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The Staples Campaign - which involved more than 600 demonstrations
at Staples stores nationwide and tens of thousands of letters
and calls to the company's CEO - is over following the office-supply
giant's announcement on November 12 that it will meet The
Paper Campaign's goal of moving the company towards environmentally-preferable
paper sales.
The Paper Campaign applauds Staples' move to set the standard
in the office supply industry and is now looking to other
giant paper retailers such as Office Max, Office Depot and
Corporate Express to follow Staples' lead.
Under Staples' new guidelines - an industry first - the company
will:
- Achieve an average of 30% post-consumer recycled content
across all paper products it sells.
- Phase out purchases of paper products from Endangered
Forests, including endangered U.S. National Forests, key
forests in the Southern U.S. and the Canadian Boreal forests.
The term "Endangered Forests" is used to describe
the most important areas of intact, native and old-growth
forests left on earth.
- Create an environmental affairs division and report annually
on its environmental results.
This agreement is the culmination of a two-year effort by
The Paper Campaign, a coalition of environmental groups -
including the Native Forest Network, National Forest Protection
Alliance, Dogwood Alliance, and Heartwood - dedicated to protecting
forests by moving the marketplace towards post-consumer recycled
and alternative fiber paper.
"Staples' new policy represents a significant shift
in the marketplace that will result in fewer endangered forests
in the U.S. and abroad needlessly cut down to make disposable
paper products," stated Matthew Koehler with the Native
Forest Network. "Shifting paper markets towards recycled
and tree-free paper is just plain common sense. Not only does
it save landfill space and save forests, but post-consumer
recycled paper also requires less water and less toxins to
produce."
Jake Kreilick with the National Forest Protection Alliance
pointed out the importance of today's announcement given the
fact that approximately 1 out of 3 trees currently logged
in our publicly owned National Forests are turned into paper.
"Staples' shift toward greener pastures reflects a
positive trend that will lead to less logging in our endangered
U.S. National Forests," said Kreilick. "At a time
when Congress and the Bush administration are taking National
Forest policy in a dangerous direction, it is good to see
an enlightened market shift away from the outdated dependence
on public forests to provide paper products."
"Staples new policy is the beginning of the end of the
practice of destroying endangered Southern forests to make
paper. If Staples' competitors such as Office Max, Office
Depot, and Corporate Express, do the right thing and follow
Staples example, our forests can be protected for future generations,"
said Danna Smith of the Dogwood Alliance, one of the groups
leading the campaign.
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Non-violent Protest in Buffalo
By Dan Cross
Early in the chilly morning of November 13, 2001, three
Buffalo forest activists locked themselves to three
trucks at a Staples distribution center in Amherst,
New York, a suburb of Buffalo. Meanwhile ten demonstrators
shouted clever cheers and carried signs exposing Staples'
destruction of our forests as part of the Staples National
Day of Action.
The forest activists stopped Staples from their Tuesday
distribution route for over two hours, before they were
cut free of the trucks. Three (the ones locked to the
trucks) were arrested by the Amherst police department
and were arraigned and released later that day.
On March 19, the three activists were sentenced to
5 days in jail and $250 in restitution.
The three protesters were realeased after spending
a night at the Erie County Holding Center.
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