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FOREST CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY
Victoria's Got a Secret
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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc.
http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Portal
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September 26, 2003
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Glen Barry, Ph.D., Forests.org
Victoria's Secret - the high-end lingerie company - mails one of the
largest and most influential catalogs. They are also a leader in forest
destruction. The company mails out more than 395 million catalogs a year,
many derived from ancient Canadian Boreal and dwindling natural Southern
US forests. They use little recycled papers, and have no commitment to
protected endangered forests. Forest Ethics is launching a new campaign
based upon the premise that Victoria's Secret and the catalog industry can
no longer turn a blind eye to the ways their consumption and unsustainable
practices are destroying Endangered Forests. Please get involved early in
this exciting new campaign - details are below.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Did you know that Victoria's Got a Secret?
Victoria's Secret is destroying the world's last Endangered
Forests.
Source: Forest Ethics
Date: September 22, 2004
Get involved now! Together we can stop our endangered forests from ending
up in mailboxes around the world.
Victoria's Dirty Secret
Victoria's Secret, despite their advertising image, is no angel when it
comes to our forests. Victoria's Secret is one of the largest, most
recognizable, and most influential catalogs in the industry and a leader
in forest destruction. The company mails out more than 395 million
catalogs a year and operates 1,000 stores across the U.S. Instead of using
its leadership to challenge the logging industry's destructive practices,
Victoria's Secret uses hardly any recycled paper and refuses to make a
real commitment to protect Endangered Forests.
Acre after acre of the Canadian Boreal and Southern US forests are being
cut down for Victoria’s Secret. The Canadian Boreal is home to a quarter
of the worlds remaining intact forest; it is the nesting ground for
billions of North America’s migratory birds, home to the caribou and
grizzly bears, and one of the worlds greatest carbon storehouses. The
Southern US is producing 15% of the world's paper; approximately 6 million
acres of the South's forests are logged every year, primarily to make
paper. This paper industry is driving the destruction of Southern US
forests and the conversion of forests and wetlands to intensively managed
tree farms.
ForestEthics has been meeting with Victoria's Secret, demanding that they
come up with a new environmental policy that will actually make a
difference and get Victoria's Secret out of Endangered Forests. But so
far, Victoria’s Secret has taken some small steps forward, but continues
to buy massive amounts of pulp from areas in the Southern US and Canada
that simply should never be logged.
After forest activists campaigned for over three years in the office
supply industry, there were huge environmental shifts in corporations like
Staples and Office Depot. Both agreed to stop selling paper from
Endangered Forests and to significantly increase the average post-consumer
recycled paper they sell. After such a huge shift in the office supply
industry, Victoria's Secret and the catalog industry can no longer turn a
blind eye to the ways their consumption and unsustainable practices are
destroying Endangered Forests.
We are calling on Victoria's Secret to:
• End purchases from any company that is not identifying and halting
logging in Endangered Forests in the Canadian Boreal;
• Maximize post-consumer recycled fiber in catalogs (achieve 50%
post-consumer recycled in five years);
• Ensure that all suppliers are shifting to Forest Stewardship
Council certification;
• End the use of any forest products sourced from other endangered
forests, like key areas of the Southern U.S.
Get involved! We will only save the endangered forests from Victoria's
Secret's destruction with a large widespread grassroots coalition like in
the successful efforts on Staples and Office Depot.
Activists and groups will be holding local actions throughout the fall to
pressure Victoria's Secret. Join in these efforts by bringing together
your local group, a set of activists or even a bunch of friends to have a
rally, call-in day, postcarding event, etc., etc.. In a campaign against
Victoria's Secret, the possibilities for creative events are endless!
There will also be an international day of action during the winter
holidays, Victoria's Secret biggest time of the year, so start thinking
about that! There will be more info about getting involved at:
www.victoriasdirtysecret.net, which will be up soon.
Contact us immediately to get involved. We can help you plan an event,
send you an action packet, and send you materials and information about
the campaign. Please let us know that you're planning an event so we can
track where actions are happening.
It's time to convince Victoria’s Secret to stop destroying our forests!
Soon our new website will be up and running at
www.victoriasdirtysecret.net
For More Info:
Joshua Martin, joshua@forestethics.org, 828-251-1184
Shana Ortman, shana@forestethics.org, 415-863-4563 ext. 302
Liz Butler, liz@forestethics.org, 301-864-3244
Networked by Forests.org, Inc., gbarry@forests.org