Called out for dumpstering, has Borders changed its ways?

In three days, the Waldenbooks and Borders Express store closings will officially be over (even though the vast majority of locations have already shut their doors), and more than 15,000 people have stood up to tell Borders to Donate, Not Dumpster! It's a good time to review Borders' overall response to getting called out for dumpstering.



After being outed by employees for trashing books when this campaign started Nov. 30, Borders repeatedly denied it to the public, claiming "we will not be disposing of books as a result of the 182 Waldenbooks store closures." Borders executives stepped forward after the story broke in HuffPo on Dec. 11, and repeated these denials.

Behind the scenes, they were scrambling to cover their tracks. On Dec. 31, all stores without recycling programs were instructed to stop dumpstering books and other merchandise ("non-returnable product") until further notice. On Jan. 7, this directive was clarified when stores were internally notified that the company would now be recycling all the books it was regularly throwing away in dumpsters.

This was the first positive action taken on this issue by Borders. Kudos for their decision to start recycling the formerly trashed books.

How many stores this included is unclear, and why recycling initiatives haven't been in place at all 800+ Borders locations for years is mystifying. This action is something Borders never publicly announced, and Borders' PR department hasn't mentioned it much, because to stress the point would mean admitting how irresponsible the company's merchandise disposal policies had been up until Dec. 31, 2009.

Even recycled, the books are still being discarded. What about re-use? If the books are being destroyed anyway, couldn't they ALL be donated? Borders still needs to work with publishers to find a better way.

As the store closings accelerated during January, Borders kept stonewalling. They swore up and down that "we do not expect to have product to donate or to dispose of" in e-mails sent in response to thousands of concerned customers who contacted them.

And they kept disposing of hundreds of thousands books in the meantime, stripping the covers from whatever books they could return to publishers, and shipping the coverless books back to distribution centers for recycling. What the Washington Post described as a "mountain" of books were trashed.

Then, as the story spread more widely in the blogsophere, on Facebook, and Twitter, Borders publicly announced a gesture on Jan. 21 to donate some goods destined for the dumpsters to non-profits.

We applaud Borders for taking a second step in the right direction by agreeing to donate some "non-returnable product," most of which includes items other than books.

Although nothing has changed regarding the vast majority of the BOOKS they're still trashing - estimated to be 80% or more of all unsold books at chain stores.

Mass-market books will continue to be destroyed by Borders or returned to publishers for disposal, millions of books a year. These include all kinds of paperbacks – best-sellers, thrillers, mysteries, sci-fi, the works. Unsold hardcovers also get returned to publishers, and 65 – 95 percent are destroyed by pulping.

We remain hopeful that these two steps aren't Borders' only response to dealing with the problem. If so, they've come up short.

They also claim to have "started a dialogue within the publishing industry to address industry wide practices -- which all book retailers practice, not just Borders -- that could possibly be changed with positive impacts on communities and the environment." And we'll take them at their word, and look forward to hearing what comes out of it.

However, as Borders' PR team has reminded us, they are not the only book chain trashing books. Now that public awareness has been raised about dumpstering, it's time for Barnes & Noble and other chains to have a light shined their way. And big publishers are also to blame.

So this is the last week we're going to focus solely on Borders' role in this system.

Borders' current shaky financial situation was underscored this week by the resignation of the company's CEO Ron Marshall after barely a year on the job, and the news they will be laying off 10% of corporate staff. We've been calling for Borders to take a stand against their own industry's wasteful business practices, but the reality is that what they've done so far is all we can realistically expect from Borders for now. They're too focused on their own survival to do much else.

But the steps Borders has already taken in response to pressure from its employees, customers, and book lovers everywhere are a partial victory for everyone who spoke out, e-mailed, called, blogged, Tweeted, and otherwise helped Tell Borders to do the right thing. Thank you all!

Tell Apple: Don't partner with publishers or chains who won't stop trashing books

As Apple introduces its much-hyped "iSlate"(?) tablet, big publishers are salivating at the thought of new profits if it helps take e-books mainstream ("All five major publishers - Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, MacMillan and Hachette - are on the bookstore starting this afternoon." - CNET, Apple iPad tablet makes debut). Meanwhile, many of us who care about books are wondering what the digital future holds for reading and the printed word.



After the dirty little secret of book trashing by chains and publishers got publicized during this campaign, some folks have commented that e-readers are the answer to stopping the waste. But they're not the only answer, because we're willing to bet most people who care about books being trashed recognize the value of being able to hold a real book in your hand.

Breanna Sylvester at 11:43 am:
-you can't read an e-book in the tub w dry fingers without risk of electrocution.
-you don't need batteries for a real book, they're available anytime
-if you spill something on a book, its easier & less expensive to replace than an e-book
-you can't fill a bookcase with an e-book.
-you don't get the author's originality & artful expressions with an e-book like you can with a real book, some illustrations are meant for paper.
-most children won't be allowed to get an e-book, too costly to expect a child not to ruin. & if a child doesn't read early on, they're more likely to be illiterate.

Borders is not the only chain destroying unsold books. And big publishers are also to blame. Barnes & Noble, rumored to have already inked a deal with Apple, is trashing even more books on a regular basis than Borders because of its size. At 1300+ stores (including its college bookstores), B&N is the country's largest book retailer. Now that public awareness has been raised about dumpstering, expect Barnes & Noble and other chains and publishers to have a light shined their way soon.

The root problem behind all of this is the outdated business model the industry's using - resulting in overprinting by big publishers, over-ordering by big chains, and mountains of unsold books trashed.



Because they're the ones carrying out the actual destruction of books in most cases, retailers have a responsibility as well as publishers to end this wasteful practice. And it's big chains who are the primary culprits – independent bookstores order smarter, and trash and/or return far fewer books.

There's no excuse for this kind of waste in an era when more and more of us are aware we all need to be good stewards of the planet. Solutions? We can keep pressuring big publishers and chains to change their ways.

Borders CEO resigns - will they now work with publishers to stop trashing books?

Today, Borders announced the resignation of its CEO, Ron Marshall.

During this campaign, many employees and insiders have come forward to reveal how Marshall, who took over as CEO barely a year ago, managed to worsen the company's already shaky financial situation by trying to sell books like frozen foods (he formerly ran a grocery chain).

He also instituted countless senseless policies (such as employee no-blogging contracts and mandating that specific titles be pushed on customers) that have resulted in employee near-rebellion. If this means Borders will now be more open to working with publishers to change its own industry's wasteful system of trashing books, great.

Why won't Borders donate hundreds of thousands of soon-to-be-trashed books sitting boxed up at Waldenbooks stores?

For weeks, we've been publicizing the fact that hundreds of thousands of books have already been destroyed by Borders during the Waldenbooks store closings. But here's an equally important fact – RIGHT NOW, there are still additional hundreds of thousands of books sitting boxed up at the closing Waldenbooks stores without recycling programs that Borders says they WILL NOT DONATE to non-profits.


Books from closing Waldenbooks store, waiting to be trashed

These mass-market books aren't part of Borders' recent gesture to donate some "non-returnable" product, which doesn't include most unsold books at Borders stores.

The mass-markets are not just romance novels, contrary to the company's spin. It's all kinds of paperbacks – best-sellers, thrillers, mysteries, sci-fi, the works. And some hardcover books, too.

All of these books will continue to be destroyed by Borders or returned to publishers for trashing, millions of books a year.

So what about all the rest of the books, Borders?

As for the hundreds of thousands of books sitting boxed up right now in backrooms at the closing Waldenbooks stores, Borders says they're waiting to find recycling programs to take them, which may be true. Some employees suspect they’ll be dumpstered anyway. Borders has been so willing to mislead the public over their handling of this issue that it's hard to know what to believe:

http://donatenotdumpster.blogspot.com/2010/01/despite-our-pleas-borders-has-trashed.html

But even recycled, the books are still being discarded. What about re-use? If the books are being destroyed anyway, couldn't they ALL be donated? It's time to find a better way.

We repeat our call for Borders to work something out with a few big publishers so that some of these hundreds of thousands of books (even though most have been "stripped" of their front covers) could be donated instead.

Big publishers and book chains like Borders need to clean up their acts and reform the system that results in books being needlessly destroyed.

Borders to donate "non-returnable" goods but will keep trashing most unsold books

Since employees first spoke out and started this campaign on Nov. 30, Borders has dragged its feet, refusing to stop trashing any of the books being destroyed while 182 Waldenbooks and Borders Express stores close down. They've repeatedly denied trashing books. Nearly two months later, with ten days to go before the store closings end, almost 10,000 people have stood up to tell Borders to show some leadership.

Our request was a simple one – for Borders to use this opportunity to take a stand against its own industry's wasteful practices, and pledge to work with publishers to find a way to donate the unsold books instead of destroying them.

Despite our pleas, hundreds of thousands of books have already been trashed.


Trashed books at Borders in California, 1/19. Photo by employee who sent this txt msg: "they dumpstered thousands last night - not recycled"

Borders may have been hoping to stonewall this issue until the store closings ended. But now that the story has spread widely in the blogosphere, on Facebook, and via Twitter, Borders has announced a gesture to donate some goods destined for the dumpsters to non-profits. It would have been PR suicide for them not to. And that's the right thing to do, it fulfills part of what their customers and book lovers everywhere who have signed onto this campaign have been calling for. We applaud Borders for taking a step in the right direction.

However, this announcement doesn't tell the whole story. Borders is only planning to donate "non-returnable" goods. These include many of the store-brand items that employees came forward this week to reveal had been regularly dumpstered:

http://donatenotdumpster.blogspot.com/2010/01/not-just-books-last-week-i-had-to.html

such as stationary, gift items, pens, pencils, blank journals, greeting cards, and art supplies. And also some books that for whatever reason can’t be returned to publishers.

But the vast majority of unsold mass-market books at Borders stores (like the ones in the above photo) are still going to be trashed. This gesture doesn't mean Borders has agreed to stop destroying books.

And that's a big problem. It's what we've been trying to raise awareness about since this campaign began by shining a light on the books being trashed while Borders closes 182 stores.

For a fuller picture of what Borders plans to donate, here's part of what was posted yesterday (1/20) on Bookmark, the company's internal website:

(Click to view larger sizes)



In the post, Borders offers several reasons to justify not moving to change its ways when it comes to trashing unsold books ("mass market returnables") that will continue to have their covers stripped and be disposed of. It also, ironically, points out how few books of this type remain in the closing Waldenbooks store locations after hundreds of thousands have already been trashed, since they are "working on a solve" in order to "get this limited amount of product to a recycler."

Kudos to Borders for now trying to start recycling the trashed books, because until employees spoke out last month, books went straight into dumpsters at all stores that lack recycling programs. Why recycling initiatives haven't been in place at all Borders stores for years is mystifying. But the books are still being discarded.

Borders is not the only book chain doing this, and big publishers are also to blame.

But as the ones carrying out the actual destruction of books in most cases, retailers have a responsibility as well as publishers to end this wasteful practice. And it's big chains like Borders who are the primary culprits.

We remain hopeful that this isn't Borders' only response to dealing with the problem. If so, they've come up short.

Despite our pleas, Borders has already trashed hundreds of thousands of books

A heartfelt thanks to the nearly 10,000 book lovers who have signed onto this campaign since it launched Nov. 30. It's important to remember that whatever Borders decides to do at this point, despite our pleas for the company to find a better way, hundreds of thousands of books have already been trashed.

Borders has publicly stated many times over the past six weeks some variant of what was posted 1/15 on their website - "we will not be disposing of books as a result of the 182 Waldenbooks store closures." They've sent out similar replies via e-mail to 1000's of people who have contacted them, many of them supporters of this campaign.

Yet contrary to these denials, Borders has instructed employees to keep stripping covers from unsold books and sending them, along with the rest of the stripped books, back to their distribution centers in separate boxes. Not to be donated. To be disposed of away from the prying eyes of reporters or concerned customers who might find discarded books in store dumpsters:

http://donatenotdumpster.blogspot.com/2010/01/books-are-being-dumpstered-away-from.html

It's truly outrageous how Borders has misled the public regarding its actual response to this issue.

Last night, Borders spokesperson Mary Davis confirmed this when she posted the following to this page, admitting that as the store closings have proceeded over the past six weeks:

"we indeed instructed our store employees to strip the covers off mass market books that did not sell so they can be sent to publishers for credit."

So Borders has been trashing books as usual. The only question is, how many of the "mass market books that did not sell" has Borders "instructed store employees to strip the covers off" at each of the 182 stores Borders is closing? In other words, how many unsold books have been trashed?

Conservative estimates are in the hundreds of thousands - if as few as 600 books have been stripped at each of the closing stores (600 X 182 = 109,200). And thousands of books have been stripped at each store before being shipped back to distribution centers for disposal.

Those happen to be the same unsold books that concerned customers and book lovers everywhere have been pleading with Borders for six weeks to donate instead of trashing, ever since employees spoke out to alert the public that this was going on.

Big publishers and chains could save billions of dollars a year by cleaning up their act

It's estimated the U.S. publishing and bookselling industry would actually SAVE MONEY in the neighborhood of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year if its outdated system of trashing unsold books was to change:

http://www.bookindustrybailout.ca/

Just because something's standard operating procedure doesn't mean it's the right thing to do, and doesn't mean people can't speak out to change it. Big publishers and book chains need to clean up their acts and reform the system that results in books being trashed.

Imagine the positive PR benefits for Borders if it was to take a stand against the waste, re-branding itself as a more responsible bookseller.

Environmentally conscious consumers and book lovers everywhere (and there are a lot of us out there) would reward the company with our book-buying dollars.

Not just books - last week I had to dumpster $15,000 worth of items in one Borders store

Comment from "Quentin" on greenUPGRADER in response to 1-14-10 post "Stop Borders from Trashing Thousands of Unsold Books":

I work for Borders and there is a dumpster list that is published every month, sometimes more, that every store has to follow. You are required to locate all items on the list, scan them into the system and state the quantity of that item. You then are told to damage the item before throwing it in the dumpster.

A few months ago an email was sent out from the corporate office stating that no dumpster items were to be donated to charity. Stores must damage and throw out all merchandise.

This is not just the practice of closing stores, this is the practice of all Borders stores. Whether it be magazines, books, cd’s/dvd’s, gifts and stationary, nothing is allowed to be donated. We aren’t even allowed to keep dumpster items for use in the stores, like pens, tape, ext. Last week I had to dumpster close to $15,000 of gift and stationary items in one store. The majority of items I boxed up included pens, pencils, blank journals and art supplies, any of which I’m sure public schools are in need of.

Yet the corporate office can require us to ask every customer who is buying something if they would like to donate $8.00 to buy a bag of coffee to send to our troops. I don’t understand how they can expect our customers to donate their money when Borders as a company refuses to donate any of their merchandise to charity.

(January 18, 2010 at 7:51 am)

Retailers have a responsibility along with publishers to end dumpstering

As the ones carrying out the actual destruction of books in most cases, retailers have a responsibility as well as publishers to end this wasteful practice. And it's big chains like Borders who are the primary culprits – independent bookstores order smarter, and return far fewer books. From a reader comment on last month's HuffPo story on this campaign:

"Retail chains are just as responsible for this distribution system.

The returnable distribution policy was devised by publishers to HELP bookstores stay in business decades ago. And it did help. What no one foresaw were these massive chains coming along. At first it appeared to be a good thing to publishers--more stores meant more books.

But then the CHAINS put pressure on the publishers to give bigger and bigger discounts--all returnable. The chains do not have to take any risk in over-ordering---they can return their screw ups. If a publisher refuses to sell books nonreturnable, the chains simply won't take them without even bigger discounts (and smaller orders), which publishers literally cannot afford."

Books are being dumpstered away from the prying eyes of HuffPost readers

Anonymous Borders employee's post to iworkatborders LiveJournal blog on 2010-01-08 04:49 pm:

Yes, the practice of stripping & tossing MM's (mass-market books) is industry standard. It is also wasteful & inefficient, & with new inventory tracking capabilities, should be obsolete by now. So no, Borders isn't any more culpable than any other bookseller in this regard, & less so than the publishers.

Where Borders excels, however, is in making a bad situation worse. Now, in addition to stripping & returning the covers to the publisher for credit, we are shipping the guts of the book back to the DC (distribution center), at considerable expense, so that the books may be dumpstered away from the prying eyes of HuffPost readers. Extra payroll for packing already destroyed books, extra shipping charges, fuel use, etc. Sounds like a WIN to me!

I dumpstered 400 mass markets Monday night...

Donate, Not Dumpster wrote on January 8 at 7:40am:

Shocked by the H&M trashgate story? Contrast H&M's quick reaction and public promise to donate unsold merchandise to that of Borders, who are still dragging their feet, refusing to pledge to donate any of the books being destroyed RIGHT NOW while the stores close.

(Borders employee) Meghan Arnold (West Virginia): Actually, we box up the stripped books and recycle them now. This is a very recent development. (January 8 at 11:02am)

Donate, Not Dumpster: Meghan, scroll down and read all posts from the past few days. Borders has instructed employees to keep stripping covers and sending them, along with the rest of the stripped books, back to the publishers in separate boxes. To be trashed as usual. So the company is still ordering employees to destroy books, but hiding their disposal from public view (where the books might be found by TV news crews or pesky grad students like Cynthia Magnus in store dumpsters).

Furthermore, they're putting a real burden on the already overworked employees of the closing Waldenbooks stores, creating enormous pressure on them to dumpster some books anyway to save time and labor ("I dumpstered 400 mass markets Monday night. Has anyone been boxing up and returning them, and how much space/time/materials does it eat up?" – 1/7 post from Borders employee on the iworkatborders LiveJournal blog).

http://community.livejournal.com/iworkatborders/577181.html?thread=12718237#t12718237

So much for Borders using this opportunity to take a stand against its own industry's wasteful practices, and working something out so that the unsold books could be donated instead. (January 8 at 11:23am)

Borders' actual plan revealed - hiding disposal of books from public view

Donate, Not Dumspter wrote on January 5 at 8:35am:

Tim, thanks for your continued coverage of this story. Contrary to the latest e-mail you received from Borders spokesperson Mary Davis, if this 1/1 post from an employee on the iworkatborders LiveJournal blog is accurate (and it's echoed by other employees' comments in response to the post), Borders' actual plan for dealing with this issue is pretty astonishing:

http://community.livejournal.com/iworkatborders/573771.html

They've instructed employees to keep stripping covers and sending them, along with the rest of the stripped books, back to the publishers in separate boxes! Wow.

The company is still ordering their employees to destroy books, but hiding their disposal from public view (where the books might be found by TV news crews in store dumpsters), letting the publishers finish the dirty work. Furthermore, they're putting a real burden on the already overworked employees of the closing Waldenbooks stores, creating enormous pressure on them to dumpster some books anyway to save time and labor (again, read the employee comments on the above post).

Needless to say, this is not a development that inspires confidence in Borders. Until Borders stands up and publicly pledges to do the right thing, this campaign will continue.

Tim Baker: I will forward the link to Ms. Davis and see how she responds. Believe me - I never meant to imply that the situation was resolved. I simply wanted to extend Borders the courtesy of believing what they said. If it turns out to be untrue - it will only look that much worse for them. (January 5 at 8:37am)

Borders' reply to e-mail from librarian: We sincerely expect to have virtually no product left

Sarah Moxley Kincade wrote on January 4, 2010 at 9:47am:

borders' reply to my email (i work at a public library and thought i'd use that for possible influence)

12/11/2009

Dear Parnell Memorial Library,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding Waldenbooks store stock. We agree that donating books is a worthy concept. However, we do not expect to have any remaining product to donate once we complete clearance sales at the 200 Waldenbooks stores that we plan to close in January 2010. To explain, we have retained the services of an outside firm that specializes in store closings/clearance sales. This firm has structured a process for these sales that involves discounting, moving product that is not selling to higher volume stores and consolidating inventory. Through this process, we sincerely expect to have virtually no product left our goal is to sell everything. Therefore, we do not expect to have product to donate or to dispose of.

I hope this addresses your concerns. Thank you again for writing. I hope this is helpful. If you should have any other questions or comments, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Sincerely, Layla Customer Care 100 Phoenix Dr Ann Arbor, MI 48108

Borders: any product that remains...will not be discarded

Tim Baker wrote on January 1 at 12:11pm: I received a VERY ENCOURAGING e-mail from Borders yesterday. Check it out:

I received an e-mail from Ms. Mary Davis in the Corporate Affairs division of Borders Inc.

You may remember the last e-mail Ms. Davis sent to me in which she attempted to absolve Borders of any culpability in the whole "book dumpstering" fiasco.

In my opinion that e-mail was nothing less than corporate propaganda and many readers felt the same way.

This new e-mail though, like the New Year, seems to be full of promise and positive energy – see for yourself...

Hi again, Mr. Baker:

As a follow up to my (last) email, I want to provide you an update on where we stand with our product disposition practices. In my previous email, I stated that we are not disposing of any product as a result of closing approximately 180 Waldenbooks stores nationwide, and that we’ve retained a firm that specializes in closing/clearance sales and is highly successful at selling through virtually all inventory. I want to emphasize that any product that remains at stores that are closing will be transferred to other stores to be sold or will be donated to organizations in need, and will not be discarded.

Further, we have convened a cross-functional group of Borders Home Office employees who are looking at our product disposition practices in our remaining stores with the goal of finding a way to donate non returnable product to organizations in need and/or dispose of the product we do not donate in an environmentally friendly way. Concurrent with this, we are beginning the process of working with others within the industry to examine our collective product disposition practices.

I hope that you will consider our position for any future articles you write for Examiner.com and any posts you make on Facebook.

Thank you and Happy New Year.

Mary Davis