Walmart: Don’t flush our forests away

Which is more important: Preserving the largest remaining intact forest on Earth? Or producing paper products we’ll use once and flush away?

To us, the choice is clear. We shouldn’t be chopping down the boreal at the rate of one football field every minute to create tissues and toilet paper.

The devastation of the boreal forest is fueled in part by demand for consumer products. That means companies like Walmart can help protect this special place by committing to stocking only forest-free tissue products on its shelves.

The northern boreal forest is the Earth’s green crown

Towering pine, aspen, birch and spruce trees shelter deep groves and clear sparkling lakes. Nearly half of all the bird species in North America use the boreal as a nursery.

It’s a truly special place — but if we let it fall to chainsaws and bulldozers, it won’t ever be the same within our lifetimes.

Our planet needs the boreal forest to stay healthy. Its towering trees absorb enough carbon every year to offset the emissions of 24 million cars. And chopping those trees down releases that stored carbon back into our atmosphere, turning the forest from an ally in the fight against climate change into a carbon source.

We need to let trees grow.

Walmart can help protect trees by stocking forest-free paper products in its stores

There are a lot of reasons that companies log the boreal forest, including for lumber. But one big reason is to get wood pulp that makes paper products — like toilet paper — a little bit softer.

We don’t need to chop down the boreal to make paper products. Recycled paper, bamboo or wheat straw are among the sustainable alternatives that don’t put forests or their wildlife at risk.

Take action to tell Walmart to protect forests

As a massive retailer, Walmart has the power to help reshape the way paper products are manufactured and sold. By committing to stocking only sustainably sourced tissue products, the company could inspire a wave of change through the industry.

But to convince Walmart to put sustainability first, it will need to hear from customers like us.

Add your name to tell Walmart to protect the boreal forest.