Vanderbilt outdoors club WilSkills will be distributing free “Endangered Species Condoms” outside Rand on Thursday, Sept. 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The condoms feature illustrations of various endangered species and catchy slogans on their packaging, such as “Wrap with care, save the polar bear,” and “Before it gets any hotter, remember the sea otter.”
The condoms are created and distributed as part of an initiative by nonprofit organization the Center for Biological Diversity to draw attention to the link between human overpopulation and wildlife biodiversity loss. WilSkills connected with the organization because of their shared interest in environmental conservation.
“The idea is to get out the word about all these endangered species, and also what we can do to help the environment,” WilSkills coordinator Bea Rodewald said.
The condoms come in packs of two adorned with an illustration of an animal on the endangered species list accompanied by a rhyme about safe sex and the preservation of that animal. Animals mentioned range from the horned lizard to the whooping crane.
The project began in 2009 in an effort to bring attention to the fact that human overpopulation is an ecological threat, and the Center for Biological Diversity has partnered with WilSkills the past three years to hand out the condoms.
“The Center for Biological Diversity wanted to bring unsustainable human population growth back into the conversation and thought giving out condoms would be a fun way to approach the topic,” Center for Biological Diversity Endangered Species Condoms Coordinator Sarah Baillie said in an email to The Hustler. “Human population growth and the associated overconsumption is driving the current mass extinction crisis.”
WilSkills has worked with the Center for Biological Diversity in the past to give out Endangered Species Condoms, and WilSkills asked the organization to continue their partnership this year. WilSkills will be distributing a new packaging design featuring the California condor (“Before your clothes hit the floor, think of the California condor”). This new design will be available Sept. 26, among several other classics.
