Home Depot International
Day of Action! March 17th

Let’s Put an End To  Ancient Forest Destruction!

Find the Protest Site nearest you!

 Organizing Tools
Dead Rainforest Tour
Graphics
Media Events

Rainforest Action Network’s Home Depot Organizing Guide for March 17 Day of Action

Dead Rainforest Tours

Dead rainforest tours are a good way to educate the public and have a little fun at the same time. Simply make a map of the Home Depot location nearest you, many stores will even provide you with a map! Next, identify old growth lumber and tropical hardwood products. Finally add descriptions of the products and pinpoint their locations on the map. Below is a sample of a map that was made for a tour of the Rohnert Park store. Many of the products are listed on the map. You can find descriptions of the different types of wood in the Rainforest Relief report available on this web site.

Hollywood Home Depot Rainforest Tour

Map & Legend

 

1

Paintbrushes & Brushes. Suspect Ramin handles not labeled. õ  

2

Lauan wheelbarrow handles in bin A  

3

Lauan handles on wheelbarrows A  

4

Black Diamond grill with "Malaysian mahogany" (lauan). A  

5

Suspect Ramin broom handles õ  

6

Suspect Ramin "Eagle" bow rake handles õ  

7

Lauan and Ramin assorted handles õ A  

8

Lauan paneled doors A  

9

Lauan plywood A  

10

Ramin dowels õ  

11

Mahogany doors b  

12

Lauan paneled doors A  

13

Spruce J  

14

Old-Growth (clear heart) Redwood J  

15

Arsenic-coated domestic fence posts J  
 
Origins		    
  õ Rainforests of Borneo.    
 

    A Rainforests of Borneo/Sarawak, Malaysia, Indonesia. Some may be tree farmed. Lauan is also called Luan, Philippine Mahogany, Malaysian Mahogany and Meranti.

   
 

    b Endangered in Brazilian Amazon, where 80% of logging is done illegally. Some mahogany is from Central American rainforests.

   
 

    J North American forests. Home Depot promised to stop purchasing old growth redwood in 1997, but has yet to do it.

   

For the day of the tour some one in your group may want to dress up as a tour guide to lead the tour, the important thing is to be creative and have fun. Flashcards describing stops along the way are very helpful.

Plan your tour in advance because you might get kicked out of the store. One strategy that was used in the past was to invite customers to meet the tour at a specific isle and time (your tour should progress from one end of the store to the other to lessen your chances of being caught). The strategy was effective; a good crowd gathered for the tour and more people joined along the way. One customer even inquired, "Is this a new service Home Depot is offering?"

GRAPHICS

Here are some graphics that have been used in the past. Please feel free to use them as you like.

 


This graphic was used for a banner. You may want to use it as a template on an overhead projector and use the name of your own group.
 
Use this graphic however you like. It was previously used as a T-shirt design. It mocks Home Depot’s logo: "Where Low Prices are Just the Beginning"

The Home Depot Mascot is called Homer. Home Depot plans to use him as the host of a nationwide home improvement TV program for children.
 

Media Events

Here is an August 98 photo of activists at the Home Depot Store in Rohnert Park, near Santa Rosa, CA (1 hour north of San Francisco).

  


 
Always be non-violent. The corporations we fight are truly the ones perpetrating violence against the earth and ultimately us.

 Here are some groups that have done direct action in the past. They might be willing to help you out or steer you in the right direction.

Results of National Day -Rainforest Relief paper - Old Growth Stats - Home Depot Horror Stories
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