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CHICAGO— As shareholders meet to assess Sears Holdings Corporation’s uncertain future, a new report [pdf] outlines the unsustainable logging practices by Sears paper suppliers which have threatened Canada’s vulnerable caribou populations. The report also indicates that the company that produces paper to make Sears catalogs is one of the region’s major polluters of air and water. Released as Sears’ retail and environmental policies have been criticized as out of step with contemporary business practices, the report underscores widespread fears that one of the dominant brands of the 20th Century is not adjusting to business in the 21st. “Sears doesn’t even have policies in place to know if it’s logging Endangered Forests or harming the wildlife of North America,” says ForestEthics spokesperson Ginger Cassady. “ForestEthics has worked with several companies to address their environmental impacts head on, offering their investors not only a better return on investment, but also a clean conscience. “Like Victoria’s Secret, Williams-Sonoma, and Dell before them, Sears would be wise to shore up its brand image by embracing sustainability.” Among the key findings of the ForestEthics report: - One of Sears’ primary paper suppliers, AbitibiBowater, failed a Canadian government audit assessing the sustainability of its operations. The audit suggested that the company have its license revoked for failing to meet government standards designed to protect the environment, and for causing serious harm to vulnerable caribou populations.
- The production of Sears’ 425 million annual catalogs has also earned AbitibiBowater a place among Lake Superior’s 10 biggest polluters. The company has released more than 72,000kg of toxic substances into the lake, and has contributed to mercury contamination.
“Canada’s land and cultural heritage is being degraded because Sears is unwilling to embrace proven sustainable practices,” said Gillian McEachern of ForestEthics in Toronto, who plans to make a special plea to Sears shareholders on behalf of her native Canada. Referencing the company’s struggles, McEachern added: “Let’s be frank: Sears could use some good news. And so could our shrinking caribou population.” The catalog practices of Sears (and SHC subsidiary Lands’ End) have long had a devastating effect on our last remaining Endangered Forests, including the Canadian Boreal. The Boreal is logged at a rate of two acres a minute, 24 hours a day. In addition to serving as a critical line of defense against global warming, and as Earth’s most accessible source of freshwater, the Boreal is home to hundreds of First Nations indigenous communities and provides critical habitat for species of songbirds and caribou. A 2007 Catalog Industry Scorecard identified Sears as the clear laggard in an industry that overall has made progress in avoiding paper sourced from Endangered Forests, in seeking out paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), in reducing overall paper use, and in increasing the post-consumer recycled content of its catalogs. ForestEthics is encouraging Sears shareholders to ask the company to embrace the brand renewal that environmental responsibility could bring the beleaguered company. In February, Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) announced a 48% decrease in earnings for the 2007 fiscal year. A letter signed by 150 clergy and laypeople of the Unitarian Universalist Church was recently sent to Sears Holdings Corporation chairman Edward Lampert, asking the company to adopt policies which will protect the Canadian Boreal and help fight global warming.
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