Who's Naughty, Who's Nice

For the second year in a row, ForestEthics has published a holiday guide to who's naughty and who's nice in the catalog industry. Catalogs either get a reindeer/caribou, if they are "nice"; a fruitcake, if they're trying to change; or a lump of coal, if they are lagging behind in reducing their environmental impact from paper use.

This month, over 70 actions were held at Sears stores in the US and Canada to raise awareness about the devastating impact on the endangered Boreal Forest of Canada of mailing 425 million Sears catalogs a year. If you're concerned, and wish that Sears would be more responsible, you can send a letter to the CEO, Aylwin B. Lewis, here.

Change the Margins

In the category of simple, ingenious ideas for everyone to save incredible amounts of paper and protect the environment with a VERY easy action...the winner is... Change the Margins! Its an effort to encourage everyone, and especially a few big corporations, to change their computers default settings in the widely used software program Microsoft Word to smaller page margins. This means more words fit per page - and less paper needed per job. They've even got a petition suggesting Microsoft go ahead and change the default right out the box.

Here a great National Public Radio story on the effort here.

How to Change Your Margins, from the website:

OK, so until we can get Microsoft to change the default margins, here's how to do it on your own. It should take no more than twenty seconds and just a few clicks of the mouse.

On your WORD screen, go to FILE, then PAGE SET UP.

Once on PAGE SET UP, click the DEFAULT key, and you'll be offered "Do you want to change the default settings for the page set up? This change will affect all new documents based on the normal template."

Then set your margins to whatever preferred new width you'd like. I'm suggesting setting each margin to .75" which will save an immense amount of paper.

Thanks for doing this! And I was right, huh? Twenty seconds or so? Not bad...

If you want more specific directions along with screenshots to guide you as you go, check out About.com's margin changin' tutorial.

Green Reading: Barnes and Noble, Hastings Books and Music to Feature Magazines Using Recycled Paper

"Green Paper for People and Planet” Launched at Major US Book Stores by Co-op America’s PAPER Project and Next Steps Marketing

Nearly 400 Barnes and Noble (B&N) and Hastings Books and Music stores nationwide will run in-store promotions highlighting magazines that use recycled paper, under a major push by Co-op America’s Magazine PAPER Project and Next Steps Marketing.

The “Green Paper for People and Planet” promotion will occupy prominent fixtures within these stores with special signage to highlight the magazines’ commitment to the environment. Each publication featured in these unique fixtures is an environmental leader in using recycled paper with at least 30 percent post-consumer content.

Six magazines that use recycled paper – Shape, Fast Company, Mother Jones, ReadyMade, Nickelodeon Magazine, and Body + Soul – will be prominently featured during November in 153 Hastings Books and Music stores. To view Hastings locations nationwide, visit http://www.hastingsentertainment.com/catalog/.

Barnes and Noble has committed to offering 10 slots for magazines that use recycled paper at a heavily discounted rate with special signage in their top 240 stores in January. This promotion will roll out more widely in April 2008 in conjunction with Earth Day.

New Green Publishing Blog by Frank Locantore

Folio: Magazine, the premiere industry journal for the magazine publishing industry, has a blog which now features a weekly column on environmental issues in the industry written by Co-op America's Frank Locantore. Check it out, as in his first posting he takes on the recent surge in unverified claims of "carbon-nuetral" paper by several paper companies.

WWF Guide to Buying Paper

WWF International has released a new Guide to Buying Paper. While targeted for a European market, it is relevant to any organization making paper purchasing decisions with social and environmental responsibility. Go Get It Here.

Link to higher quality image: http://www.ibelieveinadv.com/commons/wwfpaperdispenser.jpg