A ‘Green’ Celebration

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.