Citizens Get Back to the Business of Protecting America's Forests – 200 Demonstrations Nationwide Urge STAPLES Inc. To Safeguard Our Heritage

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Citizens Get Back to the Business of Protecting America's Forests –

200 Demonstrations Nationwide Urge STAPLES Inc. To Safeguard Our Heritage

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For Immediate Release

Citizens Get Back to the Business of Protecting America's Forests –

200 Demonstrations Nationwide Urge STAPLES Inc. To Safeguard Our Heritage

CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 13 -/E-Wire/-- As the Bush Administration continues today with its plans to rollback protections for America's forests, students, concerned citizens and grassroots activists joined in more than 200 demonstrations on the third National Day of Action against Staples. Citizens across the country united in calling on Staples, the largest office supply store in the world, to stop selling paper made from endangered forests and switch to recycled sources. This unprecedented level of participation by grassroots activists is part of an emerging trend felt throughout the environmental movement in the last few weeks — a dramatic increase in activism and support.

"Now more than ever, we as Americans realize how important our nation's forests are for peace of mind and quality of life - something that we won't let corporations such as Staples take away. Our forest heritage is something to protect for our children and our future," states Danna Smith of the Dogwood Alliance.

Markets campaigns, which are a relatively new tool for the environmental movement, have proven to be very effective, leading to victories like Home Depots' decision to stop selling endangered-forest products, which caused a chain reaction of similar commitments across the do-it-yourself wood products retailers, including Lowe's. The goal of the Staples Campaign is to do the same thing in the office supply sector by shifting large consumers and sellers toward recycled paper. "Actions speak louder than words," says Todd Paglia of ForestEthics, "and with over 200 demonstrations at Staples stores, citizens are sending a strong message that Staples must get out of the business of destroying forests – putting a couple new recycled products on the shelves and buying their way into America Recycles Day doesn't save forests."

Today's demonstrations are part of a coalition effort by more than a dozen organizations to pressure Staples to end its leading role in forest destruction by committing to getting half of the paper it sells from recycled sources. Based on a figure quoted by Staples executives in November of 2000, 97% of the copy paper Staples sells comes from forests – a mere 3% from recycled sources. Throughout the South, the largest paper producing region in the US, forests are being logged faster than they are growing, according to the US Forest Service.

Despite the fact that nine out of ten Americans favor the protection of wilderness and open spaces, including forests, (LA Times poll, 4/30/01), Staples' largest selling copy paper, the redbox store brand, is made 100% from trees, with 0% recycled content. Critics say that Staples is increasingly out of step with the American public and with corporate America as well.

Staples Responds to Mounting Pressure In response to the campaign launched one year ago, Staples recently introduced two new lines of recycled paper containing 10% and 50% post-consumer recycled fiber. But, forest protection advocates say that reversing the forest destruction that results from Staples' overall paper procurement is going to take much more than putting a few new recycled paper products on the shelves. Until Staples makes a long-term commitment in the form of an official company policy to stop buying products from old-growth and US public forests and to increase the average recycled content in all their paper products to 50%, groups say they will continue to hold the company accountable for the destruction of forests. Sponsoring events like America Recycles Day may polish Staples image, but far greater impact would be felt in the forests if Staples made a commitment to get half the fiber it uses from recycled sources.

Originally printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, which Staples doesn't sell

http://www.StopStaples.net

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