On April 21, 2007, members of the Wetlands Activism Collective demonstrated
in front of the corporate office of J. Crew, at 770 Broadway (at 9th St.) in
Manhattan.  Adorned in owl, bear, and caribou costumes, three of us cried in
despair, "J. Crew is evicting us from our forest homes!", melodramatically
"dying" on the sidewalk.  We educated many employees of the large office
building about J. Crew's destruction of ancient boreal forests, while they
were throroughly amused by our antics.  Later on in the demonstration, as
one activist in a bear costume staggered and "died" in the middle of the
sidewalk, a policeman said that such actions would be "blocking the
sidewalk."  After that, we took off the costume and laid the empty bear
costume sprawled out in front of us, with a sign about J. Crew in front, and
shouted, "J. Crew killed this poor bear!" The caribou cried, "My friend the
bear is dead, thanks to J. Crew!  They destroyed our forest home!"  The
employees exiting the building were delighted, to say the least.

We had several interested onlookers sign our petitions, though some building
employees were paranoid about irritating one of their neighbors and didn't
want to sign.  No media showed up at our protest, but you can't get media
all the time.  Building security was unnoticeable, police were friendly.
The corporate office definitely knew we were there, as nonthreatening as we
may have appeared.  This demonstration went off pretty well considering, and
we look forward to using even more great ideas the next time we have to take
action.

We had skits, several people showed up... it was a successful action in Atlanta... We definitely got the manger's attention.  We put ‘Attention J Crew and Eddie Bauer’ fliers all over the store.  Eddie was a little bit harder.  
The managers responded in an ‘I am trying to be nice but get the hell out of my store’ for J Crew.. at Eddie they were just mean.
We gave them an eviction notice and put banners up with the eviction notice on it as well.  Thanks Linda for coming out, you inspired my group to become forest warriors.  I am so proud of them.  

Members of the Boston Coalition for Sustainable Logging went to the Sears at the Cambridge Galleria in Cambridge, MA on Saturday.  Six of our members dressed as lawyers, and approached a manager with an "eviction notice" written up on a big poster. We took a picture with her and gave her a flyer, then explained that we were there representing ForestEthics, urging them to get out of endangered forests and use recycled paper for their catalogs. She was very angry that we'd taken the picture, but she did take the flyer, and she encouraged us to mail information to the store--which we will.

Thanks for organizing this on a larger scale! And I hope we go after Sears next--it's really easy to get around their store, and we could conceivably talk to all the customers and spread lots of flyers before they'd manage to get us all to leave.

ForestEthics and San Francisco activists delivered “eviction notices” to the stores of many big catalog companies this weekend. On Saturday morning at the Stonestown mall, 3 activists delivered mock eviction notices and talked to managers at J. Crew, Eddie Bauer, and Macy’s. These activists were joined by other activists at the big shopping mall downtown, and delivered more notices to the managers at J. Crew and Eddie Bauer. All of the activists rallied in front of the San Francisco Shopping Centre, and with some exciting street theatre, costumes, and handouts, managed to get the word out about the catalog industry to hundreds of people passing by.

Visit the photo gallery to see more pictures from this and other actions.
 

On behalf of the millions of animals who call the Boreal Forest home, at 1:30 PM on April 21 st, 2007, activists from Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania attempted to carry out an eviction of J. Crew at their location on Walnut Street in Shadyside in Pittsburgh. Four activists entered the store, three began passing out literature to the customers while a fourth began to read aloud from the eviction notice. The activist who read aloud informed everyone in the store that ForestEthics, Voices for Animals, and the animals of the Boreal Forest were giving J. Crew thirty days to vacate endangered forests that are being destroyed for catalog production. The planned reading was cut short by a manager who ran across the store screaming that "all of you" have to get out. After being asked to leave the store, the activists continued their action outside. Over the next hour and a half they stood in front of the store with signs that read "J. Crew Destroys Endangered Forests", "Evict J. Crew from the Boreal", and "J. Crew Causes Global Warming." While out front, the activists passed out 400 pieces of literature that explains J. Crew's connection to forest destruction and what people can do to help. Customers and others who passed by were extremely receptive, many asked what more they could do besides a phone call, and others were thrilled to hear of the Victoria's Secret victory.

I'm pleased to report that my little event in Santa Monica on the Third Street Promenade went quite well.  Lots of foot traffic on this crisp but sunny Saturday helped a lot; and I just think that people in general are becoming more sensitized to the issue of global warming.

I made a couple of signs; one I held, with a lot of info, headlined by "Catalogs Are Heating Up Our Planet"; I also pasted the front page of a J Crew catalog on it, with an X through it.  The other sign was bigger, a board with black plastic letters that read EVICTION NOTICE: J CREW - GET OUT OF ENDANGERED FORESTS.  This caught people's eye; I propped it up against a table where I put brochures and a petition.  First I handed out all the brochures to people who'd accept them (none were left to put on food court tables, which is just as well.)

Then I started on the petitions, and I was surprised at how many people wanted to sign.  I wound up staying twice as long as I'd intended, because the signatures seemed to keep coming.  Got 74 in all.

Last, I went into Crew and left an envelope addressed to the store manager, which contained the eviction notice.  I also left a copy of the brochure, for their enjoyment!

Like I said, a lot of people were receptive, even eager, though of course there are always the ones who stick their noses in the air, set their jaw and continue on as if all's right with the world -- THEIR world, anyway.  But a couple of people took it upon themselves to go into the store and express to the manager their surprise and indignation about their paper sources (one was, she said, a good customer.)

Chicagoans for Environmental Responsibility (CER) gathered outside of the Sears flagship store at State and Madison. Ten of us marched into the shop with banners, posters, flyers, education and dramatics. Costumes included suits and trees. It wasn't too long before our group was kicked out. The flustered store manager refused to receive the eviction notice and looked forward to having the police remove us from the sidewalk outside the store. Unfortunately for him, when the police did show up he not only maintained the legality of our flyering and chanting but also supported our cause, agreeing that he, too, didn't want 150-degree Chi-town summers. He left us and we were able to get to work, moving customers and crowds against Sears and for forests, convincing a number of people to call corporate headquarters to express their clearcut disapproval of Sears' policies. Fun.

Also around the city we had a couple other CER-fire stops, with two flyering and evicting a store manager at the Mag Mile J. Crew, and another eviction notice being dropped off at the North Avenue location.

I hadn't been in a mall for a long time, but it turns out that forest-destroyers tend to hang out together. I was in Gainesville, FL for the day, so I got to stop by and visit a JC Penny, Macy's, Sears, and Talbots there. I had friendly yet stern conversations with the managers of all the stores. It was a testament to the work of ForestEthics and the environmental movement in general when I saw the fear and concern that the threat of a public campaign provoked.

Hopefully, corporate execs will respond similarly, and those who don’t have gotten fair warning. I can't wait to dress up like a moose again to personally tell the next target to get out of my home in the Boreal!

Thanks everyone and good work.

Best, Dan

We targeted an L.L. Bean in Columbia, MD. We delivered the manager an
"Eviction Notice," and proceeded to walk around the store with signs, passing out brochures and talking to the customers. Within a couple minutes, we were asked to leave, so we moved outside to the main store entrance. We held signs, talked to customers and passerbys, and passed out literature.

The mall security arrived about 10 minutes later. Rather than engaging them in conversation, we continued to talk to interested customers. Soon after, one of us walked by the security guard holding a sign. The guard lunged at him, grabbed the sign out of his hands, and tore the sign in half. He did not react to the security guard, but rather picked up the sign, held the torn pieces together, and walked away. Immediately after, a different protester approached the security guard and calmly told him that she thought he was being aggressive and that tearing the sign was unwarranted. He would not respond to her questions or comments, but repeatedly told us that we had to leave and that the police were on the way. We agreed to leave, and continued engaging customers until we reached our cars.

On Saturday April 21st a group of fifteen students from the University of Miami's environmental activist organization GreenpeaceUM went to their local mall to send a message to JC Penney. We delivered an eviction notice to a JC Penney manager on one of their "busiest days of the year" and educated their customers with signs, petitions, and even some creative street theatre involving talking trees made from paper used by JC Penney catalogs. We also had a clever way to get people involved by making speech bubbles out of cardboard and having people take pictures with them, as if they were saying the message. We filled up all of our petitions and had to make more lines on the backs of each page. I was stoked to see how many people actually care about such an important issue, and our numbers are only growing from extremely successful tabling events etc. This was not only a successful action but it was fun and people are looking forward to the next one. We have to protect our ancient and endangered forests!

I sent both JCPenney and Sears' managers a letter and a card. I didnt get to see the store manager of JCPenney but I did get to see the store operator at Sears *manager wasn't in*. The operator was pretty nice *though after i mentioned where I am from, his smile disappeared for a little while*. So yeah, it was a good day and hopefully we'll get some cooperation going on :].

Yesterday, Wetlands activists Christian, Wendy, Blue (thanks folks!)
and I braved snow and frozen rain to tell J. Crew that we will stop
at nothing to protect our planet's forests from corporate forest destroyers.

Despite the harsh weather, people were very responsive, but the
weather and limited foot traffic made it difficult to collect names
on the Valentine's card shaped protest letters we intend to deliver
to J. Crew's CEO, Millard Drexler. So, we'll be back out at J. Crew
on Friday to collect more names on cards to deliver to our old
friend, Millard Drexler (former CEO of long-time Wetlands protest
target Gap, Inc!)

In December, eco-activists declared a major victory-- after two years
of campaigning, Victoria's Secret agreed to join Williams Sonoma and
Dell in committing to reform use of paper in its catalogs.

On Friday, Wetlands Activism Collective will be calling on J. Crew to
have a heart and stop destroying forests for catalogs -- unless it
wants to be shamed like Victoria's Secret was by eco-activists around
the country! We'll be visiting J. Crew's SoHo store to ask customers
to sign Valentine's cards calling on the company to show love for our
planet and stop destroying forests, and then we'll walk to J. Crew's
corporate office and deliver the Valentine's cards calling on the
company to stop destroying forests and then we'll walk to J. Crew's
corporate office and deliver the Valentines to corporate execs,
hoping that they'll share the love with our planet's endangered ecosystems.

For more info or to volunteer, call (201) 928-2831 or email
activism@wetlands-preserve.org To learn more about Wetlands'
campaigns to defend our planet's forests, visit www.wetlands-preserve.org

For announcements of human, animal, and earth liberation actions in
New York City, send a blank email message to
wetlands-activism-subscribe@lists.riseup.net.

Wetlands Activism Collective, PO Box 344, New York, NY 10108
Phone: (201) 928-2831 Email: activism@wetlands-preserve.org

Visit these websites!
http://wetlands-preserve.org * http://freegan.info *
http://ftaareferendum.org * http://freetradekillsanimals.org
* http://foodnotfur.org * http://furfreenyc.org *

JUST CREATED: http://www.friendsofbradwill.org/ * http://andystepanian.com/

I had made the giant valentines with the paper policies on them and the separate cards for the managers. Me and a few people hit up JC Penny and J Crew. We planned
on going to Eddie Bauer, but it just so happens that the Eddie Bauer near us had shut down recently! The lady at JC Penny immediately was very sour with us and refused to accept the valentines, but as we were walking away she changed her mind and asked for them back to give to the supervisor. The manager at J Crew was a lot nicer and pleasant and agreed to notify headquarters that Forest Ethics was stopping by.

There were also some people doing an action in Shelby Township. I believe  they went to Lakeside mall, and I was told that Sears refused to accept their valentine. They hung up posters around the mall and passed out fliers as well. I forwarded one of the girls involved in Shelby Township, Shayna, the email about the conference call because she's interested in becoming a bigger activist in the movement.

Activists in San Diego visited a Sears store to spread the Valentine’s Day love on Tuesday February 13th.  We came with gifts for the on duty manager, including a very pretty valentines day card for the manager and a giant valentine with a sample paper procurement policy that would help Sears become an industry leader if they adopted it.  The Valentine read “Sears, Please <3 Endangered Forests,” and the card included a personal letter to the store manager from one of the lead activists, Danny Shelley.  The Manager was amazed and honored to receive the beautiful gifts... at first.  She went to put the gifts away, and came back with information from a company website instructing her to refuse our gifts!  She handed the gifts back and asked us to leave.  We continued to spread the love with fliers in the parking lot, and plan to mail the card and valentine to the store. 
 

To see more pictures from this and other actions, visit the Valentine's Day 2007 photo gallery. 

Eight activists from Denison University and Ohio State gave Valentine's Day proposals to J-Crew, Sears and JC Penny at the Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus.

We delivered giant cards and mini teddy bears to the managers of each store in hopes for them to return the favor with changes in their company's catalog paper policies. We suggested that they match if not beat the promises Victoria's Secret made last December.

J-Crew gave us the greatest difficulty as Betsy - who was prepped up, popped collar and all - made us delete one of the pictures we took and said that we were not allowed to use her or J-Crew's name in anything we publish. Too bad for her that we have her name here and a picture she didn't see us take!

The outcome at Sears was a little more optimistic - the manager there seemed very interested in going recycled and promised to contact the next highest in command about the issue.

As for JC Penny, we got a promise that our card would be placed in their "special room."

All in all, the action went well. A good beginning in urging the catalog industry to step up the plate.

The first store we went to was J. Crew in Shadyside. The
manager there was being somewhat aggressive and overreacted about us being there. Jon was the one who went to talk to her and was being polite but he couldn't really get a word in because she was ushering us all towards the exit and saying we have to leave the store. She said what we need to do is go to 5th and Broadway in NYC and go to the corporate office. She said "There's lots of ways to get your message across and this isn't one of them", and "There's more important things to care about, like children in Africa". She also refused to take our valentine. The managers in the other 3 stores were much more receptive. In the other J. Crew the manager was polite, listened, and took the valentine. The manager in JC Penney was the nicest and most polite, and in Sears they were pretty receptive as well. The only store that didn't take the valentine and wasn't receptive was the first J.Crew in Shadyside.

Also, you should know that when we got to the mall, the first place we were heading to was J.Crew which was upstairs, as soon as we got off the escalator a security officer started following us. It was obvious that they knew we were coming and were waiting for us. He stopped us just a little down and asked what we were doing with the valentine. We said we were giving it to the manager of J.Crew. He asked if we were going to display it, then pointed to J. Crew and watched us go in. They were monitoring us and following us for a short time after that, and then either lost interest or realized we weren't going to cause a disruption and didn't follow us into Sears and JC Penney.

One of our members had her kids dress up as Cupids if you're wondering what's up with the people in blonde wigs-just to give the action an added Valentine's Day effect.

But I think overall it went pretty well.

We had a great success yesterday performing an adapted version of Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax" at an indoor mall in Durham, NC. The show included a yellow and blue striped "truffula" tree, costumes, and a number of posters and banners. The production caught the attention of many shoppers whom we supplied with postcards addressed to the C.E.O. We got even more attention when 2 security guards entered the scene, along with 2 mall managers. We were told that we were not allowed to demonstrate or video record on private property and to stop immediately. I spoke with the mall managers for a bit and the show went on until they threatened to call the police. At that point we had almost finished the entire skit, so we packed up our belongings and were kindly escorted out by the security guards. Everyone involved did an amazing job and we are all looking forward to performing again at other Victoria's Secret stores in the area.

Just wanted to say THANKS!!! to the NYC activists who put themselves on the line to protect the beautiful Boreal. It was great to see the pictures and actually recognize the activists (from the Summit in Pennsylvania). Keep up the amazing work!

Thank you for your commitment to the Victoria's Dirty Secret campaign and your awesome action in NYC. The company and the public need to realize that protecting endangered forests is an urgent need and you guys really showed that it's not a laughing matter. We can't just let the most important regions of our planet end up in trashcans and recycling bins in the form of catalogs. It's about time that the public see that this is serious. It's time for Victoria's Secret to get serious, too, and go recycled--no more endangered forests in our mailboxes!

Hey CWC, thanks for that amazing NYC action!!! Its freakin' hot to see activist so dedicated to protecting our endangered forests!!! Victoria's Secret has been dragging their feet for more than two years now on this campaign and its great to see that CWC is not letting them off the hook!  Much love from the belly of the beast here in Columbus, OH!

in solidarity,

Charlie