Corey Pierce

When Matthew Good suggested in his October 9 blog that, among many other reasons, he celebrated the end of the ultra conservative Western Standard because it would “save trees,” publisher Ezra Levant responded to Good’s remarks. He argued that “anyone who celebrates the closure of a magazine is intellectually closed,” referencing “Nazis celebrat[ing] the burning of books 70 years ago.”

Judging the worthiness of the content of a publication is subjective, making it politically incorrect to favour saving trees over printing paper. The problem is, the amount of paper being printed for magazines is a serious threat to the world’s remaining intact forests. According to The Magazine Paper Project of Co-op America, a tree is cut down every second for use in magazine paper, totalling about 31 million trees per year. That’s because more than 95 per cent of magazines come from virgin sources. And for all the magazines that hit the stands, according to Co-op America's Magazine Paper Project, only one-third are read — the rest are recycled or disposed of in landfills.

The pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of water used in industrial activities in Organisation for Economic Co-operatin and Development (OECD) countries and is the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, after the chemical and steel industries. Further, publishers are not responsible for the disposal costs of publications once they’re in the hands of readers. Landfilling and recycling costs are passed on to municipalities.

Without effective public policy to enforce responsible publishing practices, publishers are left to self regulate. Magazines with a social agenda are more likely to print green. E/The Environmental Magazine was one of the first magazines to use recycled paper since it launched in 1990. Founder and publisher Doug Moss says it’s been a committed effort to source out recycled paper for each issue. “For years, the magazine industry has shirked its responsibility to be good stewards of our environment and human health,” explains Moss. “If our relatively small circulation magazine can make using recycled paper work for 17 years, then [larger publications] can use their substantial purchasing power to increase the market for recycled papers.”

Eco-conscious musician Jack Johnson and Patagonia’s Chris Malloy encouraged Surfer magazine to print its November 2005 issue on recycled paper. Johnson and Malloy were guest editors for the issue and convinced publisher Rick Irons to foot the bill for the green issue. A positive response from readers motivated Surfer to continue printing on recycled paper. While printing recycled paper costs about $100,000 extra per year, the magazine’s research indicates its efforts are saving about 4,500 trees annually.

According to a poll by Co-op America and the Green Press Initiative, higher costs aren’t reason to avoid using recycled paper. The poll showed almost 80 per cent of consumers would pay more for magazines printed on recycled paper.

Valerie Latona, editor in chief of Shape, the largest women’s consumer magazine using recycled content, agrees that higher costs shouldn’t prevent publishers from going green.

“The time is now for each and every magazine to step up and take responsibility for the impact their publication has on the environment. You often hear about recycled paper being poor quality, or that it costs too much and won’t work financially for a publishing company. However, if Shape can do it with a 1.7 million circulation size and still be successful and profitable, I’d have to say those excuses are not valid. There can be no more excuses.”

The issue was brought to Shape’s attention by one of its advertisers, Aveda, an eco-conscious line of hair and skin care products. Latona recalls, “I remember a team from Aveda asking why we didn’t use recycled paper when it made so much sense for Shape’s mission: if we were helping women to create better lives, didn’t that extend to the environment that we were living in?” Upon Aveda’s urging, Shape decided to start using 35 per cent recycled content.

As going green becomes more trendy, some magazines are starting to print special “green issues.” Elle Magazine published a “green issue” in April using 10 per cent recycled content and covering fashionable environmental topics. Clearly, consumers, advertisers and publishers can all have a hand in changing the way magazines are published.

Seven steps to become a green reader

Read publications online, borrow from the library or share with a friend. Regardless of the paper source, not buying print publications is the greenest choice. Support your publication by subscribing online instead.

• Determine the paper source of your favourite publication. Use this information to decide which publications you will support.

• What is the pickup rate for your favourite publication? The higher the pick up rate, the lower the waste from unread magazines. Find out how the publisher deals with remaining magazines — are they recycled or landfilled?

• Put pressure on publishers to clean up their act.

•Don’t get greenwashed. A publication displaying the recycling symbol doesn’t necessarily indicate that its paper contains recycled content. It may simply indicate the magazine is recyclable.

• Know the facts. Recycled material has a smaller footprint than virgin materials. Full life cycle assessments (comprehensive research has been done by the Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Defense and the Alliance for Environmental Innovation) have proven energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, particle emissions, wastewater and solid waste are all reduced by using recycled content paper.