Pushing Quebec hydro into New England a hard sell: Maisonneuve

The spring issue of Maisonneuve magazine (on newsstands Friday 21st) has a major cover story on the contention over a major project that would carry Quebec hydro into New England. 

"Northern Impasse", by Michael Lee-Murphy, reports that for all the "green" benefits claimed, what's called the Northern Pass is proving hard to swallow for landowners and residents along the route. The story is illustrated with photography by Nate Mosseau; the striking cover (right) is by the magazine's art director Anna Minzhulina.

The massive transmission line in partnership with Hydro-Quebec would carry 1,200 megawatts of power into southern New England. It's a crucial part of the Quebec government's Plan Nord, which means to encourage northern development by finding hungry customers for power in the United States. The result, as Lee-Murphy says, is not quite what was expected:

"To a dispassionate observer, the transmission line looks like a win-win-win: cash for Quebec, clean power for New England and less carbon in the atmosphere. But like most development projects, Northern Pass will leave a certain amount of destruction in its wake. The transmission line would cut a gash through northern New Hampshire, marring some of New England's most beautiful wilderness and tarnishing the deep connection to the land felt by the region's residents. Many blame Quebec and its namesake energy corporation for their predicament. For a province rarely cast as the marauding bully, it's an unusual role."

We'll pay our fair share of Ontario Blue Box, say publishers, but we must control costs

While Ontario publishers are prepared to pay a fair share of the Ontario Blue Box recycling program, says Magazines Canada in a written submission to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, this cannot happen unless publishers have a significant say in both how fees are set and control over costs.  The submission is presented in parallel with one from The Coalition for Effective Waste Reduction in Ontario. 

The association says proposed changes in the legislation about recyling cannot work unless producers who are now required to pay 100% of the program costs also have control of  those costs. Ontario publishers, it says, cannot simply be expected to write cheques.

"Under the new Act, producers must have decision-making authority over cost control equal to their responsibility to pay."

Magazines Canada's submission about the proposed new Waste Reduction Act also revisits the issue of so-called "free riders" on the system, particularly including U.S.- and foreign-origin magazines which pay nothing to maintain the system in which they account for as much as half the contents of the typical blue box.

"Any new system must be better designed. Shortcomings in capturing producers cannot be made the responsibility of magazine publishers. Magazine publishers are very prepared to pay to recycle our own paper but they are not prepared to pay any longer to recycle magazines like Vogue, the New Yorker, InStyle or hundreds of other large foreign publishers who are much better funded competitors."

Read more »

Guide published to help publishers reduce their magazines' carbon footprints

Magazine publishers who want to improve their impact on the environment can now turn to a guide published by Magazines Canada in collaboration with its regional counterparts and other partners. The Carbon Footprint Compendium, released today, provides step-by-step information on how to identify impact and do something about it. A release said

The magazine industry is in a strong position to embrace sustainability given print products are fully recyclable and can be printed on environmentally friendly papers. The Compendium is a starting point to get the ball rolling towards a more sustainable magazine publishing industry.

The initiative is supported by the Magazine Association of BC (MABC), the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA), the Manitoba Magazine Publishers’ Association (MMPA), Magazines Ontario, the Atlantic Magazines Association (AMA), the Ontario Media Development Corporation and was developed in collaboration with Canopy, an environmental not-for-profit organization working with publishers to protect forest, species and climate. A French version of the compendium is also available.

Mags and websites collaborate on climate change clearinghouse

Hoping to corral a combined online audience of more than 25 million unique monthly visitors, 1.5 million print readers and a TV audience of 1.5 million, The Atlantic, Mother Jones and Wired magazines are partnering with Slate, Grist and the Centre for Investigative Reporting and PBS to create a go-to site called Climate Desk. It will explore the impact of climate change. 

According to a story from Folio:, the group will begin by publishing a series of articles exploring how American businesses are adapting to the liabilities, risks and opportunities surrounding climate change and during the final two weeks of April, two dozen stories on the topic will be posted to partner web sites as well as to theclimatedesk.org.

“Pooling resources, whether it’s money or reporters or technology, can make good sense for outfits that want to remain ambitious in lean times,” said The Atlantic's editorial director, Bob Cohn. “We all still want to beat the other guy, but sometimes the best way to unpack a complex and multi-dimensional story may be to forge ties with like-minded colleagues.”

Database tracks phenomenal growth of eco-paper availability

The number of eco-papers available to printers in North America has grown from 97 to 228 in just 18 months, according to information released by Canopy, the  non-profit organization working to improve the environmental performance of paper and wood companies.

"We're witnessing a phenomenal shift in the paper industry where sustained and growing green demand is steering paper production towards ecofriendly options, giving a life line to mills and a future for our endangered forests and species," said Nicole Rycroft, executive director of Canopy.

Canopy maintains a database that tracks the qualities of 350 different papers and the mills that provide them. 

Indigo tells customers which books are green; can magazines be far behind?

Canada’s leading book retailer, Indigo Books & Music Inc. now tells its customers -- in kiosks in their stores and online -- which books are printed on papers containing recycled and/or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) fibre, according to a posting on the website of Canopy, the campaigners for sustainable paper use.

Book titles that lack environmental information at the kiosks either have no environmental paper qualities to speak of or the publisher has yet to provide details for that title. Indigo is the first international book retailer to provide this level of transparency about the environmental qualities of books in their stores.

Quarto Communications in good company in environmental awards

Quarto Communications Ltd. of Toronto, the publishers of Cottage Life and explore magazines, has been cited as a finalist and "long time leader" in the annual Aveda Environmental Awards for Magazines, presented in Minnesota.

The 2009 awards for environmental leadership, sponsored by the beauty products firm and Green America, a non-profit organization promoting responsible paper and production practices, gave top honours to Mother Earth News, Audubon and Boho magazines.

“As an advertiser, Aveda encourages all publishers to adopt environmentally responsible paper and production practices," the company said.

“In an industry where less than two percent of all North American magazines are printed on recycled paper, the message from this year's winners is 'Yes We Can,’ ” says Frank Locantore, director, Green America Better Paper Project, a non-profit that assists magazine publishers in identifying and implementing  environmentally responsible paper and production practices.

“In a  tough economy and facing serious climate change challenges, Mother Earth News, Audubon, Boho and all the other entries are saying 'Yes We Can' to using recycled paper and producing beautiful and financially sound magazines."

Quarto's Cottage Life and explore and its recently acquired Canadian Home Workshop are among the some 200 North American magazines which use sustainable "green paper" with a significant amount of recycled content. (Probably fewer than 30 Canadian magazines so far use such paper.)

Since its launch in 1970, the awards team said in a release, Mother Earth News uses 100 per cent recycled paper of which 90 percent is post-consumer recyled to serve its paid circulation of 475,000 copies.

Audubon, a photo heavy magazine for nature enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers and socially conscious consumers, is nevertheless printed on 90 percent post-consumer recycled paper. Heidi DeVos, production director said

“We began with 10 percent post consumer recycled content in our body stock in 1993, switched to 30 percent post in 2004, and to 90 percent post in 2009. We consistently win photography and design awards, whichjust goes to show that good color reproduction can be maintained on paper with a high level of post-consumer recycled fiber.”

Boho, a green fashion-lifestyle magazine that launched in 2008, is the first and only US fashion and beauty magazine to use 100 percent recycled post-consumer paper; the awards program pointed out that a fashion magazine using the same amount of paper as Boho but not using any cycled material, requires 296 tons of virgin wood from a forest.

“We knew that the only way we would launch a print publication was if we never cut down a tree to do it,” says Gina La Morte, editor in chief/publisher. “Boho's commitment to using 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste paper is as much a part of our mission as is the gorgeous green content we put on its pages.”

Survey looks for interest in wheat sheet and other eco-papers

After its trial project last year with Canadian Geographic magazine, using paper containing surplus wheat straw, Canopy (formerly Markets Initiative), the organization campaigning for sustainable forestry practices is launching an online survey to find out how much appetite there is for such papers.

“This study is the first of its kind in North America. Up until now, information about the market viability of non-wood paper has been anecdotal”, says Neva Murtha, Second Harvest Campaigner with Canopy. “When done, we’ll be able to translate demands for eco-paper into initiatives that help make straw papers a North American reality.”

The survey is primarily aimed at large paper consumers, such as publishers, printers, office retailers, and will capture data such as demand tonnage, priority grades, and how participants would like to engage in further stages of nonwood paper development.

For more information on the Wheat Sheet, please visit:
http://www.canopyplanet.org/index.php?page=the-wheat-sheet

Related posts:

•  Wheat sheet wins accolades for Markets Initiative and Dollco Printing
• Canadian Geographic prints environmental issue on "wheat sheet"
  

Environmentally responsible magazines eligible for Aveda Environmental Awards

Any consumer or B-to-B magazine that uses environmentally responsible paper/production practices are eligible to enter the Aveda Environmental Award, founded in 2005 to celebrate environmental leadership and achievement in the magazine industry.

There are three categories:

• “New Launch” for magazines launched after Jan 2007
• “Improved Commitment” for magazines that have improved their magazine’s environmental characteristics since Jan 2007
• “Long-time Leader” for magazines or publishing companies with demonstrated environmental leadership for at least five years.
  

The deadline is Friday, October 30, 2009 at 5:00 PM Pacific Time and the application can be downloaded here.

One National Geographic magazine emits carbon equivalent of driving 2 miles

Few magazines have the resources, or perhaps even the interest, to determine the impact on the planet of their printing and production. However, National Geographic has collaborated with paper company Verso Paper Co., Quad/Graphics (the magazine's printer) and Harmony Environmental, an environmental consulting firm, to calculate just what its "carbon footprint" is. The results were unveiled today at the Gravure Association of America conference being held in Toronto.

The results of Verso’s portion of the study showed that to produce the paper for one National Geographic magazine weighing 12.3 ounces, 1.27 pounds of CO₂ equivalents are emitted. When factoring in the printing, distribution, packaging and all other National Geographic activities associated with the development of the magazine, a total of 1.82 pounds of CO₂ equivalents are emitted. To put this into perspective, the same amount of CO₂ equivalents are emitted by consumers when driving just under 2 miles in a standard automobile with a 20 MPG rating.

Sorting out the standards for eco-certified paper and wood products

Magazine publishers who want to be on the side of the angels are confronted by a variety of certifications being bandied about for paper from eco-certified wood pulp. So called "green" terms are tossed about like logs in a stream, but consumers and publishers alike could be forgiven for being baffled by the gab.

Christopher Pollan, a contributing editor for The Tyee in Vancouver has written the first in a projected series of articles about the "war" over eco-certified wood and wood products. While his story covers everything from newsprint to building supplies, it's an interesting look at the two, largest rival forestry certification non-profit organizations* which put their stamp (literally and figuratively) on paper we use to print magazines: the forestry industry-created Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which was conceived by a coalition of North American environmental activists.

What both certification programs have in common is that their respective logos -- appearing on books and 2x4s and everything between -- carry a promise of "sustainability;" both indicate that eco-conscious buyers can relax and know they are buying a product that they can feel good about.

What the rivals do not share, is a common vision of what sustainability looks like on the forest floor, and whether the differences between certification standards matter at all.

Pollan notes that the SFI has roots in the American Forestry and Paper Association (AF&PA), though now nominally independent and that it is waging an expensive and high level public relations and ad campaign across North America, designed to influence influential users . He reports that SFI is criticized for "greenwashing" unsustainable practices such as high-elevation clear-cutting and attempting to blur the differences between it and the tougher FSC standards.

"We consider SFI to be forest greenwash," says Jennifer Krill, Program Director at San Francisco's RAN, a founding member of the FSC. "The marketplace cannot trust the SFI to deliver the environmental and social standards that customers are demanding."

Krill says that SFI-labelled products can come from old growth forests, from huge clear cuts, and from tree plantations that were formerly ecologically-diverse forest -- and all the while, unwitting consumers and businesses buy the wood in an effort to be sustainable.

*Readers of this blog will know that there are other players such as Canopy (formerly Markets Initiative), a Vancouver-based environmental organization that advocates with publishers on behalf of eco-paper purchasing and use through a sustainable supply chain, thereby sparing the world's ancient forests. It endorses FSC standards.

British magazine association to unveil carbon footprint tool

Britain's Periodical Publishers Association (the equivalent of Magazines Canada) is to unveil a new tool that allows magazines to calculate the "carbon footprint" of their titles.

The carbon calculator will be unveiled at the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP) world magazine congress opening in London this week, according to a story in Press Gazette.

The tool, which has taken two years to develop, says FIPP, makes it the first magazine trade association to calculate the environmental impact that its members' work is having.

PPA chief executive Jonathan Shephard said: "Environmental concerns and sustainability are close to the heart of magazine publishers.

"The PPA carbon footprint calculator uses complex systems to give publishers a classically simple result, which they can apply to their business.

"In environmental issues, as well as in brilliant and diverse content, UK magazine publishing is the pace-setter."

Indigo will be demanding 50% recycled paper in magazines within 5 years

A friend has passed along a brochure in which Indigo Books & Music, Canada's largest magazine retailer, has published its plans to reduce its paper use by 25% by 2012.

While this may seem like a paradox for a company that deals in paper, a brochure distributed in the chain's stores says that the company intends to have 30% post-consumer recycled content in their internal paper use within 12 months, 40% within 24 months, and 60% within 5 years. And its determination has significant implications for magazine publishers, already reeling from Indigo's demands for 50% sell-through on newsstand copies.

By 2012, Indigo’s objectives for paper we purchase from our vendors are:

• Require vendors to have an average of 20% postconsumer recycled content across uncoated book and magazine titles within 12 months, 30% within 24 months, and 50% within 5 years.
• Require vendors to have an average of 10% postconsumer recycled content across coated book and magazine titles within 12 months, 20% within 24 months, and 50% within 5 years.

Type shop provides print buyers with tools to measure ecological footprint

A Toronto type shop called Colour Innovations has launched a new feature on its website that allows print buyers to measure their ecological footprint, reports Design Edge Canada.

Under the Eco Tools button on the site are definitions of numerous environmental terms, links and an FAQ section with important questions to address to your print and premedia suppliers.

“We’ve put the information for everyone to make their own decision... Now here’s the information, you’re empowered, now you can ask these questions to whoever is doing your printing,” says Colour Innovations president Matthew Alexander, who has so far invested $50,000 in the site.“The idea is to provide really good, solid information, let people know how environmental we are and hopefully that will get people to think about how they are buying and what they are buying and make better decisions for the environment.”

Canadian Geographic prints environmental issue on "wheat sheet"

Canadian Geographic magazine and Markets Initiative, the green printing advocacy organization, have collaborated on a pilot project to use paper made from the byproduct of growing and harvesting wheat. The so called "wheat sheet" is hoped to give rise to a new industrial use for wheat straw, which, until now, has been regarded as a waste byproduct. The creators of the new paper say it rivals other glossy papers on the market.

The latest issue of Canadian Geographic, on newsstands today, uses the new paper that contains 20% wheat straw and 40% recycled pulp.

Nicole Rycroft, executive director of Markets Initiative, said the wheatsheet represents a great opportunity to turn agricultural waste products into an environmentally friendly paper. "We were looking for a creative way
to alleviate the stress on Canadian forests," she said.

Canada is the world's largest producer of commercial pulp, but the industry has shown little interest in wheat straw, which is used primarily in China. In fact, the wheat straw pulp used to create the wheat sheet was imported from China because there is no facility in North America able to process wheat into pulp.

Ms. Rycroft said the 15 million tonnes of cereal waste Canadian agriculture creates annually could be used to make 7.5 million tonnes of pulp, equivalent to about 80 per cent of all the newsprint used in Canada in a given year.
Can Geo editor Rick Boychuk's editor's letter in the current (annual environmental) issue says:
We’d like to convince the magazine industry and, ultimately, the pulp-and-paper industry that adding agricultural waste to the pulp mix is a step forward, that it will ease some of the demand for virgin pulp from the boreal forest and offer grain farmers a new source of revenue for what is now largely a waste by-product. The next time we print on a wheat sheet, we want the straw to be purchased from Canadian farmers and pulped in a Canadian mill. We’ll provide regular updates on how the mills respond to our challenge.

Champions of ancient forest friendly paper honoured

Markets Initiative, the doughty champions of ancient forest friendly paper use in Canadian publications, has given out "Order of the Forest" awards to a number of people at magazines and printers for their support and encouragement of the cause. The awards were made Friday at the MagNet magazine conference. Since this is the first time the awards have been given out, there was some catchup to do, with some awards back-dated:

• 2004
  
• John Thomson, (past) Publisher, Canadian Geographic, for the role he played in the development of the first Magazine Ecokit and the public launch of our work with magazines
• 2005
• Alison Jones, Publisher, Quill & Quire, for leading the redesign that allowed Quill & Quire to be the first of the St. Joseph Media titles to switch to Ancient Forest Friendly paper
• Lynn O'Hearn, Sales Representative, St. Joseph Print, for going above and beyond to help her clients use Ancient Forest Friendly and eco paper
• 2006
• Jodi Books, Production Manager, explore and Cottage Life for doing all she has done to help the company implement across all departments.
• Maria Mendes, Manager of Print Production, Transcontinental Media, for her production support in helping Canadian Home Workshop and Outdoor Canada be the first Transcontinental Media titles to use glossy Ancient Forest Friendly paper
• Christian Dogimont, Publisher, HoBO, for wanting to use Ancient Forest Friendly paper so much he switched HoBO to uncoated paper... And for challenging Vanity Fair, in an editorial, to walk their environmental talk
  

Checkerspot trolls for story ideas

It's not often you see a magazine send out a release inviting story ideas for its next issue,particularly with a week's lead time. That's the case with the newly launched Checkerspot magazine from the Canadian Wildlife Federation, whose editors are asking writers for story ideas by June 1 for their fall/winter 2007 issue. The magazine was launched in May and is published twice a year and here's part of the pitch from Jodi Di Menna, the editor:

Rather than focusing on the political wrangling surrounding global warming, our magazine will empower a young (25- to 44-year-old), urban, trend-setting audience to do something about climate change in their own lives. We want first-rate editorial content, which is why we are inviting you to contribute to our next issue.

We need feature-length (1,000 to 2,000 words) and short (100 to 200 words) stories on scientific discoveries on the impacts of and contributors to global warming; innovation and technology that could help curb greenhouse gas emissions; actions by individuals, communities or businesses that aim to mitigate or adapt to climate change; and, on the flip side, news on how individuals, communities or businesses are contributing to climate change.

Some stories will focus on emerging climate-conscious lifestyle trends — from the food we eat and the places we live to how we get around and how we spend our leisure time.

One department will be a humorous, first person account of an individual trying to trim his or her personal carbon emissions. Another will focus on a particular problem area in climate change — airplane travel, for example — and provide tips and information for readers to take individual action.

All stories should have a strong Canadian link. International stories, relevant within Canada, are welcome.

We will pay competitive rates for first rights and we need your story proposals by June 1st, 2007.

The magazine's phone number is 613 599 9594 ext. 269.

National Geographic branches out; always green, now wants to be seen as green

Funny, we thought that National Geographic, the yellow-bordered staple of many a living room bookcase, was pretty 'green' already. But given the current trend towards heightened ecological consciousness and environmental emphasis, the venerable publication and the Society which publishes it has apparently decided to draw some attention to what it has always done. According to a story in MediaDaily News, National Geo has launched a "green" Web site -- Green.nationalgeographic.com -- which highlights the numerous environmental issues covered by its journalists, photographers and field researchers.

The development follows on National Geographic Society's acquisition of the site greenguide.com, in an effort to move into lifestyle areas with practical and how-to information.

Betsy Scolnik, president, National Geographic Digital Media, commented: "We've created Green.nationalgeographic.com to be a multimedia tool kit for green living. It's a powerful communication tool that is interactive, engaging and fun for all ages." The goal, she says, is to encourage individuals to make a difference by "giving them practical advice that empowers them to become environmental stewards."

(The site is a monster, with all the latest bells and whistles that will only be accessible to those with a high speed connection. For instance, "Is Your Home a Green House?" is a multimedia, interractive tour (sponsored by Ford) through a typical house that requires Flash 6 or better and between one and four minutes to download at high speed.)

The society already publishes a six-time magazine called The Green Guide (available as either a print or a digital subscription for $12) that contains coupons for eco-friendly products. The new website is in effect a logical extension of this (as the Green Guide is of its traditional magazine) and gives the society added traction in the consumer marketplace, including reaching audiences who wouldn't have subscribed to National Geographic, which is sometimes thought of as their grandparents' magazine.

Canadian Wildlife Federation to launch climate change magazine called Checkerspot

[This post has been updated]
The Canadian Wildlife Federation is taking the opportunity provided by the Green Living show in Toronto this weekend to launch a new magazine on climate change called Checkerspot. The name comes from the Edith's checkerspot (shown), a small orange, black and white butterfly whose changing life history has made it a symbol of the impacts of climate change. The magazine's official launch is tomorrow (Friday 27) at 11 a.m.

The editor of the new title is Jodi DiMenna. Few details, other than that the first issue is May and is free and that the next issue will be November. Colin Maxwell, the CWF's executive vice-president says:

We are launching Checkerspot — named after a butterfly whose southern North American ranges are shifting as its habitat warms and dries — because we believe the answer to this newest and greatest threat to wildlife lies in your hands. We think Canadians are ready to move forward, to take action toward mitigating and adapting to climate change, and we hope that this publication will help drive discussion about how we can learn to live responsibly in a climate-changing world.

From Media in Canada more details of the Checkerspot launch:

"...the 40-page inaugural edition consists of 100,000 copies. Distribution will be driven by getting users to sign up via CheckerspotMagazine.ca, showcasing the pub at trade shows (starting with the Green Living Show) and inserts in select copies of the Globe and Mail and the National Post. The magazine will be published in the spring and fall.

"Checkerspot's premiere issue is fully funded by the CWF, but XD of programs and communications Sandy Baumgartner tells MiC the organization is exploring sponsorship opps. She says the CWF is open to 'unqiue climate-friendly marketing and advertising opportunities.' "

What a way to go; green dying in Harrowsmith Country Life

Green living is all the rage; now, perhaps, so is green dying. An item in the Almanac department of the current (April) issue of Harrowsmith Country Life, from Malcolm Publishing, explores the issues and benefits of "natural" burial, without all of the extraneous (and expensive) trappings pushed by the traditional funeral industry. It talks about how you can be put six feet under in an eco-friendly way. For instance, it makes the case against cremation, which uses fossil fuels and generates pollutants.

(The article is only available in the print edition.)