Eco Porn: saving the planet is sexy?

It’s time to push aside all those images of the dreadlocked, pierced, hemp sandal wearing hippies trying to save the trees–or not.  Keep the mental image and just imagine them having sex; lots of it, and in front of lots of people, and then people paying to see more.

When I was at BOOM in August I ran into a small group of people dressed as Adam and Eve.  Well, that’s what it looked like at first glance.  They turned out to be Fuck for Forest, erotic environmental activists.  They make their own porn to view on their website in return for donating to their campaigns.  They’re a registered non-profit group and are working on reforestation efforts in Ecuador and Costa Rica.

So sex sells.  No new news here.  Sex sells beer.  Sex sells denim.  Surprisingly enough, sex even manages to sell greasy chicken wings.  And well, sex sells sex.  In 2006, the porn industry made $2.84billion USD.  But can sex sell environmentalism? Grist’s article on Fuck For Forest shows just how much sex sells.  FFF netted roughly $50,000 USD in their first year.  That’s a pretty good showing, but many environmental groups won’t take Fuck for Forest’s money because of their methods.

When I saw Fuck for Forest they didn’t have the table.  They were carrying around a giant cardboard tree painting with porn stills hanging off the branches and handing out fliers …

The FFF folks know sex sells, and they think they can sell enough of it to make a greener world.  Good on them.  I’m all for grass roots activism manipulating established systems into something that works to their advantage and to the advantage of the environment.  And I’m all for an effort at re-framing internet porn as something that can have positive effects.  Enter Heidi Fleiss, the Hollywood Madame, who is also very aware that sex sells.  Now she is planning on starting her own wind powered brothel for women.  She’s not selling sex for the environment, but selling herself as an environmentalist to promote her sex business. It is capitalising on the zeitgeist of the sustainability movement to further her own personal goals.  I’m not nearly as impressed with her moves.