The Back to the Hankies Campaign Launch is over!

Holding a booth in the Student Union Building from November 13th to 16th, the BttHC team offered personal hand towels, or hankies, made of 100% organic cotton right on Vancouver Island by Hankettes, as well as unique and stylish Hanks handmade from upcycled materials by RISE, a UBC-student-run business inspired by the life cycle of the phoenix to take pre-loved clothing and fabrics and give them new life. But handkerchiefs are passé, right? Few people would actually want to carry them around, right?

Wrong! The amount of support the campaign received in its fledgling week was overwhelming, with hundreds of people stopping by to voice their approval of the campaign and its goals, and even more dropping a donation to get a stylish hankie of their own.

Thanks to this support, in just four days boothing in the SUB, we raised a grand total of $341.31 to donate to the Ancient Forest Alliance!

While we at SEC are very excited about the success of this first week, the campaign is just getting started. The Back to the Hankies Campaign team is already planning the next step! In the coming weeks and months, the Back to the Hankies Campaign will host a number of activities and events to change behavior, reduce the use of paper towels on campus, and start opening up the conversation about our throwaway culture.

Want to be part of this exciting initiative? Here’s the info you want to hear!

• The Back to the Hankies Campaign team meets every Wednesday at 1pm, in room 245 of the Student Union Building. These meetings are open to everyone who wants to participate!
• Check it out online at http://www.backtothehankies.com/
• Got Facebook? Like the page! http://www.facebook.com/backtothehankies
• Our article in the Ubyssey student newspaper: http://ubyssey.ca/news/hankies-986/
  

  Drying your hands never looked so good.

Pick a fruit from the Hanky Tree and save other trees!

The RISE Hanks!

Photo by Kai Jacobson of the Ubyssey