A couple of weeks ago the Surfrider Foundation held an event in Byron called ‘Southern Blast’. It was a film screening to raise support for their latest campaign – Save the Southern Sea. The event included the ‘Tour D Ice Cream Team’, which, according to the promo is ‘a retrofitted vegetable-powered vintage fire truck… stopping by for an evening of activism and ice-cream’.
Sounds pretty punk and DIY and peace love and mung beans doesn’t it? Well that’s the idea anyway. It’s actually run by international ice-creamery Ben and Jerry’s, who are in turn owned by Unilever. Unilever – a company who’s profit in 2022 was something like $15 billion AUD.
It raises a question: Why would an organisation like the Surfrider Foundation make themselves a spearhead for the greenwashing campaign of a multinational company like Unilever? Corporate greed and the endless growth demanded by shareholders is killing our planet – isn’t that why the Surfrider Foundation exists in the first place?
If you want to take real action on blasting in the Southern Ocean, you can easily send a letter to your local MP using the online form on the Ben & Jerry’s website. And make sure you buy some ice-cream while you’re there, because every dollar you spend helps Unilever pay their marketing team.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
