Lansing - A handful of members of the MSU student group ECO stood outside of Staples The Office Superstore, 3003 E. Michigan Ave. for a protest Tuesday.
The protest was part of a national event for environmental groups to voice their concerns over the sale of partially recycled paper.
The office supply store does not stock 100 percent post-consumer waste paper, which is paper made entirely from recycled products.
The group carried signs with the words “stop selling old growth” and, “Staples is destroying forests one tree at a time.”
They also handed out sheets of paper that were made from 100 percent post-consumer waste.
Currently the store stocks only partially recycled paper.
Liisa Bergmann, who serves as a coordinator for ECO, said the students had printed 148 of the small sheets of paper with information on how people can help.
“I think we are going to educate people and in coordination with other groups around the country we will affect Staples’ decision making,” the environmental policy senior said.
ECO member and English senior Peter Vertacnik said people need to be more aware of the definition of recycled paper.
“They are not giving us the facts, there is a big difference between 30 percent and 100 percent recycled,” he said.
Social work freshman Lacey Harris said she plans on handing her leftover sheets of information to students on campus.
“Maybe some of the people we meet will go somewhere else or demand them to carry something else,” the ECO member said.
Some people entering the store took an interest in their campaign.
One person who listened was Lansing resident Dawan McClendo.
“They are fighting for what they believe in, that is pretty good,” he said.
But the fight for 100 percent post-consumer waste may come to an end soon.
Tom Nutile, a Staples spokesman, said there are plans to start carrying 100 percent recycled paper.
“Within the next three or four weeks we will present a 100 percent recycled paper through our catalogs and our Web site,” he said.
Nutile said the company is uncertain of the product’s popularity with customers and wants to experiment with it first.
He said the general public has no real interest in recycled products.
“Today’s recycled products are much better than a few years ago,” he said “In the past the paper would jam in machines.”
Nutile also said the price for the paper is more than the partially recycled paper. He said a ream of 10 percent recycled paper is $2.79 and 50 percent recycled paper is $4.99 per ream.
“American consumers by and large are looking for a bargain,” he said. “Our 50 percent recycled paper does not sell as well as our 10 percent paper, and I believe it is primarily because of price.”
