This past week I was a part of the launch of a new Greenpeace campaign, “Best Buyers?” Like the campaign title suggests, Best Buy doesn’t really practice what they preach. Or in other words, they don’t buy the best products themselves. They source the paper for their promotional flyers from the Boreal Forest, one of Canada’s most important forests for carbon storage, biodiversity and from the First Nations who call it home and rely on its health for their wellbeing. Here’s a bit more info about how I’ve been helping defend the Boreal as a volunteer, telling Best Buy that they’re actually #notthebest.
First off, I should say I wanted to get involved in this campaign because forest issues have always been my favorite amongst Greenpeace campaigns. I recently moved to Toronto, so I’ve only been volunteering for a short time. I feel very fortunate that this particular campaign is my first campaign launch! I’ve always had a bit of an affinity for forests, as I grew up surrounded by them in Peterborough, Ontario and spent a lot of time in forests finding solitude and observing the beautiful creatures that live there.
So when I found out I had the opportunity to work on the Greenpeace forest campaign as a volunteer I got excited. But after discovering that we were targeting Best Buy, and the reasons whywe we’re targeting them, I got even more excited. It seemed ludicrous to me that the fragile Boreal Forest is being irresponsibly managed and important forest areas are being used for, essentially, promotional junk mail that nobody reads!
My volunteer role in our activities to convince Best Buy to do better has been very interesting. We’ve been engaging with Best Buy costumers inside and outside of their stores. We’ve been wearing uniforms very similar to Best Buy’s own employee uniform to make sure customers pay attention to our message. Getting inside the stores hasn’t been an issue, though I did get a couple of double takes from the employees at first, no one seemed to mind that I was there. The majority of the customers I got to talk to were slightly stand- offish initially, but they listened and understood and ended up all taking a sticker with a link to the petition they could sign to help convince Best Buy to stop wasting the Boreal. Near the end when we had already been discovered a manager actually approached me, and when I told him why we were there and what we were doing he wasn’t mad. He said he would do his best to send the message up to head office. Of course he asked me to leave the store shortly after, but I had accomplished my goals so I was happy to leave. I think the impact we’ve had on the local stores we’ve visited has been wonderful, with everyone we’ve spoken to understanding our message and mostly agreeing with our concerns. I think Best Buy employees and customers alike have been impressed with our determination and creativity.
After we were finished in the store, I went to the corner of Yonge and Dundas in Toronto and talked with people on the street about why Best Buy should move to sustainable and recycled material for their flyers. Every single person I talked to thought it was a wonderful idea, and all agreed to sign the petition after I handed them a sticker. It’s hard to say if being on the street or being in the store was more impactful? Being in the store was definitely the most eventful and heart racing part of the evening for me, I had never done something like that, but it made me feel like I was undercover security for the ancient Boreal Forest. It was awesome!
I’ve always been a nature lover, and from a young age I knew what I was going to do with my life: help the natural world flourish and protect it to the best of my ability from greed and corruption. By far the best part of moving to Toronto has been finally being able to work for an organization that could make these dreams come. Greenpeace has enabled me to make huge, positive impacts on the world that I would not have been able to accomplish on my own. I am so grateful to be a part of the Greenpeace team; I can see myself being with them for a long, long time.