Kyle is a former GOTer who in the fall of 06 decided to bring the KC Campaign to his school. Now, in the late fall of 06, his school is almost completely KC free. How did this happen? Read on and find out.  

Ill_Assist_You [IAY]: How did you get involved with this campaign?
Kyle [K]: I was in the GOT in Spring 06. One of the first weeks, we were briefed on the campaign by Richard Brooks [Greenpeace Canada Forest Coordinator].  After some training, we went to Knoxville and organized at the University of Tennessee campus. [KC has an administrative center in Knoxville, TN.] In Knoxville, I spoke with lots of people about the campaign, and by the time I left, felt deeply connected to it. I wanted to continue working on the issue, so over the summer I went to Wisconsin with the summer GOT students and did work there.  Now that I am back at school, I still feel very passionate about the campaign and am doing what I can on my campus.

IAY: Have you worked on other campaigns before?
K: Last fall [05] I worked with Sierra Club to combat the expansion of a landfill in Houston and worked to get a toxic waste site cleaned up.

IAY: With whom are you working on this campaign?
K: There is a handful of students at my school who are very active with the many campus environmental groups, and a number of other students who see this as a good opportunity to do something important. Everything we do [in the KC Campaign] that involves the administration is through our campus Sustainability Planner. He’s the best resource we could ask for.

IAY: What’s going on with the KC campaign on your campus?
K: Our Sustainability Planner talked with the purchaser for our custodial organizations and discovered that the only KC product they used was Kleenex tissues. We found out
that the brand we use for many other products, SCA, is cheaper and is made from recycled fiber. The decision to stop purchasing Kleenex tissue was a no-brainer. However, the university is not KC free—in many labs on campus we use KC’s Kimwipes for cleaning delicate surfaces.

IAY: There’s a KC board member affiliated with your school. How has this affected your campaign?
K: We tried to contact him. We wanted to hear his opinions and explain why we’re doing what we’re doing. The company sent us a copy of KC’s sustainability report, the generic propaganda they give to everyone who asks them about this issue, but we received no actual response from him until this week. He sent me a KC press release that explained how KC was named a leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. This means that the communication is still open, so I requested a meeting with him, and am curious to see if he responds. I’m also going to try for a big media hit. I plan to have a bunch of students on campus do the Kleercut Challenge, show people our school’s statement that we will not use Kleenex tissues, and ask students to sign petitions to our board member. We’re going to try to get into the Houston Chronicle, which would be great because the board member lives in Houston.

IAY: Sounds like you’ve basically accomplished your campaign goals. For the sake of others who are thinking about starting a KC Campaign on their campus, what kinds of techniques have worked really well for you?
K: To get people interested in the campaign, we organized a phone bank and asked students to come to the first meeting. About 50 people showed up. At the first meeting, I acted very dramatic and enthusiastic and showed the Kleercut video. I also created a Facebook group, and continue to spread the message through word-of-mouth. A good percentage of students on campus know about the campaign. This creates a buzz, and when people are asked if they want to take action on the campaign, hopefully they will be a little more excited about it because they have heard about it before.

IAY: What are you future plans?
K: Long term: I want to go to law school to become the most effective advocate for the environment I can be. Shorter term: I’m working on Kleercut and other campus sustainability issues. Very soon, I want to see my campus buy clean energy or carbon credits because right now, we spend about $12- 13 million on energy, and less than 1% of that is renewable. I also want to see a big push for energy conservation and for recycling on campus.  Next semester, I’ll be in Duluth, MN organizing for energy campaigns, and in April I’m going to Antarctica to do research on ice core samples and learn more about global warming. Next fall, I’m going to Buenos Aires, Argentina to learn Spanish and I will try to help Greenpeace Argentina while I’m there.

IAY: Why are you an environmentalist?
K: Because I don’t want to the natural world to be dominated, depleted, or destroyed by the manmade world. The two can, and must, coexist, or the Earth will not be a very good place to live for long. I always think about the big picture, and nothing is as large-scale and all-important as protecting the environment.