I’m a little behind on this one, but so is Victoria’s Secret. According to a Wall St. Journal story back in early December (I told you I was behind), Victoria’s Secret mails about 350 million catalogs a year and just recently decided to shift to paper that is either 10% “post-consumer waste” or has 10% of its content certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The WSJ article first paragraph explains why Victoria’s Secret is suddenly seeing green:
After enduring protests by an environmental group over the past two years, Victoria’s Secret will stop using catalog paper made with pulp from a Canadian forest that is an important wildlife habitat and will move toward buying paper certified by a group that scrutinizes logging practices.
350 million catalogs a year and they are just now thinking about recycling paper? Holy melons, Batman, what have they been thinking about? It is a shame when companies don’t have the foresight to implement socially responsible behavior prior to being attacked. I think last week’s announcement (also in the Wall St. Journal) by top business CEO’s calling for caps on CO2 emissions was a smart preemptive move by big business to address a growing global problem. That said, once a company is caught napping on the sidelines, smart marketers seize the opportunity and embrace the issue with a vengeance. Wal-Mart has taken this approach with their “sustainability” and energy-conservation initiatives. Perhaps Victoria’s Secret will get pumped about recycling and ride the eco-friendly wave with the best of them. Maybe we all just need to give them a little tug.
Speaking of tugs, the folks behind this change of heart at Victoria Secret are ForestEthics, a group which developed a website called Victoria’s Dirty Secret (never underestimate the power of a few activists and a reasonably well-crafted website). This isn’t their first success either. In the last five years they’ve persuaded Williams-Sonoma, Dell and Staples to increase their use of recycled paper for catalogs. I imagine that the catalog managers at J. Crew, Sears and Lands’ End are examining their approach to paper a little more carefully right about now…