Victoria's Secret prints and mails 395 million catalogs a year, averaging more than 1 million a day. Almost all of it on non recycled paper! Endangering forests and ecosystems. Canada's boreal forest bears the brunt of it.This news might be a little dated but poignant nevertheless. It was back in December 12th 2005 when Time magazine first reported the site, VICTORIASDIRTYSECRET.net. Since then, it has been featured several times. I recently read about it in the March issue of Sierra magazine
ForestEthics.org started the campaign and the website to educate people about the unsustainable practices of the company. I think they are making progress. Since the campaign began, Victoria's Secret has switched about 24 million discount catalogs to postconsumer recycled paper. It is a good start. Still a long way to go.
Junk mail is something that aggravates and irritates me terribly. I have been struggling to get rid of it for almost a year now. I have added my name to the Direct Marketing Association's "Do Not Mail" list. I have called, e-mailed, snail-mailed a gazellion companies. I still get them. The amount has reduced, but it has not stopped.
A few like me recycle junk mail. A vast majority just discards it.
Junk mail is nothing but wastage of criminal proportions. About half of all US Postal mail is junk. About 100 million trees are cut to create junk. I think it is high time we had a legislation banning companies like Victoria's Secret from sending unsolicited mails. I want my forests and ecosystems standing. Not cut down and smeared with pictures of half naked skinny bulimic women.
Quote of the day
"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh** we don't need"~From the movie Fight Club (via quotegarden.com)
4 comments:
I so agree with you. Companies that send catalogs, mailers, etc. should be required by law to recycle and use recycled paper. (We recycle our junk mail, too.) I did not know about the Victoria's Secret campaign, so thanks for letting me know! I wonder if there is a way to find out what other catalogs I receive are also guilty.
So true - there is so much waste in this world. I am glad I read your blog regularly, at least I am reminded that I should waste less, every once in a while.
Just reading blogs instead of subscribing to a newspaper is one small contribution of mine. I need to do more though.
My apartment complex has come up with a novel idea. We have a centralized building that houses all our post boxes. And right inside that building is a paper recycling bin. So basically you take out all your mails, go through them and get rid of the junk then and there itself. No more reasons for not recycling.
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