Okay — I seriously can’t get away from it now. Print mags have really caught on to green blog content — and I’m now swimming in a green sea of recycled paper –
Even in Washington DC, I found a free copy of the Washington Flyer in the airport. This mag, published every couple months by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, put out a green issue — showcasing inverviews with with Leonardo Dicaprio and Lester R. Brown of the Earth Policy Institute and Kermit the Frog.
Then I leafed through DC North — a monthly community mag — from which I got urban garden tips via the Philadelphia Flower Show, found out about an e-waste collection day on Saturday, April 21 (9 am - 3 pm at Carter Barron Amphitheatre Parking Lot at 16th and Kennedy), learned of a govt. sponsored rebates on energy-star stuff, and read about new full-service bike shop called The Bike Rack.
It’s all good, but if I read one more article about Leonardo Dicaprio –
The Magazine PAPER Project at Co-op America(www.magazinepaper.org) provides free assistance and expertise to magazine publishers who are interested in switching to recycled paper.
Currently more than 95% of all magazines (18,000+ titles) contain ZERO recycled content. 35 million trees are cut down each year, with a huge number coming from threatened and endangered forests (including Canada’s Boreal). This is equivalent to land cleared larger than the state of Florida.
The paper and production industry is incredibly harmful to the environment. Not only does it contribute in a significant way to global warming (for example, the trees that would have otherwise have captured CO2 are now dead), but also contaminates our water supply, and the trees needed for paper come from areas of social conflict.
Switching to recycled paper is THE number one thing a magazine can do to decrease its negative environmental impact. There are only 100 magazines that use recycled paper, but they are making an incredible difference. View a comprehensive list of magazines that use recycled paper by visiting our website.
Producing recycled paper is not nearly as harmful as producing virgin (directly from the tree) paper. Less chemicals are used, and no trees are killed to make this paper. Plus, it’s quite easy to brighten recycled paper to the point that it looks indistinguishable from white virgin sheets. Also, the cost of recycled paper is more often than not comparable to virgin sheets.
Recycled paper should be used as often as possible. It’s currently the most effective way we are going to be able to save what forests remain.
Encourage all your favorite magazines to use recycled paper for every issue. Most magazines that are producing green issues are not even printed on recycled paper, such as Vanity Fair, Elle, Sports Illustrated, Time, among about 17,900 others.
Jennifer Gerholdt
Magazine PAPER Project Coordinator
Co-op America
http://www.magazinepaper.org
Comment by Jennifer Gerholdt — April 19, 2007 @ 7:21 am