Environmental Protest At Victoria’s Secret’s ‘Angels Across America’ Tour Premier

New York City – Students and activists interrupted the launch of Victoria’s Secret’s ‘Angels Across America’ tour today with a roudy protest by people dressed in angels wings and lingerie and wielding chainsaws, and including a large banner reading “Victoria’s Secret: Their Catalogs Destroy Endangered Forests.” Victoria’s Secret, after pitching the campaign on national television earlier in the day, cancelled the event.

The national environmental campaign against Victoria’s Secret was launched because of the company’s leading role in destroying Endangered Forests, particularly the Boreal forest of Canada. Victoria’s Secret mails more than a million catalogs a day, using less than 10% recycled paper. The campaign, which began in September, includes an outdoor advertising campaign in major cities across the country, protests, and a website (www.victoriasdirtysecret.net) where people can get involved and challenge the retailer to use recycled paper, to stop using paper from the world’s last remaining Endangered Forests and to reduce its overall paper usage. Victoria’s Secret prints 395 million catalogs each year.

Two years of investigative research has revealed a direct link between Victoria’s Secret catalogs and the destruction of old growth and endangered forests in the Canadian Boreal, the third largest forest wilderness in the world. Companies like Weldwood and International Paper, which supply the company with its paper, are directly responsible for this destruction. Victoria’s Secret’s paper use is also destroying the Endangered Forests of the Southern U.S., which supply 15% of the world’s paper.

“Victoria's Secret is no angel when it comes to the environment - the company mails more than one million catalogs daily,” said Joshua Martin of ForestEthics. “This campaign has legs. People are outraged by Victoria's Secret's exploitation of the environment."

Last March, six of the largest catalogers were put on notice for their consumption of endangered forests. Since then, ForestEthics has been in detailed discussions with all of these companies and others who are competing to address these environmental issues.

ForestEthics protects endangered forests by transforming the paper and wood industries in North America and by supporting forest communities in the development of conservation-based economies. The organization’s successful campaign against the office supply industry resulted in a groundbreaking environmental policy by Staples that protects endangered forests and increases the overall recycled content of its paper from less than 5% to over 30%. The campaign transformed the environmental practices of the leaders of the office supply industry.

For more information, photos of current environmental destruction and copies of the ad campaign, visit www.VictoriasDirtySecret.net