Stories in action.
So whats with the bird thing?
Recently we started talking about birds...a lot. We're going to keep it up. People have started to ask why. Here's why:
a) I like birds. They're awesome. They fly. They don't have teeth. They used to be dinosaurs.
b) I recently learned that since 1970, North America has lost almost 30% of it's bird population ACROSS THE BOARD. Not one species, but an entire CLASS of the animal kingdom is endangered. This is mostly because 1) we insist on tearing the natural world down and 2) big companies have told us that it's ok for them to poison the planet in the interest of keeping things cheap. They throw pesticides, fertilizers, and trash all over the planet and we let them. These choices have consequences and one of them is that we've lost 3 Billion birds over the past 50 years. What poisons birds, poisons us too. It's connected, and it doesn't need to be like this.
c) Despite these bad actors (ie Exxon, Cargill, JBS, Nestle and Coke) I believe business can and should be the single biggest force for good on the planet. Wrong or right, I believe profit is powerful when we put it to work for one another. We also need to call companies out when they are p*ssing on us and telling us that it's raining, so we will.
We're not profitable yet, but we expect to be in 2025. When we are, I'm pledging 25% of our profit to preserving and protecting birds and their habitat. I hope to up that number to 50% when we can afford it. With your help, I think we can give a million dollars over the next couple of years. From there, who knows?
So how can you help? First, when you need a bag or a gift, buy a Day Owl backpack. Our bags are truly awesome (JUST LIKE BIRDS) but as importantly, join the conversation. Disagree with me? Have an idea? Love/hate our post about vulture sex? Tell us. Tell me. And share the content and products we make with friends when you feel like it reaches you in some way. It truly matters.
Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in 1962, and it compelled the U.S. government to ban DDT, saving countless human and animal lives down the street from where our company was born, in Pittsburgh. Here's what she said:
"We stand now where two roads diverge. But....they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road—the one 'less traveled by'—offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth."
It's For the Birds,
