Have you heard this before? “So what does your environmental interest have to do with the real world?” What an annoying, ridiculous question. Yet for so many people, environmental work is either far away from, or just not part of, the “real world.” I have found this is especially true for forest and wilderness work, where the areas getting the attention are the areas physically removed from the population that is trying to save them (as well as removed, most likely, from the greater population).
But questions like these are part of the reason I am particularly excited about the Forest Friendly 500, a website of businesses that have pledged not to buy Kimberly-Clark products until the company stops sourcing from ancient forests to make its disposable paper products. This website makes the very necessary connection between the Boreal Forest’s well-being and consumer choices.
So there you have the “Forest Friendly 500” bit to which the title of this blog refers. Here’s where the two other parts of the blog’s title comes in—this summer, the Kimberly-Clark campaign needs you to recruit businesses to join the Forest Friendly 500.
As a Forest Friendly 500 activist this summer, not only will you be connecting with your community, but you’ll be educating people about ancient forests and their role in protecting/destroying these lands. You’ll be the person who’s making the connection between “environmental issues” and  “real world” issues. What could be more exciting? Not much, that’s for sure.
Oh, wait, here’s something that’s practically equally exciting—get ten businesses to join the Forest Friendly 500, and you’ll get a free green Kleercut t-shirt, get twenty sign-ups, and you’ll get a free hoodie. (Check out the website www.forestfriendly500.com for more information.)
Visit www.forestfriendly500.com to download your activist pack, and get busy! All the businesses in the world are eligible to participate—from, say, a family member’s business, to the coffee shop where you get your morning coffee, to the thrift store or law office in your neighborhood. You get the idea. Right now we have 264 businesses (52%) of the 500, but we need more. (Hey! It wouldn’t hurt to have more than 500 businesses listed, either.)
One last thing— if you plan on being a Forest Friendly activist, it would be great if you could email me (renata.silberblatt@sfo.greenpeace.org). This way, I’ll be able to see how many activists we have working on this campaign this summer. I’ll also keep you up-to-date on K-C campaign activities after the summer.