April, 20 2015, 02:45pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Stephanie Feldstein, (734) 395-0770, sfeldstein@biologicaldiversity.org
50,000 Endangered Species Condoms Given Away for Earth Day
Sustainable Condoms Highlight Link Between Human Population Growth, Wildlife Extinction Crisis
TUCSON, Ariz.
More than 500 volunteers will give away 50,000 free Endangered Species Condoms from the Center for Biological Diversity in time for Earth Day on Wednesday. The condoms will be given away at Earth Day events and on campuses across the country, as well as in venues from tea shops to tattoo parlors.
"Nothing sparks a conversation like handing someone a condom, especially when it comes with a slogan like 'Before it gets hotter...remember the sea otter,' " said Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director at the Center. "On Earth Day, everyone is looking for how they can save the planet. Talking about population and overconsumption, and understanding how we influence the world around us every day, is one of the most important steps we can all take to help the environment and our communities."
This Earth Day, the Endangered Species Condoms will be released with new original artwork by Shawn Dicriscio, including slogans such as "Fumbling in the dark? Think of the monarch" and "For the sake of the horned lizard...slow down, love wizard." The colorful condom packages highlight six species: polar bears, whooping cranes, monarch butterflies, sea otters, horned lizards and hellbender salamanders.
(Check out a new 30-second PSA about the condoms here.)
The project, which has given away more than a half-million free condoms since 2009, will also offer Sustain condoms in its packages for the first time.
"Sustain Condoms is thrilled to partner with the Center for Biological Diversity's Endangered Species Condoms project to provide our sustainably produced, fair-trade certified condoms to help tackle population growth and the myriad social and environmental problems that result," said Jeffrey Hollender, founder and CEO of Sustain. "Sustain is also the only brand available in the U.S. to be certified by the Forest Stewardship council to ensure our rubber plantations preserve biological diversity."
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, global population has nearly doubled from 3.7 billion people to 7.2 billion, while wildlife populations have plummeted. The Center's campaign promotes a range of solutions, including universal access to family planning, contraception and reproductive healthcare, as well as education and empowerment of women and girls. The Center is the only environmental organization with a full-time program dedicated to addressing runaway human population growth and overconsumption and their link to the current wildlife extinction crisis.
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
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According to the CBD:
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