May 11, 2004
Ronald
L. Sargent, President and CEO
STAPLES
Corporate Office
500 Staples Drive
Framingham, MA 01702
Dear Mr. Sargent:
We are
writing this letter to you as a group of organizations with a combined
membership of several million people. As
members of United Methodist Women and several supporting organizations, we are
committed to the environmental integrity of this planet and the justice
dimensions of ensuring the health and well-being of all who dwell upon it. The purpose of this letter is to call on
Staples to use a sustainability screen, SMMI (Sustainable Manufacturing and
Marketing Initiative) TCF-PCF ranking, in all operations of your business.
We know
that as the chief executive officer of Staples you share our concern for the
impact of papermaking on ecosystems as well as the social and health
consequences it has on workers, communities and individuals.
We
applaud your recent 8 week trial attempt to carry SMMI Certified Processed
Chlorine-Free (PCF) test product, the New Life DP 100, in selected stores. This shows your commitment to living out the
environmental code of ethics that you profess:
“We all affect the environment – and we
rely upon it, too. Staples is committed to protecting
our natural resources through a focus on environmental stewardship. From the
products we offer and the energy we use, to the ways we help customers to
recycle, Staples is working to help ensure a healthy environment for future
generations.” (As seen on your website)
United Methodist Women throughout the country
have been surveying Staples stores.
Based on 275 ‘report cards,’ store personnel and even some managers did
not understand what processed chlorine-free meant. Our women responded that visiting the stores
allowed for opportunities to share the information and to make the
recommendation to stock the environmentally-friendly paper that comes with
third party accountability. In almost
every case, Staples staff responded attentively and positively, pledging to
relay the information to upper management. We applaud the professionalism of
your personnel.
We were particularly impressed by your
commitment to recycling of paper. We
want to recommend that you take the next step of pledging to stock SMMI PCF Certified ‘processed chlorine-free’
paper in all of your stores. Our group
of organizations, led by the women of the United Methodist Church,
carried out a campaign of visiting Staples stores throughout the country to ask
for the PCF paper and reported back to our headquarters on the availability of
this paper and the level of consciousness about the issue of chlorine-bleached
paper. We know that you are well aware
that chlorine used in the paper-making industry is a major source of dioxin one
of the most pernicious and harmful toxins in our environment today. Also, did
you know that chlorine chemistry bleached papers use 40,000 gallons of water
per ton of pulp vs. processed chlorine free whitened papers using 2,500 gallons
of water per ton of pulp ?
Specifically, we are
interested in seeing Staples stock PCF paper certified by a third party as its
regular selection for all sizes of white paper.
This would be placed in your self-service copiers as well as all
machines run by staff behind the counter, in computer printers, fax machines,
etc. We would also like to see you stock
certified PCF in colors.
The burden should not be on your customer to
know about and ask for papers that are more environmentally sound. Staples is a major paper expert and should be
proud to offer certified PCF papers to its customers, providing the most
environmentally sound sheet available as the standard. Similarly, the burden should not be on your
educated and caring customers to pay premium prices for doing the right thing
while those who are not educated get preferential prices for continuing to harm
the environment. The pricing of PCF
paper is competitive with chlorine-bleached stock, so there should be no cost
differential.
We would like to arrange a meeting with you and
your senior management to discuss how Staples can take steps towards switching
to certified Processed Chlorine Free paper throughout its operations. For our part, we will pull together a small
team of our representatives who can bring a variety of resources to assist with
this process. We will contribute people
who have:
·
Scientific and health
expertise regarding chlorine and dioxin – and its impact on human
constituencies who are particularly threatened (women, children, workers and
others who live near pulp and paper plants)
·
Knowledge of the U.S.
and international pulp and paper industry – including state-of-the-art
technologies, current product availability, environmental and working
conditions at individual plants
·
Evidence of national
consumer demand for PCF paper and how your franchises are currently handling
such requests (from United Methodist Women’s Staples Report Card Campaign)
·
Financial stakes in key
pulp and paper companies
·
Experience negotiating
on chlorine issues with the senior management of leading pulp and paper manufacturers.
We would like to schedule a meeting as soon as
possible within the next few weeks to discuss how Staples will address these
issues – namely the availability and pricing of certified PCF paper for your
customers nationwide as an important step in a public
commitment to sustainability in the papers offered by Staples. Could we meet some time during the weeks of
May 24-27 or June 2-4?
We are hopeful that the talents, goodwill and
cooperative spirit we will all bring to the table will bear a positive
result. We will contact you soon to
pursue making the necessary arrangement.
Sincerely,
Sung-ok Lee, United
Methodist Women’s Division Representative, Office of Community Action
Archie J. Beaton, Chlorine
Free Products Association Representative
Supporting Member Organizations: General
Board of Pensions and Health Benefits, United Methodist Church; National Breast Cancer Fund; National
Green Peace International; Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic
Justice; Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investments
