Environmental activists protest Sears' holiday catalog event; say nearly 200-page catalog doesn't come from recycled content

Source: NEW YORK (ForestEthics)

Monday, November 26, 2007

Environmental activists, led by Santa and his reindeer, arrived in New York’s Times Square this morning to interrupt Sears’ holiday celebration of its Wish Book catalog, which was hosted by Ty Pennington, and unveil their own Sears “Wish Crook” “cutalog” [pdf]. The “Wish Crook”, unlike its deceptive cousin the Wish Book, highlights Sears’ remorseless destruction of Endangered Forests and threatened caribou habitat, as well as its contribution to global warming.

Whereas companies like Victoria’s Secret and Dell have aligned their paper policies with the ecological demands of business in the 21st Century, Sears’ Wish Book offers up nearly 200 pages cut from some of the world’s most threatened Endangered Forests, like North America’s Boreal, which is home to threatened caribou, (also known as reindeer). Sears catalogs are made almost entirely from paper that comes from trees, rather than recycled content, and the company mails more than a million a day.

“Sears is here today to resurrect their Holiday Wish Book after 14 years, which they claim is tailored to current consumer trends. If Sears was truly in touch with its consumers’ wishes, it would recognize that environmental destruction is no longer acceptable to most Americans,” said PJ McKosky, volunteer with ‘Catalogs without Clearcuts’ in New York.

This holiday season, ForestEthics wishes that Sears Holdings Corporation would leave behind the ghosts of policy past and implement a procurement plan that accomplishes the following four goals: ceases the use of wood fiber from Endangered Forests such as Canadian Boreal caribou habitat; ensures that virgin fiber used comes from operations certified by the Forest Stewardship Council; maximizes post-consumer recycled content; and reduces overall paper consumption and carbon footprint.

“Destruction of forests contributes more global warming emissions than transportation annually, and critical defenses like North America’s Boreal are being logged to make things like catalogs, 97% of which are tossed into recycling or the trash without so much as a glance,” said Ginger Cassady of ForestEthics. “If this senseless waste does not stop, all the wishes in the world will not save us from facing severe changes to our climate.”

North America’s Boreal Forest is logged at a rate of two acres a minute, 24 hours a day. Much of this logging produces paper for catalogs and junk mail. This is a tragic end for trees that form a critical line of defense against global warming. The Boreal is also Earth’s most accessible source of freshwater, and plays an essential role in keeping our air healthy to breathe. It is home to wolves, bears, wolverines, threatened woodland caribou, and half of North America's songbirds. The hundreds of First Nation communities that live in the Boreal depend on the land for hunting, fishing, economic development and the continuation of their cultural heritage.

ForestEthics’ vision for sustainable business practices is the emerging standard across the catalog sector. Successful campaigns by ForestEthics and its network have resulted in many companies, including Williams-Sonoma, Dell, and Victoria’s Secret, implementing environmentally sound catalog and paper policies. The Victoria’s Dirty Secret Campaign, launched in October 2004 and marked by irreverent ads, web-based advocacy and a colorful, sustained presence at retail outlets across the US, achieved a successful end in December 2006 when Victoria’s Secret announced a landmark new environmental policy.