Greenpeace

    That’s more of a sentence than a title, but it is totally true.  You already know about the stupendous student work and victories Columbia and Harvard (if not, read the previous and next-to-previous blogs I’ve written, people), but guess what— there’s more!
Students at the University of Alberta have publicly voiced their concerns over their school’s disposable paper purchasing, and their campaign has even gotten newspaper attention.     
    Though the Students' Union at the University of Alberta has adopted an ethical purchasing policy of its own, and only uses toilet tissue and paper towels made from recycled paper, the school (i.e. not the Student Union) uses Kimberly-Clark for their toilet paper. If you were to wonder: "Well, the Student Union can do this, why not the school?", you wouldn't be alone. After all, that’s what the students want to know too. "We are petitioning the University of Alberta to also adopt an ethical purchasing policy and stop using virgin forests for products that are flushed down the toilet," said student Jolene Shannon.
    The university responded that it takes the issues raised by the students seriously, and it is “committed to conducting our business in an ethical manner and with a view of sustaining the environment.” The topic of ethical purchasing policies will likely be taken up with campus stakeholders in future talks.
    The students’ work garnered a news story in the Edmonton Journal.  Check it out:
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/cityplus/story.html
?id=51103a3c-3356-4f13-8ba8-b4b59c49d6dc

Go student power! In a newspaper article published in Harvard University’s the Harvard Crimson, Harvard University announced that it is beginning a phase-out of Kimberly-Clark products in student housing facilities. And at the Kimberly-Clark AGM (its Annual General Meeting- i.e. a yearly meeting for the company and people who own stock in it), Harvard student Elizabeth Shope got up in front of KC board members, KC executives and KC shareholders and announced this!

Harvard is the fourth campus to express concern over Kimberly-Clark’s poor sustainability practices following American University, Skidmore College and Rice University.

Read the Harvard Crimson article here: http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=509012 and read about more exciting developments at the KC AGM here: http://kleercut.net/en/KC-AGM

Hot off the presses (and computer screens) check out a very awesome Green My Apple student action at Columbia University:

Thursday, April 26-- A group of students at Columbia University led by Lauren Valle presented a 4 x 3 foot postcard addressed to Columbia Board of Trustee chair Bill Campbell. The postcard bears the names of 850 Columbia students who signed smaller postcards asking Mr. Campbell, who is also on Apple Inc.’s executive board, to make Apple to cut back on the toxic chemicals found in their products and improve their recycling programs.

Though Campbell was not in office when the students presented the very large postcard, Valle emphasized that the students will not "drop this issue until we get a response." Valle continued, "I understand they [the trustees] have a big agenda and I respect that, but we all have to step outside ourselves and look at some larger issues."

Read the story published in Columbia University's student newspaper (all one line, obviously): http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/
storage/paper865/news/2007/04/27/
News/Students.March.Against.Apple-2884999.shtml

 

Where can you get such a large petition? Start the Green My Apple campaign on your school's campus- email students@sfo.greenpeace.org for more information.  

Maybe I should have posted this last Sunday, on Earth Day, but I was too busy having a picnic with friends at Golden Gate Park (see my new photo! It’s been called “Renaissance-y! " ) on Earth Day to drag out my laptop (and besides, it was Sunday . . .). Annnywaayyyy, I thought that you all might be interested in checking out some of these green living guides. Some of the guides give you easy to implement, helpful lifestyle changes, and some point you in the direction of green businesses in your area. Also, some of the info these guides list repeat, but really, will it kill you to read a few times that you should use compact fluorescent bulbs, not regular light bulbs? Don’t think it will, and you might even do it!

Starting with ours at Greenpeace, here they are:  

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/getinvolved/green-guide – Greenpeace’s Green Guide
http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages/  -- Coop America’s Green Pages
http://www.nrdc.org/cities/living/gover.asp  – NRDC’s Green Living Guide
http://www.colby.edu/environ/glpg.html – Colby College Green Living Guide
http://www.mixitproductions.com/prjmisc/guides/greentips/greentips.html – Union of Concerned Scientists Green Tips

 

. . .Now go out and start living greenly! 

  

After just about 5 days, 60 events and more than 500 photo petitions asking Steve Jobs to create a totally green Apple, the Green My Apple Week of Action is coming to a close.
The Week of Action has shown Steve that students across the US support our campaign to make a truly green Apple, and that whatever small environmental improvements he might choose to make in the upcoming weeks will not be enough. The Green My Apple photos are a stunning visual display of green grassroots power! I’ve put a few below, but check them all out at http://www.flickr.com/groups/greenmyapple/

Also exciting is our Apple Skull-pture that is making the rounds in California’s Silicon Valley (where Apple is headquartered and where many Apple employees live). The Skull-pture made an appearance at a San Jose Giants game a little less than a week ago. Metroactive, Silicon Valley’s weekly newspaper, took notice:


Skull and Groans
San Jose Giants fans got more than a double header this past Sunday. They were greeted at Municipal Stadium's gate by Greenpeace activists and a giant electronic skull and bones made from thousands of pieces of junked Apple products. Greenpeace kicked off its Toxic Tech Tour at the game, handing out literature and answering questions about E-waste while the massive skull's computer monitors played videos of children working on Mount Everest-size global trash heaps in developing countries like Africa and China where these discards are sent. During the game, fans watched faux Apple ads from the stadium's JumboTron and were asked to urge Apple to go green. Ashby Marshall, Greenpeace organizer, says they'll be touring Silicon Valley until Apple's annual shareholders meeting in May, where they hope Apple CEO Steve Jobs will announce new eco-policies. Greenpeace asked Apple's board of directors to pass resolutions removing the most toxic substances from its products and to offer free take back everywhere Apple products are sold. But our question is: since when did minor league baseball go all Al Gore? "When we asked if we could come to the game," says Marshall, "the San Jose Giants said 'yes' right away and offered us their JumboTron. This campaign is very positive. We love our Macs and Ipods. We just wish they were greener. We're still saving whales, but we're looking at E-waste because it's massive and it's a hazard that's impacting the entire world."

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/04.18.07/fly-0716.html

 

 

 

 

 

It’s only Tuesday but the Green My Apple Week of Action is already way underway. Students at campuses across the country are taking photo petitions to send to Steve Jobs and we've already got over 250!  The pictures look amazing! I’ve put a few on this blog, but there are more here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/greenmyapple/ Before this Week of Action is over, people with Green My Apple speech bubbles are going to be as ubiquitous as people with I-pods!

 

 

 

 

get pumped-- pretty soon you'll be reading about exciting updates from the Apple Week of Action, not to mention updates from Kimberly-Clark's shareholder meeting and Apple's shareholder meeting. In the meantime, satisfy your thirst for all things Greenpeace by checking out these awesome Flickr pics: http://www.flickr.com/groups/greenmyapple/

While you may have been on the rocking Green My Apple Conference Call last night, you also may not have been. Worried that you missed out on a great thing? Well . . . no worries because—yes, that’s right—I’m going to tell you about it right here, right now.

The call began with background on the Apple Campaign that highlighted what it’s about, how it started and the worldwide impacts of Apple’s toxic electronic waste (e-waste). From there we went into the student aspect of the campaign, specifically what it means to be a Greenpeace Campus Coordinator. We talked a little about the Greenpeace Student Network, what it has been doing for this campaign, but also about Greenpeace Student Network victories. This group of dedicated environmentalist students have fought for the University of California system to “Go Solar” and schools to stop buying disposable tissue products made of endangered, virgin forests. The exciting part is that students have won good portions of these fights. In 2003 (a day before my birthday), the University of California Board of Regents voted unanimously in favor of a Clean Energy and Green Building policy, and in 2006 and 2007, American and Rice University both have stopped buying Kimberly-Clark products.  

What’s next for the Greenpeace Student Network? On the call we discussed the Green My Apple Week of Action that’s coming up right next week. So far, 60 campuses have signed up to participate. Last night we talked about some of the technical parts of the event, such as getting permitted space, setting up a Flickr account, and getting materials ready. We also chatted about doing publicity and media for your Week o’ Action. To generate the most publicity, talk to your friends, put up flyers (or put them down, taped to the sidewalk), and don’t forget to talk to campus newspapers so they can have a story about your event.

Learn more here: http://members.greenpeace.org/event/launch/247/

 

These people were in Russia, and not on the conference call. But if they were in the US, they would have been-- I swear!  (photo by Thomas Struth)

 

Greenpeace has recently released a new Guide to Greener Electronics. While there are some nice developments— Lenovo, once ranked last in our 'Green Ranking,' has shot up to first place—there are some areas of non-improvement. Apple continues to lie listlessly at the bottom of the “electronics barrel.” We at Greenpeace and I’m sure you out there are wondering: if Lenovo can turn things around, what's stopping Apple from turning green?

Though I can’t answer that question for sure, I can say that likely leading to Lenovo’s decision to do environmentally better was competitive pressure, an ongoing dialogue with Greenpeace campaigners, and consumer expectations. With your help, Apple can join these greener companies.

From April 16th to 20th, students on more than 50 campuses across the US will be asking Apple to clean up their computers and score a perfect “ten” for the environment. All you have to do to participate is set up a table and take digital pictures of students hugging Macs and/or holding comic book style speech bubbles that tell CEO Steve Jobs Steve to “Take the Lead, Score a Green 10." We’ll upload these photos to our flickr account and once we've collected at least 500 pictures we'll deliver all of them to Steve Jobs and Apple's Executive Board. Our week of action is strategically timed to take place just weeks before Apple’s annual general meeting. Email students@sfo.greenpeace.org for more information about this campaign and how your school can play a role in helping us win it. We’re also having a conference call about the Week of Action on Tuesday, April 10th at 9 PM EDT. Email Sam at students@sfo.greenpeace.org to get more information about joining the call.

Read about our findings on our website, or on Grist, http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2007/04/05/

 

Hey- want to see the longer YouTube version of the recent New York City Kleercut activity? Go to: http://kleercut.net/en/letitout -- let it out and check it out

 

 

 . . . apparently, Oasis has a "Let it out" album! Great minds think alike . . . if you can call Kleenex and Oasis great minds . . .

Interesting story on Gore and Apple from CNN Money.

Read it! http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/02/news/companies/pluggedin_Gunther_Gore.fortune/?postversion=2007040309

Last Saturday in New York’s Times Square, Kimberly-Clark was filming a Kleenex “Let It Out” commercial. Unfortunately for K-C, Greenpeace activists were there to join them.

Kimberly Clark’s new ad campaign features "Brand ambassadors" who stop folks on the street, telling them "don't hold anything back,” and "let it out." The commercial encourages these real people to tell Kleenex about something that upsets them (and then use a Kleenex to wipe their teary eyes). Well, we definitely told them what upsets us!

We sent three undercover Greenpeace Frontline activists in with hidden mics to infiltrate their interviews and talk about what really makes us cry: wiping out old-growth forests for disposable tissue products. While our third activist actor was sitting on the Kleenex couch, talking to the therapist/actor, ten folks in Kleercut t-shirts appeared out of nowhere and held a "Kleercut" banner up behind the couch.

The Kleenex team was caught off guard. They stopped the film shoot and for the rest of the day we flyered passersby, effectively shutting down the filming of  a massive ad campaign. KC execs in town for a paper conference stopped by to observe looking none too pleased in their suits and their scowls.

At one point the camera crew had to shut down for an hour, they had a difficult time getting a shot that excluded the Kleercut logo, and for some reason found very few New Yorkers interested in Letting It Out for their commercials. To see a video picked up by the Gothamist (NYC's largest blog that has a circulation of 250,000 hits/day) go to
http://www.gothamist.com/2007/03/26/video_of_the_da_57.php

no, I'm not talking about the Apple Campaign-- I'm talking about working for Greenpeace, in a way that pays you money!

Check out the latest job openings and apply to work with us!

Office Assistant in San Francisco
Greenpeace Organizing Term Coordinator (2 positions) in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Student Organizer in San Francisco or Washington, D.C.
 
Go to: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/about/jobs for more info

read the article:

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=289422007

 

 

not climate change but certainly strange (image by William Kentridge): 

 

About two weeks ago, a Forest Defenders’ (sign up to be one at http://kleercut.net/en/) email went out that asked people to take action to save the Boreal forest. The email requested that Forest Defenders the world over contact “The View” hostess, Rosie O'Donnell.
    What’s Rosie got to do with Kleercuts? you wonder. Well, here’s the connection— seems like Rosie has been promoting Kimberly-Clark Products on her TV show “The View.” Isn’t it ridiculous (some might say, appalling) that a TV show as popular as “The View” would promote products manufactured by K-C, a company that destroys ancient forests to make disposable tissue products?
    Of course. And our Forest Defenders definitely thought so too. They sent hundreds of emails to ABC and “The View” to tell them that it is unacceptable to encourage the use of Kimberly-Clark products. In fact, Forest Defenders the world over sent so many emails that ABC seems to have temporarily shut down “The View’s” contact email function— after about 100 successful emails to ABC, many of the Forest Defenders’ emails couldn’t get through.
    While it’s frustrating that they did not get all of our emails, it’s a good sign that they heard us!

Now’s a great time to get involved in the Green My Apple campaign. Why? Because during the week of April 16-20, students across the nation will call on Apple to be a leader in the technology industry and create environmentally friendly “green” computers. How? With Apple’s own tools of course. How? We'll take digital pictures of students hugging Macs and/or holding comic book style speech bubbles with messages like “Green My Apple”. Then we'll deliver all of our pictures to Steve Jobs and Apple's Executive Board. Our week of action is strategically timed to take place just weeks before Apple’s annual general meeting (its AGM). This year, let’s give Apple investors something to talk about!

So what are you waiting for? Click here to Join us!(After you sign up you'll have to come back to this page on your own, we're still working out some kinks.)

Below are some links to help you get you started on your Apple Day of Action. Have more questions?  Email students@sfo.greenpeace.org, or call Sam at (202) 319-2486.

Helpful Tip Sheets

The 3 week plan to make planning your event easy

Ideas for your action table

Green My Apple talking points

Links

Campaign Homepage: www.greenmyapple.org

Frequently Asked Questions about the Green My Apple Campaign

Video: Greenpeace's Steve Jobs Keynote Spoof

Video: iPhone Spoof by Conan


Background Information, Materials and Reports

Report Summary: Greener Guide to Electronics, Company Rankings

Report: Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics

Report: Recycling of Electronic Wastes in China and India

Green My Apple Banners

Green My Apple Gear

Green My Apple Wallpaper

Toxics Animation from Greenpeace China

Files

3-Week Event Plan.pdf PDF, 20094 bytes
Ideas For Your Table.pdf PDF, 61004 bytes
Talking Points.pdf PDF, 22359 bytes

As you may know, the Greenpeace Organizing Term (GOT) recruitment season is well underway—the final application deadline is March 16th! To get the highest caliber students for the GOT program, we need your help. We need you to refer us lots of applicants. Because we all like sweet deals, this year we’re excited to introduce a massive, multi-school competition with a grand prize of a trip to Washington, D.C. or San Francisco for an actions training. The training will be your choice, either boat driving or wall climbing and it will be fully paid (including airfare and housing) by Greenpeace. We also have other prizes for your involvement. For every 5 applicants, you can choose a Greenpeace t-shirt or a Greenpeace tote bag (see the pictures).  There are just a few ground rules: 1) As soon as you get someone to apply to the program, email students@sfo.greenpeace.org with the name of your applicant, and your name, so we can keep track of who’s winning. 2) The training must be used within a year of winning the competition. Lastly, remember, the Greenpeace student team makes the final call on the competition.

Ideas for recruiting:
1. Make announcements in campus environmental groups with sign up sheet
2. Make announcements in classes with sign up sheet
3. Forward the email to listservs

Here’s some text about the GOT that you can use in your email recruitment:

The Greenpeace Organizing Term final application deadline is March 16th. Have you asked yourself lately: how do I get action, adventure, training and friends, all packed into one semester? If so, sit your self down and apply at http://www.greenpeace.org/got to spend a semester at Greenpeace. We’d also like you to spread the word to other passionate students interested in winning campaigns on campus. Please forward this email to your friends, groups, professors, and classes.

Here are some lovely models showing off your prizes . . . which one will you pick?

 

 

    It’s crunch time! Kimberly-Clark’s AGM (annual general meeting- read about it in Wikipedia-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_General_Meeting) is coming up on April 27th. Last year at the K-C AGM, the K-C Board was surprised with a terrific (not for them) letter from American University that stated the University would not buy K-C products until the company stopped sourcing from endangered forests. This year’s AGM could be your campus’ turn to shine.
    Is your campus working on a letter? Wouldn’t it be terrific if this letter were presented directly to the K-C Board of Directors? You bet. So keep up the awesome work, and if you get your campus letter by April 1st (3 weeks away! I told you it’s crunch time), we can plan to present it at the K-C AGM, and really knock off the K-C board’s socks!

Check out the student tools: http://members.greenpeace.org/students/tools/view/16
Read the story on American University: http://kleercut.net/en/campus
Read the American University Letter: http://kleercut.net/en/node/761?size=large

    Taking collaboration to a whole new level, the Greenpeace Student Network and the Greenpeace Organizing Term have teamed up at Columbia University in New York City. Campus Coordinator at Columbia, Lauren Valle, and the campus group EarthCo already has the Apple campaign going full-swing at Columbia, and recently, the GOT has joined them. To be sure, the intensity of this campaign will be raised to extraordinary heights.
Columbia is a key campus because Bill Campbell is the chair of trustees at the school and he also sits on the Apple board. You can count your chickens on this: the company will definitely be monitoring what goes on at Columbia.
    But, perhaps you are wondering: “what exactly is going on at Columbia?” Let me share: This past week the GOT has been doing a TON of outreach, has had more than 500 petitions signed and taken more than 50 "hug my mac" pix for the website. The petitions will both go directly to our buddy Steve, and be used by Lauren and EarthCo in their campaign to get campus administration to write a letter of concern. Way to go, GOT and EarthCo!


This is a photo about collaboration, but the GOT-EarthCo collaboration is….less stripped?

 

 

 

(image from: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://usight.concord.org/collaboration/images/group_of_teachers.jpg&imgrefurl=http://usight.concord.org/collaboration/&h=244&w=350&sz=41&hl=en&start=87&tbnid=qY52dGKR9PFKmM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522collaboration%2522%26start%3D80%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN )  

    It’s the end of February, and man, you’re bored. You’re thinking, I have all my classes settled, all my extra-curricular activities planned, midterms aren’t for awhile, and finals are a looong way off. But wait, something’s missing from my life. Is it: a significant other? A furry pet? A new (not Apple) laptop? NO! It’s a Greenpeace Student Network Campus Coordinator position!   
    That’s right. You know you want to be involved with cutting-edge Greenpeace campaigns and make a difference in your world and in the greater world. But what does a Campus Coordinator do, and why should you be one? Simply put, the Coordinator takes charge of a Greenpeace campaign (that’s Apple or Kleercut) on his/her campus and stays in touch with other leaders in the Network to plug into joint activities. This means that the Coordinator works on his/her campus campaign with campus environmental groups, volunteers and your faculty allies (like Sustainability Coordinators), but the Coordinator also gets lots of support from Greenpeace Campus Organizers and other Greenpeace Campus Coordinators. As you all probably know, things are a lot less intimidating when you have a clear support system, and this position certainly has that!
    If you are interested in applying to be an Apple or Kleercut Campus Coordinator, please email us at students@sfo.greenpeace.org to request an application. Make sure to let us know on which campaign you’d like to work. For more information, check out: http://members.greenpeace.org/students/about_us

 

on an unrelated topic. Check out this awesome Vancouver (I believe) artist, Julie Morstad:

 

    When I was in college the best “study break” activities—a cappella groups, short films, free snacks—always appeared during major work crunch times, like during finals and midterms. I guess this is no surprise. After all, the most rapt and receptive audience may very well be the audience with other things it should be thinking about.  
    So, perhaps it’s not finals or midterms for you all yet, but I have a great study break activity for you. Go to http://www.greenmyapple.com/submit and enter your designs for the Apple campaign’s t-shirts and advertisements. You can even make an “alternative” Steve Jobs speech.     Once you’re on the site, you’ll see campaign t-shirts, advertisements, and alternative Steve Jobs speeches that people around the world— creative people who are also fired up about the campaign— have submitted.
    Hope to see your designs there!

    Not to over-simplify things but the corporate bad people are ruining our world. Look at Kimberly-Clark—senseless destruction of ancient forests that are home to hundreds of animal and plant species and important carbon stores. Look at Apple— creating products with toxins in them that poison people in the developing world. Your campus can challenge these corporations. Of course you want to get involved. But how do you start?
    Here’s a tip. Call it, Tip of the Week, if you want (but I don’t know what other tips you’ve had this week… ) : Call it, Research. Research? Isn’t that what you do for papers? Yes, research for papers and research for campaigns. Let’s start with Kimberly-Clark.
    The first step is to look at your school’s campus directory or organizational chart to find your school’s director of purchasing. This is the person who you will want to talk to first. While you’re doing this computer-based research, you can do some on the ground research too, specifically in the bathroom. Seriously, do your school’s toilet paper dispensers say “Kimberly-Clark” on them? That’s a good tip that your school uses at least one K-C product. What about the paper towels? Check out www.kleercut.net to see for what K-C brands you should be on the look out. There are some K-C products that might not be easy to spot but that your school might use, for example, microscope lens wipes. However, your director of purchasing will likely be able to go into specifics, and at this stage, it’s good to find out just generally what’s going on at your campus.
    Interested in what Green my Apple research might look like? A first step is to find out where Macs are used, purchased or sold on your campus. Look at design departments, engineering departments, bookstores, “Mac Labs” (Aha! That’s where the Macs are!) and campus procurement offices. Find the name and contact details (phone, email, mailing address) of the person in charge of the computers in each of these locations.  They’ll have titles like “Head of Academic Computing” or “Technology buyer." These are the people to whom you’ll eventually need to talk.
    Sound good? Ok, let’s go!

 Greenpeace Locks Down Kimberly-Clark Headquarters

    If you weren’t on last night’s Greenpeace Student Network Conference Call, you sure missed out on a whole bunch of exciting news. Too bad for you, of course. But not too too bad for you because I’m going to fill you in right now. Straight from the field, I’m stoked to report that students throughout the Network are campaigning like crazy!  An example: Jenna at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey is hard at work on the Green my Apple campaign. She went to see the director of computer services and presented the campaign. Lo and behold, the director was impressed with the campaign (and, I’m sure, with Jenna herself!) and wrote a very strong letter about the campaign to the Apple representative at Stockton College. Jenna is working on contacting the director of computer services to see if she’s received a letter back from Apple. Emily at Stanford, also working on the Green My Apple campaign, has put up Green My Apple displays on the apples in the dining halls (very clever, no?). Additionally, she has talked to at the head of Stanford’s Academic Computing, who put her in touch with the school’s Apple sales representative. The Apple representative has told Emily that she’d be “pleased to meet” with her, and may even go so far as to set up a meeting between Emily and Apple’s environmental people. Right now, Emily is putting together a packet to send to the Apple people. Way to go, Jenna and Emily! Way to go, everyone!
    One more update from the call: there’s currently a competition to see who can recruit the most students for the Greenpeace Organizing Term. There are prizes (t-shirts) for every 5 people you get to apply, and the Grand prize is an all-expense paid by Greenpeace climb training or boat training in Washington, DC or San Francisco! Contact Diana, diana.silbergeld@sfo.greenpeace.org for more information.

    While their parents are reading about climate change in the newspaper, watching the TV news and listening to the radio recount the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report, students at Ivy League schools are taking action.
    Last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released its long-awaited fourth report. The news we already knew is the group’s conclusion. The New York Times reports, “the group asserts with near certainty — more than 90 percent confidence — that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases from human activities have been the main causes of warming since 1950.” Grist states the bad news we already basically knew. “They say by 2100, temperatures will likely rise 3.2 to 7.1 degrees Fahrenheit, and sea levels will rise 7 to 23 inches, plus another 4 to 8 inches if polar ice sheets keep melting.” Achim Steiner, the head of the U.N. Environment Program, tells us "Anyone who would continue to risk inaction on the basis of the evidence presented here will one day in the history books be considered irresponsible."
    The good news is the Ivy League schools will not be considered irresponsible in the history books. Students at these schools (Brown, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, and University of Pennsylvania) are taking action. Students at these schools have banded together and introduced—no, not a new style of sweatpants with words across the butt or a new version of Ugg boots (can they get anymore unflattering? Just wondering … ) — a resolution that they all go climate neutral. Yay! As the celebratory email announced, “It’s official, students from all the ivies have come together and resolved that we go climate neutral!” The resolution demands this commitment from every school in the Ivy League, as well as the reduction of on-site emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
    So… next steps… there’s a lot more schools than the Ivy seven. Do you really want to be considered irresponsible in the history books? I think not.

 

 

 

In a recent New Yorker article, Elizabeth Kolbert interviews the environmentalist Amory Lovins. At one point in the story, Kolbert mentions “thinking outside of the box” and is quickly informed by Lovins, “there is no box.” What a great way to understand environmentalism! We want to promote solutions, solve problems, sure- but why limit ourselves to “box”solutions? Let’s think wide; let’s think about what needs to be done, and then, let’s innovate.
I’m reminded of a story told to me by our Greenpeace Campaigner before Mac World. She said, For years we pushed to remove lead from products because it is hazardous to human health. The industry kept telling us, “there’s no solution- we need lead in these products.” Did we give up? Did we say, “oh, there’s no way out of this one, I guess we’re stuck with a dangerous toxin like lead in our products forever.”
Did we?
No.
Instead, we pushed for, and got, a phase-out of lead in Europe. What happened next? Industry found a solution. Industry replaced lead with something less hazardous.
That’s a story of environmentalism without a box. And this is why I’m so enamored with the Apple campaign. Here we are with a lot of problems. Apples are full of chemicals like toxic brominated flame-retardants (BFR’s), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). When people throw out their old macs they end up being dismantled, often by children in third world countries, who are exposed to a dangerous toxic cocktail that threatens their health and the environment. This kind of environmental injustice is unacceptable. We need a solution. The exciting part— Apple is not a company stuck “in the box.” They are innovators. What we’re asking for is more innovation and fewer toxic chemicals in the products we all love. Steve Jobs as an innovator has the chance to make Amory Lovins, and all of us, proud.

Read about the article here (I couldn’t find the print version online): http://www.newyorker.com/printables/press/070122pr_press_releases

Right now I am sitting at my desk, listening to my I-pod. Well no, not really. I am not listening to my I-pod, but rather, to music on my I-pod—but this is small change, not really taking away from the main point I was trying to make about 2 sentences ago. Main point: I am physically attached to a piece of Apple equipment and I am thinking about it.

Physically and emotionally attached to a piece of Apple equipment. It’s ridiculous how I feel about my I-pod. The year after I graduated from college, my I-pod died (stupid mistake—I thought it would be ok to take it jogging with me in a downpour) and I still mourn its passing, like it was a favorite pet. Oh, my first I-pod with all of the music from my college’s radio station on you; I will never have an I-pod as good as you! The value of my second I-pod is not so much the music that’s on it but the beauty inherent to all I-pods—it just travels so well with me. How wonderful it is to throw this little contraption into my bag and not have to worry: I want to listen to this CD now, did I bring it? But despite how connected I am to my past and present I-pods, I will never, ever, come close to feeling how those people at San Francisco’s Mac World feel towards everything Apple.

Enter Greenpeace at Mac World in San Francisco, CA.

By now you know about Greenpeace’s Green My Apple campaign (if not, read it here: www.greenmyapple.com), so it’ll come as no surprise to you that we were at this Mac World convention, the largest gathering of Mac lovers.  Steve Jobs was speaking on the Tuesday morning of the convention and oh man, people were lined up in front of the convention center when we got there at 7 AM. (And it looked liked some had camped out overnight. No joking—there were camping chairs, blankets and Krispy Kreme donut boxes set up through out the line.)

We got to work. A group of us handed out fliers on Greenpeace’s campaign. We’re asking Apple, an innovator in technology, to be an innovator in green technology. We want Apple to stop using toxic chemicals in all of its products and to provide a free take-back program to reuse and recycle its products wherever they are sold. Most people at Mac World were very receptive to these ideas. They took the fliers we handed out, stopped to ask for more information, even posed for pictures with our version of “the Mac guy”—a cardboard cutout of the actor who plays “a Mac” on the commercials (in our version, he wears one of our campaign t-shirts). But the weird thing was, some people wanted to argue with us. That’s not weird in itself—I mean, we’re Greenpeace, so it would be bizarre if some people didn’t want to argue with us—but these arguers wanted to argue that we were personally insulting Steve Jobs. What the what? A company’s products are hurting people all across the world and we should consider the feelings of this company’s CEO?

So here's my point: If you can’t politely ask a company to change its ways— that is, point out what they’re doing badly and how they, as leaders in their field, can be better— what can you do? Just sit back and wait for companies to self-correct? Maybe that would work for Apple (after all, as we were told that day, Steve’s Vegan), but what about the other not so innovative companies? Isn’t one of our responsibilities as consumers to be responsible consumers?

The not-so-fun facts about Kleenex you all know: Kleenex, one of the most popular brands of tissue products in the world, contributes to the destruction of ancient forests. Its manufacturer, Kimberly-Clark, has been unwilling to improve its practices, continuing to rely on paper and pulp made from clearcut ancient forest. Kimberly-Clark clears these ancient forests, essential in fighting climate change and providing home to wildlife like caribou, wolves, eagles and bears, into products that are flushed down the toilet or thrown away. However, here are some juicy tidbits about our least favorite product. Straight from the internet . . .


The material from which Kleenex is made was originally called "Cellucotton," and was designed by Kimberly-Clark during World War I. It came to be used in gas mask filters during the war, as a replacement for cotton, which was in high demand for use as a surgical dressing. (Wikipedia)

The group Liliput formed in 1978 under the name Kleenex, and soon made a name for themselves, until the threat of legal action by Kimberly-Clark in 1979 prompted a change of name to LiLiPUT (Kleenex being a propietry brand of tampon in Switzerland). (Wikipedia)

Weird image: http://www.ironicsans.com/2006/06/georgia_okleenex.html

The KLEENEX¨ brand first advertised its function as a ‘marvelous new way to remove cold cream.’ Many famous actresses proclaim KLEENEX¨ Tissues contributed to their clear complexions. (http://feeds.feedburner.com/thedesignencyclopedia)

The term in France, “a Kleenex generation,” refers to workplace instability. A “Kleenex generation” means that an employee is “used and tossed away when the employer decides he needs a fresh one.” (from Barbara Ehrenreich, “Kleenex Workers” )

The term “snot party” (come on, you heard of it, right?!?) essentially translates into: the act of several people sneezing and blowing their noses really hard into kleenexes (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snot+party)

Happy New Year! Taking a short walk down memory lane to look at what the K-C campaign’s been up to this past year, I’m going to list here (in no particular order) some of 2006’s most awesome achievements.  

* a letter of concern to K-C from American University that highlights the university’s decision to avoid using K-C paper products
* the removal of K-C products from Rice University’s Housing and Dining
* a letter of concern from Skidmore College to K-C
*  the launch of a campaign by Guilford College students to eliminate K-C products as part of an ethical purchasing policy
* a presentation of The Lorax by University of Chicago students outside of the office of K-C Board Member Linda Johnson Rice in downtown Chicago
* a letter from the Green Restaurant Association to K-C stating that they will not endorse K-C products
* a terrific student summer training program for 125 students—Change It!—that has inspired many students to become involved with the K-C campaign on their own campuses
* a successful US blockade of a K-C factory
* a successful Canadian blockade of a K-C factory
* a successful Italian blockade of K-C’s Italian administrative offices
* pledges from 700-plus Forest Friendly businesses not to use K-C products
* almost 150 Kleercuts Stink Day of Action at campuses across the US and Canada, including a Flush Falk dunk tank at University of Georgia- Athens
* two Greenpeace Organizing Term (GOT) summer trips to Neenah, WI (where K-C has paper mills) and Madison, WI that helped to spread word of the K-C campaign to people in Neenah and Madison (and let K-C know that we’re serious about the campaign). While in Wisconsin, private detectives followed around the GOT students

One word for ya: WOW!