A ‘Green’ Celebration
Green was the fashionable color on Monday evening, March 10, as more than 200 publishing industry executives gathered for a unique celebration in the Marquis Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis in New York’s Times Square, during the Publishing Business Conference & Expo. It wasn’t an early St. Patty’s Day celebration either, but a celebration honoring the recipients of the 2nd Annual SustainPrint Leadership Awards, recognizing achievements and leadership in “green” publishing.
The awards—established in 2007 by SustainPrint.com (the Web site produced by book business and publishing executive magazines to cover environmental sustainability in printing and publishing)—recognize book- and magazine-publishing companies each year for outstanding “green” achievements. Awards are given in two categories: Newcomers of the Year, acknowledging companies that have recently implemented substantial corporate sustainability policies or practices; and Longtime Leaders, recognizing companies who have had such policies or practices in place for several years.
This year, taking home the Sustain- Print Leadership Award for Newcomer of the Year in book publishing was Scholastic Inc., and receiving the Longtime Leader Award in book publishing was Chelsea Green Publishing.
Newcomer of the Year: Scholastic
In March 2007, global children’s publishing, education and media company Scholastic made the largest-ever commitment to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)- certified paper in a single book, for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Sixtyfive percent of the 16,700 tons of paper used in the book’s first U.S. printing was FSC-certified—an amount of paper equal to the weight of about 2,000 elephants. In addition, all 12 million copies of the U.S. edition’s initial print run were printed on paper that contained a minimum of 30- percent post-consumer-waste (PCW) fiber. The company saved 8,000 tons (around 1,500 elephants) of greenhousegas emissions through this effort.
The book’s deluxe edition (100,000 copies) was printed on paper that is FSCcertified and contains 100-percent PCW fiber. All jackets printed not only were FSC-certified and contained 30-percent PCW, but also were manufactured using energy generated from wind power. For future printings of all books in the “Harry Potter” series, Scholastic plans to use paper with a minimum content of 30- percent PCW and that is FSC-certified, when available.
This effort, while significant on its own, was a precursor to a much larger effort by Scholastic to improve its environmental impact. In early January, Scholastic announced a corporate sustainability policy that includes a five-year goal, established in consultation with the Rainforest Alliance, the Green Press Initiative (GPI) and other stakeholders, to increase the company’s purchase of FSC-certified paper to 30 percent and its use of recycled paper to 25 percent. The increase in the use of PCW fiber alone will result in a reduction of nearly 12,000 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions this year, compared to fiscal year 2006.
Scholastic also has made a commitment to help educate children about responsible environmental practices. Along with its new corporate policy, the company launched an interactive Web site for kids, called Scholastic Act Green! (Scholastic. com/actgreen).
Francine Colaneri, Scholastic’s vice president of manufacturing and corporate purchasing, and Lisa Serra, director, corporate paper procurement, accepted the award on behalf of Scholastic.
“Francine and I were very pleased and proud to accept the SustainPrint Newcomer of the Year Award for books on behalf of Scholastic,” says Serra. “As a company focused on children’s reading and learning, Scholastic not only wants to educate children about what they can do to help protect the environment, but also wants to teach by example. Although Scholastic has had an environmental policy and has been using recovered fiber in our products for decades, we thought it time to formalize that policy and set high impact goals around the use of recovered and FSC-certified fiber,” she continues. “We are very proud of the policy, as well as our historic achievement this fiscal year with a record-setting use of FSCcertified fiber for a single book. … Being recognized with the SustainPrint Award is a great honor for our company.”
Longtime Leader: Chelsea Green Publishing
Located in White River Junction, Vt., Chelsea Green is committed to sustainability not only in the topics that its books cover—it is regarded by many as the preeminent publisher of books on sustainable living—but also in its actions. It is a founding member of the GPI, and prints all of its books on recycled, PCW paper. Chelsea Green publishes approximately 30 new titles a year, with print runs ranging from 4,000 to 50,000, and a backlist of more than 300 titles.
Emily Foote, Chelsea Green’s managing editor, accepted the award on behalf of the company at the awards reception.
“It is inspiring to see so many people in the publishing industry making sustainability a priority. Bookmaking has a noble and storied history; for it to successfully transition into the 21st century, it must now do its part to protect our threatened planet,” says Foote. “Chelsea Green is very grateful for the recognition of this award, and proud to work with other members of the industry for increased environmental awareness and reduced waste.”
Margo Baldwin, Chelsea Green president and publisher, says, “I’m thrilled that we’ve won this award and feel like it validates Chelsea Green’s many years of environmental publishing, both from a content and a practice point of view. We are also very pleased that this award has been created and that the book industry is facing up to the drastic implications of climate change and a new world of limited energy resources.”
The company is an active member of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and, in 2007, it was a key sponsor of a sustainability conference held at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
Magazine Publishers Recognized for ‘Green’ Achievements
In magazine publishing, this year, two companies stood out significantly for their recent achievements in environmental sustainability, and the SustainPrint Leadership Awards Committee voted to recognize them both with SustainPrint’s Newcomer of the Year Award in magazine publishing: Every Day With Rachael Ray and Nickelodeon Magazine.
Every Day With Rachael Ray, published by the Reader’s Digest Association, began in November 2007 to print its more than 2.5 million copies on paper with 85-percent recycled fiber from post-printed waste. These changes will save 115,000 trees in just one year. The paper also is processed chlorine-free. In addition, the Reader’s Digest Association has recently switched 13 more titles to the same paper.
The Nickelodeon Magazine Group announced last year a new policy outlining environmentally sustainable objectives for its two major titles: Nickelodeon Magazine and Nick Jr. Magazine. Nickelodeon Magazine, with a circulation of 1.2 million, is the group’s first title to fully meet these objectives. The magazine’s pages are printed on 100-percent recycled paper, 80-percent of which comes from PCW. The paper also is FSCcertified and processed chlorine-free.
The Awards Committee
A committee of judges evaluated the nominations for the 2008 SustainPrint Leadership Awards, including Tyson Miller, director of the GPI; Andrew Van Der Laan, director, senior project manager, publishing operations projects group, Random House Inc.; Frank Locantore, director, Magazine Paper Project, Co-op America; and Laura Hickey, senior director, global warming education and training, National Wildlife Federation. Nominations were evaluated for their use of recycled-content paper, and use of paper certified as forest-friendly by an environmental certification organization. Also considered were the bleaching processes used, the company’s energy conservation efforts and carbon-footprint-reduction efforts, among other criteria.
The event, sponsored by LibreDigital, ended with a round of applause for all the recipients and perhaps some insights into the possibilities for other publishing companies to make some “green” changes of their own. BB