Archive for November, 2011
Even Gulf Savers Need a Day of Rest
As promised, here is a video of Timberland’s service sabbatical participants Alan Jones and Heather Jackson, along with the rest of their In Good Company comrades, during a well-deserved day off from wetlands restoration. Alan’s commentary:
Last night was a rare treat as we all hosted a Cajun Zydeco band and danced till it hurt! I will miss these people at week’s end … what a group.
4,000 Bags of Gulf-Saving Goodness
Our Timberland service sabbatical recipients, Alan and Heather, are several days in to their week-long Louisiana bayou immersion. The two have been hard at work, but took time out to share the following update and incredible photos with us:
It has been a blast living and working with the 27 teammates of the 4th annual In Good Company partnership event.
We are spending much of this week working with the Restore the Earth Foundation, an incredible nonprofit focused on environmental conservation, protection and restoration. One of Restore the Earth’s initiatives is called Gulf Saver Solutions, and it entails “deploying” Gulf Saver bags — full of native marsh grasses and oil-eating micro-organisms which help to protect and restore natural wetland ecosystems and habitats. This week, our team has been working on filling, moving, staking and planting 4,000 Gulf Saver bags. Ours is the largest deployment to date! Read the rest of this entry »
Timberland Partnering with Ringo Starr for ‘Canvas that Cares’ Auction
The only thing better than our Earthkeepers boots? Earthkeepers boots designed by none other than rock and roll icon Ringo Starr!
This boot marks the launch of our newest initiative, Canvas that Cares — a program created to raise funds for non-profit organizations through the auction of limited edition Earthkeepers® footwear (Timberland’s most eco-minded collection) featuring celebrity artwork on Bionic® Canvas.
The boots feature Ringo Starr’s original artwork which includes a colorful peace sign (symbolic of his personal mantra of peace and love) and three stars embroidered along the back of the boot (a nod to his name). And to sweeten the deal, Ringo has personally autographed the 75 pairs that will be made available to the general public via an eBay auction. And what makes them even more exclusive? These boots are the first pieces of memorabilia that Ringo has autographed in over 3 years!
Love the boot? Get in on the Action!
The limited edition, autographed boots will be auctioned off on eBay between December 1 and December 11, with proceeds going to WaterAid, a non-profit dedicated to improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene in the world’s poorest communities. You can access the eBay auction through Timberland’s Canvas that Cares hub: www.timberland.com/canvasthatcares. The starting bid for each boot package is set at $250.
So get ready to bid early and bid often, for a good cause and a great pair of boots! To learn more about the program, auction, WaterAid and the collaboration, visit www.timberland.com/canvasthatcares.
Earthkeepers in NYC
Two weeks ago, we set up shop in the middle of New York City to showcase all things Earthkeepers – including educating consumers about our green initiatives, sharing our Fall 2011 Earthkeepers product collection, and even rewarding random acts of Earthkeeper kindness. Check it out:
Our Earthkeeper booth was made with 450 pounds of recycled plastic bottles.
Inside the booth, Earthkeeper products (made with recycled and renewable materials) are on display.
Our Timberland street team, looking for eco-conscious people to reward.
Be a hero. Plant a tree: When you plant one virtual tree in our Facebook Tree Planting app, we plant a real one!
You can see more of our Earthkeeper experience in New York City on Timberland’s YouTube channel. Next up, our Earthkeeper booth and street teams are headed to the West Coast – stay tuned for more photos and footage from San Francisco.
And as a reminder, tomorrow is your LAST CHANCE to vote and submit pics of your mountain chic style for our Girlfriend Getaway Sweepstakes. Be sure to share your photo with your friends, family and social communities to rack up the most votes — the top ten submissions receive a pair of Timberland boots and have a shot at winning the ultimate getaway to the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Enter here: http://on.fb.me/ShowYourStyle
Back in the Bayou
This marks Timberland’s fourth year offering an Earthkeeper service sabbatical through In Good Company – a partnership of businesses joining together to make a difference through hands-on action. This year, we’ve chosen two well-deserving Timberland employees to join the In Good Company team in Venice, Louisiana (one hour south of New Orleans) for a week-long community service experience.
Alan Jones is an account executive for Timberland PRO, based in Texas. He participated in his first Timberland service event in New Orleans in 2006, following Hurricane Katrina — an experience that, he says, “set in motion my dedication to service and to this company.”
Heather Jackson is an order processing clerk at our distribution center in Danville, KY. Heather explains how she came to apply for the In Good Company sabbatical:
When I read about this opportunity, I went home that afternoon and talked with my seven-year-old son about why I want to do this and asked him what he thought. He said, “Mom, I want you to go. Go help the ocean.” I want to share my experience with my son and inspire him to make a difference.
Alan and Heather, along with the rest of their In Good Company companions, will spend this week serving with various nonprofit organizations that are working to clean up and regenerate areas of the bayou impacted by the 2010 oil spill. (Fun fact: two of the three previous In Good Company sabbatical experiences have also taken volunteers to Louisiana; you can read about all of the previous In Good Company sabbaticals here.)
The word for the week is “local” – Heather and Alan will spend their time learning about local activists, experiencing local culture and making local impact. And, they’ll be sharing their experiences with us here on the Bootmakers Blog – stay tuned for their updates.
Free Music Friday: Abbie Barrett
She uses chemical-free cleaning products, can’t juggle and sounds a little like Chrissie Hynde (is it just me?) … she’s Abbie Barrett, our featured artist of the month for November.
We asked Abbie what she does to reduce her environmental impact. Among the list of actions she takes (including recycling and using CFL lightbulbs and reusable water bottles), she said: “Mostly, I try to do better.” And whether your environmental action is really big or kind of small, isn’t that the whole point?
She may not know how to juggle, but she can sing. Check out Abbie’s song “Here to Stay” and download it for free on our Community Music page.
Stay Comfortable
No one wants to get rubbed the wrong way – especially by an errant seam or zipper or poorly-placed button. Here’s Dean, our senior director of apparel, talking about how we design our gear not just for performance, but for comfort as well:
You can learn more about the innovative technologies and materials we use to make our products comfortable (and warm, and dry, and eco-conscious) by checking out the Timberland Technology Guide.
And speaking of comfort, have you put your feet in a pair of SmartWool socks lately? Click here to shop our entire SmartWool collection.
30 Seconds to Mars Fans Give the Gift that Keeps on Growing
Musician / actor Jared Leto’s list of accomplishments runs long and impressive – appearing in films like Fight Club and American Psycho, starring in the TV series My So-Called Life, serving as lead singer for the band 30 Seconds to Mars. And now another achievement: next month, Jared turns 40!
In honor of his milestone birthday, the 30 Seconds to Mars fan club, The Echelon, is giving the gift that keeps on giving: the group is encouraging fans to make a donation in Jared’s honor to Trees for the Future in support of Timberland’s Yele Vert tree planting program in Haiti. (Jared lived in Haiti as a child, and is actively involved in the ongoing relief efforts in the wake of the country’s 2010 earthquake.) The tax deductible donation program runs until December 22. $1,300 has been donated by 30 Seconds to Mars fans since the October 21 launch of the campaign.
One of our favorite actor/singers and one of our favorite initiatives … we couldn’t imagine a better birthday present. To get in on Jared’s gift, visit the Echelon Donates website. To learn more about our Yele Vert reforestation program in Haiti, visit the tree planting section of our website.
LiteTrace’s Tribute to the Dogs
We don’t call them Man’s Best Friend for nothing: the soles of our LiteTrace Hikers are “dog paw-inspired” … which makes a lot of sense, if you’ve ever seen a dog scamper up a steep hill or through slippery mud or snow. See for yourself:
Paws aside, could it also be that dogs are quicker and more agile than we are because they spend more time running around and less time eating ice cream and watching reality TV? Oh, never mind.
You can learn more about the technologies and materials we put into our LiteTrace products on the Mountain Athletics section of our website. Want some canine-inspired footwear of your own? You can shop the LiteTrace Collection here.
