#1.574378

Protesting

Kari Gray

Utah State University’s Ecological Coalition of Students is protesting one of America’s top office suppliers.

A member of ECOS stood outside Staples in Logan Tuesday about 4 p.m. holding a poster that read, “Stop the Killing,” while in the window beside her, another sign read, “Staples proudly offers hundreds of recycled products.”

ECOS members held the demonstration to force the chain to “stop using such mass quantities of unrecycled paper,” Jim Steitz, ECOS club president, said.

All over the nation environmentalists are protesting near about 200 Staples stores today, Steitz said.

ECOS asked customers going into the store to sign a pledge “to avoid this store until Staples chooses to meet our demands,” Steitz said.

Staples had no comment.

The decision to protest Staples instead of Kinko’s or other office supply chains was based upon only 3 percent of the stores’ paper products being recyclable, Steitz said.

He said, “They are the largest office company in the world – it is their job to lead.”

However, the chain “believes in selling recycled and environmentally friendly products,” and sells 1,000 recycled products, “of which roughly 800 are paper-based,” according to the Staples global Web site at www.staples.com.

Steitz said, “As a citizen of this planet it’s my responsibility not only to defend my planet, but the planet my children will someday inherit.”

Steitz said one way all students at USU can get involved is to make conscientious decisions about where to shop and to communicate directly to Staples officials.

Students can also help the general environment by educating their friends and family members on the importance of recycling, he said.

ECOS is also involved with protecting wilderness areas in Utah, the forest and helping to get students to vote, Steitz said.

“Students are traditionally not politically active, but if we can change that then students can change the world,” he said.

At 6:15 p.m., the Logan City Police showed up to end the protesting, Steitz said.

“We were within our rights to do what we were doing,” he said.