Millionaire buys a piece of planet
NEW YORK – Some people are taking environmentalism to the next level. Instead of buying LED lamps they’re buying pieces of the planet. American multimillionaire, Doug Tompkins, is raising eyebrows throughout South America. He’s buying up huge chunks of land in Chile and Argentina to protect it from development.
He wants to “take it up a notch” to save the planet. He’s faced a lot of criticism from local people and governments but the guy is unstoppable. Tompkins thinks it’s time for a new kind of activism. Strawberry Earth agrees that direct activism is the way forward. But since we don’t have a spare million dollars to buy half of Chile, we came up with the Strawberries & Cream concept instead.
Tompkins made his money in fashion (Esprit, The North Face and Patagonia). Although he admits that the fashion industry’s carbon footprint isn’t great, his company was the first to give one percent of its sales to an environmental fund.
Tompkins isn’t the only rich person pouring money into environmental initiatives. Richard Branson and Ted Turner also do good with their dollars. Keep on investing in our planet wealthy people of the world!
