Staples has cancelled its contracts with Asia Pulp & Paper, according to today’s Wall Street Journal. Worries that Singapore based APP is destroying rain forests in Sumatra led Staples to this move.

We understand that sophisticated companies prefer supplier engagement rather than divorce. We do too. It is hard to have leverage when you no longer wield the power of the dollar (although that, of course, is less powerful than it used to be.) To its credit, Staples tried engagement. But it didn’t work. Mark Buckley, Staples VP of environment, “decided engagement was not possible anymore.”

So they cut the cord. This is a big deal—APP, one of the world’s largest paper companies, supplied Staples with 9% of its paper supply. Yet Buckley believed that being a customer of APP was “great peril to our brand.”

Environmental and human rights activists often echo Martin Luther King in his letter from the Birmingham Jail. “For years now I have heard the word ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ears of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never.’”

To send a credible message to those scrutinizing corporate actions for responsibility, sometimes engagement must end in divorce. Staples is to be applauded for taking this step. We also trust that they have held out hope for reconciliation, should Asia Pulp & Paper embrace its environmental responsibilities. Then the ‘Wait’ combined with action will have been well worth it.