Handmade cosmetic company Lush will be closing its stores in the United States and Canada in solidarity with the Global Climate Strike planned for the end of the month.
All 250 stores across the two countries will not be operational on the 20 September in the US and 27 September in Canada, according to Dazed Digital. This shutdown will extend beyond stores and include its headquarters, manufacturing facilities, and e-commerce. Their 5,000 employees are also encouraged to join in the protest action.
Inspired by the great work of @GretaThunberg and all the youth preparing for the Global #ClimateStrike, we’ll be shutting down our entire operation to take to the streets and demand immediate action (09/20/19 – U.S.A and 09/27/19 – Canada).
March w/ us: https://t.co/2hKRKpqSy8 pic.twitter.com/sviWoST9rr
— Lush North America (@lushcosmetics) September 17, 2019
‘As a business with deep roots in environmental activism, giving our thousands of staff the time to get out there and demand bold action is a no brainer. We all share this planet, so we need to band together to sound the alarm and show our politicians that ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option. The climate crisis won’t wait, and neither will we,’ said Mark Wolverton, President and CEO of Lush Cosmetics North America, in a statement.
The Global Climate Strike on the 20th is spearheaded by 16-year-old youth climate activist Greta Thunberg, and is planned in the run up to the UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September. People across the world are called to take to the streets in protest to bring attention to the climate crisis and key contributors like fossil fuels.
The South African Lush stores will not be closing as it could not get approval from shopping centre landlords. ‘We are however, shutting down all social media and our website on Friday in solidarity of the movement. We at Lush support the Climate Strike!’, said Kate Lynch, PR and Social Media Manager for Lush South Africa.
Businesses are being encouraged to join the ‘digital strike’ by displaying the climate strike banner or by shuting down their website and social media on strike days.
Image source: @stray9567/Twitter
Also watch: Trevor Noah interviews Greta Thunberg on climate change
