mention, eagles, hawks, owls, and nearly 50% of the other 700 North American bird species nest or breed in the Boreal’s forests and wetlands.
So, what does this remarkable land have to do with you? Easy. It’s being destroyed in order to make boxes of Klennex.
    No, that wasn’t some kind of not-funny joke or a typo. You’ve totally read right: Klennex uses ancient forests to make tissues that millions of people just throw away. Klennex’s parent company, Kimberly-Clark (K-C), is the world’s largest tissue manufacturer and sources between 20-30% of its worldwide fiber from the Boreal.
But there’s hope. You can help push K-C onto the right track. April 5th has been declared by us at Greenpeace as the National Students Kleercuts Stink! Day of Action, and we need your support. On April 5th, student activists around the country will host these events, which will include setting up a (either real or prop) toilet, inviting people to take the Toilet Paper Challenge (can they tell the difference between toilet paper sourced from endangered forests and recycled toilet paper?), and lastly, making a call to K-C executives, telling them to clean up their act or get outta the bathroom!
    If you’re interested in hosting a Kleercuts Stink! Day of Action on your college campus, or connecting with people on your campus who are taking part in the campaign to save our ancient forests, contact Lindsey Allen, Greenpeace Kleercut Campus Organizer at (415) 255-9221 ext. 307 or lindsey.allen@sfo.greenpeace.org for more information.