Zippo will plant a tree with every lighter sold in partnership with Woodchuck USA’s Buy One. Plant One.® program; and has documented its first step in Madagascar, with National Geographic.
Zippo — maker of the ubiquitous, flip-top lighter — is
intimately aware of fire's usefulness, as a force of nature to be summoned at
will. But this power, when wielded carelessly or allowed to run rampant, can
have devastating effects. Nowhere is this more evident than in fire's impact on
forests, here in the
US
and across the globe. Wildfires destroy 4 percent of the Earth's surface each
year, with 84 percent a result of human activity.
Image credit: Zippo
Zippo is working with Woodchuck USA — maker of custom wood products and gifts — and launching a global Fight Fire with
Fire project that aims to help counter the effects of deforestation caused by
wildfires. Through the project, Zippo has pledged to plant a
tree for each windproof lighter
sold from the Woodchuck’s Fight Fire with Fire collection, to shine a light on
the effects of wildfire — starting with Zippo's first planting sites
in Madagascar. Globally renowned,
“purpose-native”
storytelling platform National
Geographic has
produced
a video for
Zippo and a photography
series in Madagascar,
to document the efforts.
With unprecedented wildfires reported as far north as the Arctic
Circle,
and research citing humans as the main threat to the very existence of a third
of all remaining animal species, there is a shared sense of urgency to protect
our planet and
biodiversity.
Zippo believes every individual has the power to make a positive difference, and
wants to help open people’s minds to this: Humans are responsible for the
majority of fires, so the solution also rests in our collective hands.
Navigating the Complexity of Corporate Political Responsibility in 2024
Join us as Elizabeth Doty, director of the Erb Institute's Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce, shares Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility and how to use these non-partisan principles to weigh decisions and articulate positions in an environment of distrust — Thurs, May 9, at Brand-Led Culture Change.
"Temperatures are at the highest level on record and wildfires are affecting
almost every continent on Earth, but unlike most natural disasters, the majority
of wildfires are caused by humans,” Lucas Johnson, Senior Brand Manager of
Global Marketing at Zippo, points out. “In the US alone, there are around
100,000 forest fires each year, clearing up to 9 million acres of land. The
Zippo windproof lighter gives people the power of portable fire, but with this
comes responsibility."
To help educate on the problem of wildfires and their causes, National
Geographic has produced a series of stories about the impacts of deforestation
in Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island — which has had 90 percent of
its original forests destroyed. Nat Geo’s content focuses on what people are
doing to rectify the issue.
Published Aug 1, 2019 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST
Sustainable Brands Staff