Publishers have the power to educate and influence public opinion through the powerful medium of magazines. Taking simple steps toward sustainability makes them look good and feel good about their product.
This is the opening pitch by Co-op America’s Magazine PAPER Project an important project designed to encourage magazine publishers to support to make environmental commitments which preserve the health of forests, human health, and communities.
Around 240 Barnes & Noble stores throughout the US will run in-store promotions highlighting magazines that use recycled paper in support of the Magazine PAPER Project. Kudos to Barnes & Noble for this move!
This is an opportunity for Australian newsagents to show their environmental credentials. We could get behind a similar push here to support magazines printed on recycled paper.
The Australian magazine publishing industry wastes millions of magazine copies every year. The industry uses a push distribution model. Publishers and distributors supply excess quantities to newsagents and other retailers. Returns of unsold copies range from 60 to 20 percent of total supply. Newsagents pay up front for the magazines pushed onto them and are credited only after unsold copies are processed. Newsagents do not order instead they are told what they will be supplied. In 2004, there was $1 billion consumer expenditure (Magazine Publishers of Australia website). Using an average sales efficiency of 80%, roughly $200 million worth of magazines was unsold and that is overstating the average sales efficiency! – it is more like double that. There is little reverse logistics or recycling with the vast majority of unsold magazines trashed (> 99% of unsolds). In addition to the cost of unsold product, the wastage includes transportation to retailers and for imported titles. The cost to the environment and contribution to global warming include unnecessary inputs (trees to make paper) and carbon emissions from transportation. Ironically this year we have seen the launch of a few “green†magazines that continue to use the same outdated model.