Under Pressure, Staples Bound for New Environmental Policy(Archive)
“I am the Lorax… I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.”
“Then again he came back! I was fixing some pipes when that old-nuisance Lorax came back with more gripes.”1
–”The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss
Yes, we have more gripes. About the trees. Environmental and social justice activists dominated the Staples annual meeting this year. While Staples, after considerable pressure from environmental activists, has recently committed to selling tree-free paper at its stores, we are still concerned the world’s second largest office supply retailer is not doing all it can to promote environmental responsibility.
CEO Ron Sargent and Vice Chairman Joe Vassalluzzo listened carefully to concerns raised about the company’s environmental ethics. Representatives from ForestEthics, the Dogwood Alliance, Patagonia, TRILLIUM ASSET MANAGEMENT, and rural sociologist Connor Bailey of Auburn University, all questioned the CEO and Vice Chair about the company’s commitment to the environment. In particular, the company was pressed to ensure that its forthcoming environmental policy, due for release this summer, will be a rigorous document, especially with respect to sustainable forestry products.
In April 2002, over 1,000 Staples superstores began stocking Living Tree Paper Company’s Vanguard Recycled Plus(tm), a 90% post-consumer waste, 10% hemp printer/copier paper. While Staples should be lauded for this step forward, its critics have objected to a company press statement that accompanied this development: “With this move, Staples, Inc., a Massachusetts-based, $11-billion retailer of office supplies, joins over 40 Fortune 500 companies who have pledged to phase out virgin-wood papers and introduce environmental alternatives.”
According to ForestEthics, a leading tree-free paper campaigner, Staples is overstating its commitment. ForestEthics says that Staples has made no commitment to phase out wood fibers or to decrease its reliance on tree fiber in any measurable way. Staples has not yet addressed the sale of huge quantities of products made from endangered forests, from old growth, or from US public lands. Activists are looking for a plan to effectively market recycled products, that would commit Staples to an overall average post-consumer recycled content of 50% for all paper sold.
Current sourcing policies contribute to the clear-cutting of remaining old growth forests. The biodiverse ecosystems dependent on the old forest are replaced with monoculture pine farms. Paper milling with chlorine and dioxin contaminates communities’ water supplies.
Some forest facts from ForestEthics’ Paper Campaign:
* Over 5 million acres of forests in the Southern US are destroyed annually to make disposable paper products.
* About 80% of the world’s original old growth forests have been logged or severely degraded; in the US, 95% of our old growth forests have been lost.
* Over 90% of the printing and writing paper produced in the US is from virgin tree fiber.
* US public lands are logged at a $1.2 billion annual loss to American taxpayers.
As Ron Sargent, Staples’ newly appointed CEO, takes over the reins of the industry giant, he has acknowledged the company’s need to exhibit stronger environmental commitments. Staples continues to formulate its response to environmental criticism, and the company has pledged to seek input from its shareholders, customers, suppliers such as International Paper and Georgia Pacific, as well as activists and non-profit groups. Sargent acknowledges customers have become environmentally aware and are willing to pay a premium for environmentally sustainable products.
The company touts the availability of 400 recycled products in its 1,261 stores. However 90% of its products are still derived from virgin fiber. We hope to hear one of the world’s largest sellers of paper articulate a measurable environmental policy that will continuously reduce its total net environmental impact on the planet:
“UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not…Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care. Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air. Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack. Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back.”
For more information about these campaigns and forestry supply-chain sustainability issues, go to:
1 The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, is available at: http://chemeng.nmsu.edu/lorax.htm
