Paper (&) Tigers: The Trouble with Barbie’s New Commitment to “Sustainable Sourcing”
By stepan | October 18th, 2011 | IRIS Director Blog
What should we make of Mattel‘s October 5, 2011 announcement of new “sustainable sourcing” principles for its paper toy packaging? The move came after a highly-publicized Greenpeace campaign featuring Ken and Barbie “breakup” videos on the internet and huge banners draped from Mattel’s Los Angeles headquarters declaring, “Barbie: It’s Over. I don’t date girls that are into deforestation.”
Greenpeace banner on Mattel HQ, June 2011 (Greenpeace)
The principles commit Mattel to some significant concrete steps.
Under Mattel’s new policy, 70% of its paper packaging will be harvested sustainably or recycled by the end of 2011, rising to 85% in 2015, with preference for paper certified under the Forest Stewardship Council program for sustainable forestry certification. The company has also directed all its suppliers to exit known controversial sources of paper fibre. It has committed to avoid such sources in the future by ensuring that fibre sources are(…)
Tags: Barbie, consumerism, deforestation, endangered species, Greenpeace, Mattel, shopping, sustainability, sustainable forestry, toys
