Paper Campaigner

ForestEthics has helped pioneer a new approach to environmental activism by focusing its efforts on the marketplace. For every tree cut in an endangered forest there is a purchaser somewhere that funds this activity - often unwittingly. ForestEthics works to educate individual consumers, large corporate purchasers and distributors so they are aware of the environmental impacts and ethical dimensions of their purchasing decisions. Our goal is to harness this market power to stop the destructive activities of certain logging companies while encouraging a shift toward environmentally preferable products. We also work with indigenous people and impacted communities to assist them in their transition toward more sustainable forest economies.

ForestEthics works cooperatively with companies and also mounts large grassroots campaigns to hold companies responsible for their forest destruction. We ask large corporate buyers and sellers of wood, paper and pulp products to end their purchases from endangered forests; to reduce overall fiber consumption; to shift toward ecologically sustainable alternatives, including post-consumer recycled fibers, agricultural fibers, and reclaimed wood; and to transition toward products that are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. Most recently, we persuaded Staples, Inc. to increase its use of recycled fiber ten-fold, create an environmental department, and agree to protect endangered forests. ForestEthics' work has been featured on NPR's Marketplace, The Wall Street Journal, the Jim Lehrer NewsHour, and the New York Times.

The paper campaign at ForestEthics is our flagship US grassroots campaign to protect endangered forests. This campaign has resulted in industry standard setting environmental commitments from Staples and Office Depot. We are launching a campaign on the catalog sector next.

Why the catalog industry?
Catalogs have surpassed magazines in overall paper use in the United States, using around 3.6 million tons of paper annually. Each year, catalog retailers mail out around 17 billion catalogs. That's 59 catalogs for every man, woman and child in the US - 200 for every average household. Almost none of the paper that they're printed on contains any recycled content. That means that every year, over eight million tons of trees go straight into catalogs that are often discarded unread. Production of catalogs is contributing to the destruction of endangered forests such as the Canadian Boreal.

The responsibilities include:
The paper campaigner is responsible for the coordination of all the corporate communication with catalog companies. They will engage in direct communication with catalog companies. They will work with the rest of the team to create the messaging, materials, coalition, media coverage, and direct pressure on our campaign target. They will help make this the largest and strongest corporate campaign on endangered forests this year. End goal - generate the needed leverage to protect endangered forests in Canada, the US and around the world.

Desired Qualifications and Experience

? Passionate commitment to help ForestEthics protect forests
? Bachelor's Degree
? At least three years of campaigning experience ideally with corporate campaigns
? Strong interpersonal skills, experience negotiating/communicating with high-powered decision-makers desired
? Entrepreneurial attitude
? Self-starter capable of working both independently and in groups
? Comfortable working in a very flexible setting
? Excellent communication skills
? Budgeting and planning abilities
? Prior experience with media relations
? Knowledge about forest issues

Salary
Salary range depending on experience; extremely competitive vaca/benefits package.

To Apply
Send a cover letter and resume toliz@forestethics.org. Please send the cover letter and resume as separate attachments, named as follows: Forest-[lastname]-Cover.doc and Forest-[lastname]-Resume.doc. In your cover letter, be sure to highlight aspects of your experience that are relevant for this job, including volunteer service, and explain why you are interested in working with this organization.