About 25 college students protested at Staples in Ankeny Tuesday as part of a nationwide effort to encourage the office-supplies giant to offer consumers more recycled paper products.

The protest was part of 200 across the nation organized by the Dogwood Alliance, said Mollie Hayward, member of Iowa STEP, or Students Toward Environmental Protection.

“We felt that it was time to show Staples that consumers of America cannot be ignored,” said Hayward, sophomore in English and education at Grinnell College. “We want to be responsible consumers and purchase recycled paper and Staples, as the largest office supply store in the world, needs to provide that choice for us.”

The protests were organized to encourage Staples to offer more environmentally friendly products, such as recycled paper products, Hayward said. The Dogwood Alliance, which includes several environmentalist organizations, partially promoted the protests via the Stop Staples Web site, www.stopstaples.net.

“Right now, Staples is offering recycled paper in a few stores selectively,” she said. “We want to have recycled paper because we can’t keep using 100 percent virgin wood forever because it’s not an unlimited supply.”

But Staples does offer a wide variety of paper products, said Tom Nutile, vice president of public relations for Staples.

“In every Staples store, you’ll find almost 400 different paper-based recycled products,” Nutile said. “We’ve also been working diligently to bring in more recycled products since the environmentalists began a dialogue with us.”

After Staples met with environmentalist groups, Nutile said, the chain began offering more recycled products. But ISU Student Environmental Council President Angela Sokolowski said this is not true.

“They put a few products on their shelves to appease consumers,” said Sokolowski, the only ISU student who attended the event.

Signs are posted at the front of Staples stores that say recycled products are offered, said Sokolowski, senior in animal ecology, but not offered to the variety or degree people want.

“If people can’t find a recycled product when they first look on the shelves, they’re going to grab what’s easiest,” she said.

Hayward said STEP is opposed to the use of virgin wood and old-growth wood, which Nutile said Staples does not use.

“What we’re doing to address this issue is developing a purchasing policy that will formalize our commitment to buying environmentally-friendly paper products,” he said.

Nutile said Staples was targeted because it is the leading company in the paper-products industry.

“When you target a well-known company with a well-known brand, you increase your chances of getting publicity,” Nutile said.

The protest took place between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The tone of the protest was not intended to be negative, Hayward said.

“We’re not against something; we’re for something,” she said. “We’re for forests.”