Melcher Media, University of Calif. Press, Boho and Ogden Publications Take Home 'Green' Awards

University of California Press, Melcher Media, Boho Magazine and Ogden Publications are being recognized for outstanding achievements in environmental sustainability. The four publishing organizations have been selected as the winners of the third-annual SustainPrint Awards, produced by Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines.

Two Longtime Leader Awards recognize a book and a magazine publisher that have made significant efforts and led the industry in environmental sustainability over a number of years, and two Newcomer of the Year Awards recognize a book and a magazine publisher that have recently taken steps to improve their companies' environmental sustainability efforts.

The University of California Press
The University of California Press, which established a corporate environmental sustainability policy in 1995, has received the Longtime Leader Award in book publishing. The press uses post-consumer recycled content paper in about 75 percent of its books—it publishes approximately 200 new books and 40 multi-issue journals annually. An estimated 50 percent of its titles are printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper, and 25 percent on paper certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

The dust jackets and paperback covers used also “usually contain recycled content. We strive to be 'green' from cover to cover,” says Anthony Crouch, the press' director of design and production.

“The University of California Press is honored to be the recipient of this Longtime Leader Award,” Crouch adds. “Many university presses are now increasingly supportive of the sustainable approach to our specifying and buying. For me it has been an education on this journey, to realize the legacy that we leave behind from our stewardship of the environment, and each of us in our own way, can make a contribution toward influencing the future outcome of our endeavors during our professional lives."

Melcher Media
Melcher Media, which “translates big-ticket brands into books” (e.g., HBO's “Entourage” and Harley-Davidson), established its corporate sustainability policy this year. Included are goals to measure the company's carbon footprint by the end of the year and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to the company's publishing operations by 20 percent by 2020, and by 80 percent by 2050. The company uses 13 percent recycled content paper in its book production, and 7 percent post-consumer recycled paper. It is in the “early stages” of becoming FSC-certified, according to Kurt Andrews, production director at Melcher. In 2008, it manufactured four titles with FSC certification.