Verizon: Stop Forest Destruction

Without a clear paper policy or commitment to forest protection, a big part of Verizon’s business is forest destruction.  Others are taking a smarter path.  Sprint has proven itself a telecom industry leader when it comes to environmentally responsible paper practices.

Companies like Verizon and AT&T can get out of the forest destruction business by making commitments to:
•    Avoid endangered forest fiber in all forest-based products
•    Reduce overall paper consumption by at least 40%
•    Maximize recycled content by using a minimum of 20% post-consumer waste
•    Use only Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper

Sammy Smartphone’s Tour of Forest Destruction is hitting the streets this holiday season. 

Wondering where Sammy will show up next?  Check his blog posts to find out:

Facebook Friends Want Verizon to Protect Forests

April 28, 2012

Facebook action: Click to enlarge

Wow, a lot of people were talking about me this weekend on Verizon's Facebook wall, and they weren't happy.

After seeing no mention of forests in Verizon's Corporate "Irresponsibility" report, hundreds of people posted on Verizon's Facebook page asking the company to commit to protecting forests. Despite genuine concern from consumers, Verizon's only response was to let customers know they could recycle their phones.

Verizon may be able to recycle me, but it looks like they're still putting our forests in the trash!

Verizon’s Corporate Irresponsibility Report

March 22, 2012

Today was a very disappointing day. I woke up excited to read Verizon's first Corporate Responsibility report! But unfortunately the report just confirmed that Verizon’s paper and packaging will irresponsibly continue to destroy endangered forests around the world.

And then I realized: This is Verizon’s Report on its Corporate Irresponsibility.  If it wanted to be responsible for its environmental impacts, Verizon would have announced new policies to protect endangered forests, increase recycled content and reduce paper usage.

VeriFOOLISH

March 1, 2012

When I first heard that Verizon was being nominated for an award, I got very excited!  But then I found out that Verizon’s forest destruction led to its nomination for Top Corporate Fool of 2012

Here's what the nomination says:

Over the past three years, Verizon has tried to increase its profits by gutting its employee health benefits and pensions. And while the Occupy movement was calling attention to corporate greed, Verizon was receiving hundreds of millions in taxpayer subsidies and trying to saddle its customers with new fees, including a $2 charge for paying your bill online or by phone! That’s the equivalent of punishing people who want to protect forests by using less paper.

But the foolish $2 charge is not the only way we know that Verizon hates forests. In 2010 Verizon sourced over 700 tons of paper packaging from Asia Pulp and Paper, a company notorious for clearcutting Indonesia’s rainforests, abusing human rights, and emitting massive amounts of greenhouse gases. And Verizon foolishly has refused to meet even the lowest current standard for environmental responsibility—which requires a written policy that would help us protect our forests.

Now I’m not only a clearcut smartphone—I’m the product of a Top Corporate Fool!

Eugene, you're looking pretty green

March 5, 2012

Wow! I've never seen a place quite so green as Eugene, Oregon! There were even people dressed as trees hanging around the Verizon kiosk in the Valley River Center Mall. I decided to get out my chainsaws and demonstrate where all that paper, junk mail and packaging comes from. Soon over one hundred people people were watching me chase down those tricky trees - and they were angry when they learned that Verizon has no policy to limit its impact on forests.
It seems Eugene loves its forests and they want Verizon to adopt a policy showing they do too!

Hello, Nashville!

February 10, 2012

Nashville is one of the most famous music towns in the world, so I decided to bring my message of forest destruction in the form of a song! Along with twelve of my friends from area high schools I visited a Verizon store in downtown Nashville to show off my tree chopping dance skills. Everyone in the store was wowed by our fancy footwork! And they were shocked to learn that Verizon has no policy to keep endangered forests out of my paper packaging (or any of the other mountains of paper products Verizon uses every day). 
Good times in Music City, but they'll be better once Verizon stops destroying our forests—and then maybe I really could just be a Smartphone and not a Clearcut Smartphone.