Businesses Unite Against Kimberly-Clark
by Eric Kane, New York, NY on 08.23.06
Last month, we wrote about a report that Greenpeace published in an effort to expose Kimberly-Clark for using wood fiber from British Columbia’s coastal temperate rainforests and US federal forest lands in its products. Since then, both Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council have continued a campaign to encourage the tissue company to use recycled fiber and pulp from sustainable logging operations. According to Greenpeace, Kimberly-Clark, the world’s largest manufacturer of tissue products, used 3.1 million metric tonnes of pulp from forests in 2005. Much of this pulp was harvested from ancient forests including the great northern Boreal forest. The campaign has not yet succeeded in forcing the company to adopt new sourcing practices. However, the attention generated led 650 businesses to announce (through an advertisement in the New York Times) their collective refusal to use Kimberly-Clark paper products. We strongly urge our readers to stop using these products and to encourage friends and businesses to do the same. To find out which paper products we recommend click here.
Thank you for the links.
I'd encourage other people to email Kimberly-Clark about their plan to boycott at www.kleenex.com. Taking 30 seconds out of the day's websurfing isn't too much trouble, and it is possible to get these companies to take action if they really believe it will affect the bottom line.
The site for the campaign is http://www.kleercut.net/en
check it out
Sorry for the second post, but I wanted to inlude another link for people to send a letter to Kimberly Clark from our website.
http://members.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=42&ref_source=huggerkleercut
Thanks guys, didn't know about this campaign. I've sent KC an email explaining my reasoning for boycotting Kleenex products. I really like the NRDC guide to recycled content papers.
I complained to kimberly clark, about their buddhist monk advert in the UK, it showed a tibetan buddhist in harmony with nature, caring for animals, then he sneezes with a caption appearing on screen "KILLS 99.9% OF GERMS"... I can't believe how much they had missed the point. but i let it slide as their eco credentials seemed respectable (according to their website). how wrong i have been.. BOYCOTT these lies and the destruction of our natural world.
if you are in uk, here are the email addresses for people to write to at KC - consumerservicesdeptuk@kcc.com and katkins@kcc.com
their european hq is based in a town called reigate in surrey and it is right next to the train station should you want to pay them a visit for some direct action
Yeah, the NRDC alternatives guide is great. It's important to present people with other options. I see that my link was cut off so I will try hyperlinking it in the text
wow - i never even took notice of the paper towels used in my company's bathroom before (it's out of my hands). but during my last trip i noticed that we use Kimberly Clark's products! although i can't change my company's decisions, i'll definitely send an email to KC in hopes they'll change.
Kara,
I think it's great that you're going to e-mail Kimberly-Clark but also know that you might be able to talk with your company about greening up their practices. Those in charge of buying supplies and the CEO would be good to talk to (or if you can't talk to the CEO directly, try sending an e-mail or getting in touch with your manager about the problem).
The thing here is that people try buying recyled fiber tissues and discover something; they aren't soft. No one wants tissues that are sandpaperish...so they don't sell.
Here is a short press clipping referring to what I said about the 650 companies boycotting Kimberley-Clark
Note: both British Columbia and Kimberley-Clark (Professional Services) have exhibits at the Greenbuild Expo in Denver. I spoke to a fellow from a BC-based green business; he was disgusted by BC's presence. After talking about, it occurred to me that some green group(s) could have organised some sort of action at the Convention Center.