100 signatures reached
To: The Board of Directors of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI)
REI: Stop Your Greenwashing Hypocrisy!
Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) has a written climate action commitment, emphasizing stewardship, stating, "we put purpose before profits and act in the long-term interests of our members and community”. (a)
On April 10 2021, during Earth Month, REI sent out an advertisement (b) to many if not all of their 19 million co-op members glorifying gas-guzzling SUVs and essentially equating outdoor recreation with gas-guzzling SUV ownership. The ad was part of a stealth co-marketing deal with Ford (c) to sell their gas-guzzling SUV. REI took money not only to sell copious greenhouse-gas emitting SUVs, but worse, to promote the false idea that one needs such a climate-damaging product to enjoy the outdoors. All this at a critical moment in the climate crisis, also a time when numerous all-electric SUVs, a far less environment-damaging option, have come available to consumers.
We, the undersigned, find this more than a gross violation of REI's written principles and commitments, but a breathtaking hypocrisy, a show of bad faith and a deception of their co-op members. We demand that ALL the proper steps of remedy be made, including admission of wrongdoing, as well as a thorough remedy, as given below. This public demand on REI is meant to also communicate to other companies and co-ops that they can and will be held accountable for climate-damaging actions, and particularly for climate hypocrisy and “greenwashing”.
(1) REI management and board must TAKE RESPONSIBILITY(d) for this wrongdoing: A letter must be sent to *all members* clearly taking full responsibility for this breach of trust, explicitly ADMITTING WRONGDOING.
(2) Financial Remedy: *Ten times* the value of all income and all forms of benefit from the advertisement, including sales and the co-marketing, should be spent on remedy: First, 50% in expenditures to provide all-electric vehicles to low-income persons or organizations that would make efficient climate action use of such. Second, 50% is to be spent on a communications campaign to promote all-electric vehicles and educate outdoor enthusiasts about the convenient and desirable aspects of all-electric vehicles, including in getting to popular recreation sites. This must be new money only, no previous commitments may count toward this.
(3) Policy Remedy: i. REI must make it written internal policy to ban: any promotion or glorification of greenhouse gas emitting internal combustion products or services, and ii. ban co-marketing deals for same. iii. Stewardship and climate action reports, and claims and communication on climate and environment, may no longer be published without a *critical* independent audit for counter-actions such as the ad described above.
(a) https://www.rei.com/stewardship accessed PST 11 PM Wed April 23.
(b) https://notices.rei.com/pub/sf/FormLink?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DAQpglLjHJlYQGjzfK8SLg2n0Fjd3OA9JbLs0DzfmAizeY6kwILSSzc8JYBtELzg3jl5SH56dAo1zdzeVXMtX%3DAQpglLjHJlYQGhA0zgbOszcmGh8zdLWkFy4KYc4zfMEn8WWliLlHzc4hKoYckdhhpzdnzeTFnAmOspR&_ei_=EuRasWP5TJAYZCxtarVlyt034nG_7TVl-hJUUCiRKUX_jOu8sF6mKmD_CANddNojoOpfAVG25cM78dnkNR1jx6Zrc2UalHU1TmVA6PQjKF-o8IxuAmPaHFjxln3T2_wOdDJQ5m0N4UXOMnniQA-sGM0eQ2L98mh3hRjLaM2lCKdoEZc3IwhuWxy0BWPi8LYRk5bqW-A8ky6DzFuxkYHWh_y5pElax3oYO45ZQQiQQj3vd75pPSqe6yvB91n7SAiKJwCQui2Kz4l6joPJfy8f5GvFDeKruu5ATQe4njhfpaL7A6JH2kHrHvpjBgOuTQn4m1QjPAeRH7lbGOM1f5-SMZgR69UsBFa9NoSYu3lFz6eZcgkVrL_TwVBPt576tGheLpWlx8pZQfSwndL7wDzTv5Eopd_iZkqk64ws-usM335A55lE4Qlr8Mkv_388GZwWAY1GPTcXxJ6Bkg.&_di_=0r97t688gefdt4bp11fasnt2a6142opak6631iboa7q0a9k2nhc0
(c) https://www.rei.com/blog/a-ride-through-the-sky-islands?cm_mmc=email_com_gm-_-20210410_TFD_VCFordGravelCycle-_-041021-_-Image1_URL_079_21_00591&ev36=6913483&rmid=20210410_TFD_VCFordGravelCycle&rrid=2189385&ev11=1&redirect-pup=false accessed PST 11 PM Wed April 23.
(d) REI has previously replied to inquiries about this matter in an official capacity, with no admission of wrongdoing, and no explicit commitment to remedy, in an email of April 16, 2021.
On April 10 2021, during Earth Month, REI sent out an advertisement (b) to many if not all of their 19 million co-op members glorifying gas-guzzling SUVs and essentially equating outdoor recreation with gas-guzzling SUV ownership. The ad was part of a stealth co-marketing deal with Ford (c) to sell their gas-guzzling SUV. REI took money not only to sell copious greenhouse-gas emitting SUVs, but worse, to promote the false idea that one needs such a climate-damaging product to enjoy the outdoors. All this at a critical moment in the climate crisis, also a time when numerous all-electric SUVs, a far less environment-damaging option, have come available to consumers.
We, the undersigned, find this more than a gross violation of REI's written principles and commitments, but a breathtaking hypocrisy, a show of bad faith and a deception of their co-op members. We demand that ALL the proper steps of remedy be made, including admission of wrongdoing, as well as a thorough remedy, as given below. This public demand on REI is meant to also communicate to other companies and co-ops that they can and will be held accountable for climate-damaging actions, and particularly for climate hypocrisy and “greenwashing”.
(1) REI management and board must TAKE RESPONSIBILITY(d) for this wrongdoing: A letter must be sent to *all members* clearly taking full responsibility for this breach of trust, explicitly ADMITTING WRONGDOING.
(2) Financial Remedy: *Ten times* the value of all income and all forms of benefit from the advertisement, including sales and the co-marketing, should be spent on remedy: First, 50% in expenditures to provide all-electric vehicles to low-income persons or organizations that would make efficient climate action use of such. Second, 50% is to be spent on a communications campaign to promote all-electric vehicles and educate outdoor enthusiasts about the convenient and desirable aspects of all-electric vehicles, including in getting to popular recreation sites. This must be new money only, no previous commitments may count toward this.
(3) Policy Remedy: i. REI must make it written internal policy to ban: any promotion or glorification of greenhouse gas emitting internal combustion products or services, and ii. ban co-marketing deals for same. iii. Stewardship and climate action reports, and claims and communication on climate and environment, may no longer be published without a *critical* independent audit for counter-actions such as the ad described above.
(a) https://www.rei.com/stewardship accessed PST 11 PM Wed April 23.
(b) https://notices.rei.com/pub/sf/FormLink?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DAQpglLjHJlYQGjzfK8SLg2n0Fjd3OA9JbLs0DzfmAizeY6kwILSSzc8JYBtELzg3jl5SH56dAo1zdzeVXMtX%3DAQpglLjHJlYQGhA0zgbOszcmGh8zdLWkFy4KYc4zfMEn8WWliLlHzc4hKoYckdhhpzdnzeTFnAmOspR&_ei_=EuRasWP5TJAYZCxtarVlyt034nG_7TVl-hJUUCiRKUX_jOu8sF6mKmD_CANddNojoOpfAVG25cM78dnkNR1jx6Zrc2UalHU1TmVA6PQjKF-o8IxuAmPaHFjxln3T2_wOdDJQ5m0N4UXOMnniQA-sGM0eQ2L98mh3hRjLaM2lCKdoEZc3IwhuWxy0BWPi8LYRk5bqW-A8ky6DzFuxkYHWh_y5pElax3oYO45ZQQiQQj3vd75pPSqe6yvB91n7SAiKJwCQui2Kz4l6joPJfy8f5GvFDeKruu5ATQe4njhfpaL7A6JH2kHrHvpjBgOuTQn4m1QjPAeRH7lbGOM1f5-SMZgR69UsBFa9NoSYu3lFz6eZcgkVrL_TwVBPt576tGheLpWlx8pZQfSwndL7wDzTv5Eopd_iZkqk64ws-usM335A55lE4Qlr8Mkv_388GZwWAY1GPTcXxJ6Bkg.&_di_=0r97t688gefdt4bp11fasnt2a6142opak6631iboa7q0a9k2nhc0
(c) https://www.rei.com/blog/a-ride-through-the-sky-islands?cm_mmc=email_com_gm-_-20210410_TFD_VCFordGravelCycle-_-041021-_-Image1_URL_079_21_00591&ev36=6913483&rmid=20210410_TFD_VCFordGravelCycle&rrid=2189385&ev11=1&redirect-pup=false accessed PST 11 PM Wed April 23.
(d) REI has previously replied to inquiries about this matter in an official capacity, with no admission of wrongdoing, and no explicit commitment to remedy, in an email of April 16, 2021.
Why is this important?
If even companies with strong commitments to climate action are really acting against it, if hypocrisy and greenwashing are the norm, humanity has no hope of averting climate disaster. We must hold these companies (and co-ops) accountable in this very public way so they stop greenwashing and start acting to avert climate disaster, before it is too late. Please tell REI (and by extension, other companies) that you are not fooled by greenwashing, that you see what they are doing, and if they don't really and truly start actively working to save the climate, their reputation among their previously loyal customers, and by extension their bottom line, will suffer.