FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Minneapolis social enterprise Junket: Tossed & Found relaunches business with climate classes, ethical online product, and an action-oriented seasonal campaign
Citing the direct correlation between consumer purchases and climate change, Minneapolis company Junket: Tossed & Found initiated the launch of a new business model on Wednesday, hoping to reach the community in anticipation of what many consider an excuse for unfettered shopping in the lead-up to a popular seasonal holiday.
Pointing to a recent Keele University research study the documented analgesic qualities of well-timed profanity and the urgency of an anxiety-producing IPCC report on global warming released in October, Junket’s founder, Julie Kearns, explained their decision to target Christmas with this campaign:
“Year-end binge shopping is not a Ramadan problem. Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and Festivus are exempt from this consumption tradition: the habits that drive the run-up on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and every day through December 24th are about one holiday in particular, so we’re focusing on that particular holiday.”
Kearns shared an EPA data point that few Americans seem to have grasped: nearly a third of US greenhouse gas emissions are directly attributable to our national appetite for non-food consumer goods: in the US, our shopping-related CO2 emissions are more than those produced by driving. They’re more than those produced to heat and light our houses. And they’re nearly twice the emissions that correlate to our diets.
Unfortunately, says Kearns, Americans have been misled by a barrage of environmental product messaging that has left us unclear about what we should *actually* do to engage as thoughtful, environmentally oriented citizens.
Sensing that encouraging people to purchase anything whatsoever was interfering with the big picture, Kearns even went so far as to close the Minnehaha Avenue secondhand shop that she had run for more than half a decade earlier this year, noting a need for clear climate-oriented leadership and her belief that Junket’s audience was ready to hear a more direct message than the subtle cues her team had been sharing with their customers at the reuse-focused shop.
“In the last three months, we’ve seen a surge in interest in understanding the risks and impacts associated with accelerating climate disruption. It’s clear that most people DO give a f*ck about this, so we want to harness and amplify this new urgency to rally our community and shift cultural norms.”
Today, the company rolls out a new class offering intended to do just that.
For those waking up in the proverbial matrix and ready to go full Keanu, the 90 minute session ‘UnF*ck Your Footprint‘ will help folks quickly understand and strategically adapt their rock-and-roll lifestyles to climate constraints in ways that work for them.
Dates haven’t yet been set in stone: Kearns wants to understand demand, and her team is already working with other area businesses to schedule sessions that will start after the first of the year, so that those who receive this session as a gift this Christmas will have time to get registered. Those who preorder will have first choice of session dates when they’re announced just before Christmas. The company is also offering house parties in the same vein.
Giving the gift of an experience is one way to avoid incurring product emissions while honoring seasonal gift-giving traditions, and Kearns hopes that people will embrace the idea of experiential gift giving at a time when many are grappling with existential angst.
But what about those who are hooked on tangible goods?
In keeping with its tongue-in-cheek campaign, the company also made a point to add its popular hand towels (secondhand towels with first-rate swears) to the website this morning, and says that additional products (vintage, remanufactured, digital) and classes will be rolled out in the weeks ahead.
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Junket: Tossed & Found recently relocated their company headquarters to 2620 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis MN 55406
For media inquiries, contact Julie Kearns: julie@legacy-junket-93909f.ingress-bonde.ewp.live / or DM @juliejunket