With recent protests against Gap, I decided to look up information on
the web about the Gap and the Mendocino Redwood Company. I found information
about both sides, and I've tried to compile what I've gathered and my own
opinion about the matter onto paper.
The Fisher family may not have direct control of the
Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC), but the Fisher family primarily supplied the
money used to buy MRC. Where do they get their money? From their nation-wide
chain of Gap stores! Therefore, buying Gap products puts money into the
pockets of the family that bought MRC-a logging company. What else are they
going to buy with their profits?
I say that it IS the Fisher family's money; they can do whatever
they want with it. However, as the founders of Gap, Baby Gap, Banana
Republic, and Old Navy, the Fisher family should be aware that what they do
with their money affects Gap's public image. People have the right to know
what their money is eventually going to end up supporting.
Gap has always donated money to youth organizations and other
activities that benefit the community. That's a wonderful thing to do, but
now they're turning around and destroying the one community that must last an
eternity: THE EARTH. I used to think that Gap was earth-friendly; they work
hard on their public image. Even though MRC says it is there for the
long-term and wants to practice "good stewardship to the land," ho
believable is that? So far, their actions do not fit their seemingly sincere
words. Every company wants to maximize profit. I believe that THAT is MRC's
real goal. MRC needs to be a profitable business for its investors, primarily
for the Fisher family.
Apparently, unrest stems from the fact that MRC uses Garlon, an
herbicide, to kill trees such as Tan Oaks and other hardwoods deemed
"useless" by logging companies. Companies need the land to grow the
more valuable Redwoods and Douglas Fir. Garlon is sprayed until the hillsides
of Mendocino turn brown as trees die.
Even though Garlon has not been proved to be toxic and carcinogenic,
it is still a chemical used to kill living organisms. It runs off into the
water and no matter how small the amount, everything eventually adds up.
Today, all aspects of daily life are moving toward a synthetic world. We want
the easiest solution, and we want it fast. But we sacrifice the earth's
natural resources in this drive for a "modern" society. The mark of
a modern and sophisticated society is not how fair it can use technology to
exploit the very planet its life depends on, but its conscientiousness and
awareness of its existence in a much bigger web of life. It is y firm belief
that there is a consequence for every action.
I am not an earth-lover fanatic; I do not believe that this incident
alone will lead tot he destruction of the world. However, I am a proponent of
keeping everything that interacts with the environment as natural and pure as
possible. There is no need to keep on dumping chemicals, as harmless as
they SEEM to be, into the earth when there are alternatives. MRC says that
they are investigating alternatives. If MRC is truly committed to the
environment, they should wait for these alternatives instead of plowing ahead
with their present logging procedures. But of course, they must sacrifice
part of their mission for the profit.
My goal in boycotting Gap is not to shut down the company. That is
practically impossible because Gap is a nationwide corporation. Their
business continues because many are either ignorant of Gap's actions, or they
just don't care. I choose to stand up and take responsibility for the
consequences of my actions. My conscience is free of any thought that I have
even contributed one iota of my time ore resources to the further
destruction of the environment. Many argue that all companies are tied
together and that they destroy some part of the earth anyway. There's no need
to tear up our natural resources for the sake of profit. It is true I will
never know that the company of every product I use is doing right by the
environment. I acknowledge that I don't know, but if I am presented with the
facts, and I determine that they are not a result of rumors, then I will
take care not to support that company. I'm not saying that we should totally
stay away from the environment. We do need to use earth's resources, but we
must use them with the ever-present reminder that we must respect nature and
realize that these resources do not last forever.
We are not as independent as we like to think. All life is
interconnected in some way. Intelligent use of the earth and always trying to
maximize safe alternative methods that do not further deplete primary
resources is my goal. Stopping the dumping of chemicals into the earth is my
goal. Preserving the earth in all its pristine beauty for the future is my
goal. If saving the Mendocino Redwood Forest for these reasons is not good
enough, then think of the people who live in that area, think of your family,
think of those who will still live here when you are gone, and save the
forest for them.
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