Refrigerator Industry Mislead Consumers
Environment Wins Twice
The Right Fish
Boycott of Mitsubishi in Japan
Turtle-Safe Shrimp: Program Description

Refrigerator Industry and Retailers Mislead Consumers Touting Products as "Ozone Safe"

October 19, 1995

Ozone Action and Environmental Law Foundation File Suit

(Washington, DC) This morning at the National Press Club two public interest groups -- Ozone Action and the Environmental Law Foundation -- announced they have filed a lawsuit against several major refrigerator manufacturers and retailers. Amana, Whirlpool and General Electric are among the named defendants which are advertising refrigerators as "ozone safe" or "CFC free," despite the fact that these products contain or are manufactured with the ozone-depleting chemical hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, California, cites violation of state law and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines. According to the FTC, "It is deceptive to misrepresent, directly or by implication, that a product is safe for or friendly to the ozone layer. A claim that a product does not harm the ozone layer is deceptive if the product contains an ozone-depleting substance."

"Because of mislabeling, consumers aren't even aware that right now, there are no completely ozone safe refrigerators available to US consumers," said John Passacantando, Executive Director of Ozone Action. Currently, efficient, inexpensive ozone safe refrigerators based on hydrocarbon technologies are available in Europe, Australia, Japan and China. Over 5 million refrigerators have been sold.

"We hope that this lawsuit will encourage the refrigerator industry both to stop advertising their products in a misleading manner and to manufacture and market refrigerators which are truly ozone safe," said Hannah Bentley, attorney with the Environmental Law Foundation.

Last week, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Professors Sherwood Rowland, Mario Molina and Paul Cruzen for their work which determined that chlorine from CFCs and other industrial compounds like HCFCs destroys the earth's protective ozone layer. Although HCFCs have shorter lifespans than CFCs, levels of chlorine in the atmosphere are already dangerously high. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported severe and unprecedented levels of ozone depletion over the Northern Hemisphere in Spring 1995 and the World Meteorological Organization has announced that this year's Antarctic ozone hole currently is growing at an unprecedented pace.

Ozone Action was formed in 1993 to reinvigorate the public debate on stratospheric ozone depletion. Ozone Action works to halt ozone destruction and to inform the public about the impact of excessive UV-B radiation exposure.

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Environment Wins Twice

1ST MARCH 1990

"Green Choice will do the job without doing over the planet" Director, Don Henry, WWFA .

World Wildlife Fund Australia (WWFA) today urged the use of environmentally friendly products as a practical way for Australian consumers to reduce domestic pollution.

Don Henry, Director of WWFA, was launching "Green Choice" - a new range of environmentally friendly household cleaning products that have been licensed by WWFA.

"Using environmentally friendly cleaners, such as Green Choice, is a positive way that the individual can help the environment while doing the necessary household chores," said Mr Henry.

WWFA licensing ensures that a percentage of proflts from Green Choice goes directly to WWFA's conservation projects in Australia.

So, when you buy "Green Choice" dishwashing liquld, all-purpose cleaner and toilet cleaner you help protect Australia's most threatened species...the bilbies, the hairy-nosed wombats, the numbats, rare Australian orchids, grasses....in fact everything that makes up our precious Australian bush.

"This is the first time the distinctive WWFA panda logo will be used on a cleaning product," he said.

"It's good to know that this product is environmentally sound and that it puts money back into the environment," said Mr Henry.

WWFA has more than 50 conservation projects for endangered plants and animals, forest and woodlands, wetlands and rural nature conservation.

"Green Choice" was developed and manufactured in Australia by Southern Cross Packaged goods and will be on the shelves of Woolworths supermarkets in NSW on Monday, March 5, 1990. Selected supermarkets in NSW & QLD will also be stocking "Green Choice" from Monday March 19, 1990.

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The Right Fish: Consumers will be able to help solve the fisheries crisis through selective shopping

In February, WWF and Unilever NV/PLC, one of the world's largest buyers of frozen fish, teamed up to form a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). It's part of an effort to halt the catastrophic decline in the world's fish stocks by using market forces and consumer power.

The MSC will be an independent body that certifies retail fish products with a logo that indicates the fish was caught from fisheries certified as sustainable and well managed. By buying only fish caught with environmentally friendly gear or in areas where fish stocks are healthy, consumers can encourage industrial fleets to change their indiscriminate fishing practices.

"The partnership is a coup for the conservation movement," says Michael Sutton, director of WWF's Endangered Seas Campaign. Anglo- Dutch Unilever, which controls about 20% of the European and US frozen fish market, has pledged that all its fish products will be MSC-certified by 2005.

First WWF and Unilever will conduct a detailed feasibility study and consult with fishing industry experts, scientists, regulators, and other environmentalists. Then the partners will launch the MSC, develop principles of sustainable fishing, and begin to set standards for individual fisheries.

For a brochure on WWF's Endangered Seas Campaign, write to:

WWF Information Centre, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 364 5358.

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Boycott of Mitsubishi in Japan Launched by Peaceful Protest in Osaka

For immediate release: March 21, 1996

(Osaka, Japan) The boycott of Mitsubishi products-spearheaded inthe United States by Rainforest Action Network-is now being carried over into Japan. Marking Japan's inauguration into this international effort, Burmese Relief Center-Japan and like-minded human rights activists staged a peaceful protest called

"Haiku-d'itat" in central Osaka. Protesters read hundreds of original haiku poems, and performed a lively street theater to show how Mitsubishi's investment in Burma causes environmental destruction and enables the Burmese dictatorship, which spends nearly half the national budget on the military, to continue to deny its people the most basic human rights.

Rainforest Action Network is spearheading an international effort to boycott Mitsubishi and its subsidiaries until the company stops logging or purchasing timber or timber products from operations that harm the environment or violate the human rights of the indigenous peoples who live there.

At 11 AM in Osaka, Japan, over forty Burmese Relief Center-Japan and human rights activists gathered to mark the beginning of the Japanese boycott of Mitsubishi on the historic bridge at Shinsaibashi-Dohtomburi. Coinciding with the Vernal Equinox, protesters peacefully assembled to urge Mr. Minoru Makihara,

President of Mitsubishi Corporation, to end support for the Burmese military dictatorship and to stop destruction of the rainforests.

Burmese activist and Noble Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, said: " I felt that many Japanese people cared about more than just business. But I think the consciousness of some Japanese people perhaps needs to be aroused a bit...Perhaps those who care about peace and justice are not speaking loudly enough."

Mitsubishi Corporation is a long-standing target of direct action campaigns by Rainforest Action Network and like-minded environmental groups around the world. Mitsubishi Corporation is one of the largest corporate destroyers of the world's forests.

It fully or partially owns logging operations throughout the world. Mitsubishi corporate activities lay waste to thousands of square miles of forest. This deforestation causes the annual loss of millions of plant and animal species, and does immeasurable harm to the indigenous peoples who inhabit those lands.

Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth's rainforests and support the rights of their inhabitants through grassroots education, organizing, and non-violent direct action.

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Turtle-Safe Shrimp: Program Description

Turtle-Safe* shrimp is a consumer-based tool for protection of endangered sea turtles. By buying only shrimp caught using fishing gear that allows turtles to escape from shrimp nets,consumers can both support fishermen who are conscientiously using this gear and provide an incentive to others to follow their example.

Six of the seven species of sea turtles are listed as endangered or threatened in the U.S. Endangered Species Act and in international treaties. As shrimp nets drag through the water, they capture sea turtles and tons of unwanted fish along with the shrimp. If the turtles can't escape, they drown. A metal grid sewn into the net can avoid most of these deaths. Known as a Turtle Excluder Device, or TED, the grid guides turtles to a hole in the net. Shrimp pass through the grid and into the back of the net.

TEDs are required by law in the United States. But some fishermen sew closed the trap door that lets the turtles escape, and the United States still imports shrimp from countries that don't require TEDs or that require them for only part of the fleet. The Turtle-Safe label for the first time lets consumers know which shrimp were caught using methods that protect turtles.

The label goes on shrimp caught by fishermen who sign an agreement with Earth Island Institute stipulating that they will use TEDs properly and allow monitoring by Turtle-Safe program observers. Docks, processors, and others in the distribution network can sign agreements to identify shrimp as Turtle-Safe and keep it separate from other shrimp.

A publicity campaign is aimed at educating the public about this major threat to sea turtles and the broader issues of fish bycatch and marine ecosystem protection while directing demand to Turtle-Safe shrimp.

The program draws on dolphin-safe tuna and organic certification programs. The dolphin-safe campaign, also organized by Earth Island Institute, forced reforms in tuna fishing practices that are now US law.

Turtle-Safe shrimp will enable consumers to eat shrimp knowing that they were caught without killing turtles. Fishermen who catch shrimp safely will see their efforts recognized and an increase in demand for their shrimp. And fewer turtles will die when more countries require the devices and make sure they're used properly.

The Turtle-Safe campaign is one of several programs of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project. Todd Steiner is the founder and director of the project.

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