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Staples papers over its dispute with environmentalists By
Jim Steitz Among the primary values expressed and incubated during college, two particularly stand out in my mind -- the moral imperative of making a positive contribution to one's world, and the value of free expression of ideas and opinions. One might therefore imagine our shock and disappointment upon learning that both are rejected with a passion only a few blocks from the university, at our local Staples store at 1400 North and Main. Staples, the world's largest office supply company, is one the world's largest distributors of copy and printer paper, with severe implications for our environment. With such clout comes an ethical responsibility to tread lightly upon our forests. Our country sends 50 million tons of paper to the landfill every year, yet Staples chooses to source, by its own admission, only about 3 percent of its paper fiber from recycled sources. The other 97 percent comes straight from our forests. The majority of Staples' paper is produced by International Paper, a company that has perfected the art of liquidating the natural forests of the southeast United States and replacing them with pine plantations, to the detriment of native plants, animals, soils, waters and human communities. Staples also has no policies to discriminate against paper from old-growth forests, or from timber off National Forests, where taxpayers subsidize the destruction of our own public lands. After repeated refusals by Staples management to address these issues, a coalition of grassroots environmental groups initiated a campaign to educate consumers about these issues, and their responsibilities as consumers to purchase in accordance with their own ethical dictates. Such campaigns are with ample precedent -- not long ago Home Depot decided to stop using wood from old-growth forests as a response of consumer and activist pressure. International Forest Products, a company with a near-pariah reputation for its logging practices, was forced to stop ravaging coastal British Columbia because of outrage among its European buyers. Nor are such campaigns limited to the environment -- one secret of the anti-apartheid campaign in South Africa was a campaign to divest holdings in offensive investments. One would expect Staples to be receptive to the concerns of students who, of all people, have the most to lose from forest destruction. Our local Staples, however, has a different concept of community dialogue. Not only have the local managers refused to address the issue, but also they have shown utter contempt and disrespect to those who draw attention to Staples' record by approaching the company's customers. On two occasions, it has called the police to demand that students leave the premises, and cited one for trespassing, notwithstanding the fact that the managers made no attempt to negotiate a mutually agreeable arrangement. At a time when our country is going to war to defend the values embedded in our Constitution, Staples excels at trampling those found in its First Amendment. One can't blame Staples too severely, however -- its business depends upon manipulating customers, which requires suppressing those who would rain on their parade. At this moment, Staples boasts that it sells "hundreds of recycled products," embellishes its store with a bright green recycling emblem, and posts similar emblems in its store, in the vicinity of no recycled products in particular. Our community deserves more than a sound bite and a smiling face. We challenge the managers of our local Staples to explain to us why they continue to participate in the liquidation of our forests, and refuse to engage in a discussion that is so critical to the future that our generation will inherit.
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