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Environment

Appealing green stationery

fhn_obon.JPGWe have brought in a range of pencils, notebooks and other items with excellent green credentials. The pencils are made using recycled newspapers.  The paper in the notebooks is made from sugarcane pulp.  The manufacturer uses wasted pulp, a by product of sugarcane, to produce the paper in the notebooks.

The design of each item is stunning – making them visually appealing – there are themes to the designs.  The wildlife pencils are especially appealing for kids.  There are plenty of designs which appeal to adults.

These products fit an important space in which newsagents ought to have more of a presence.

We have this new range on display at the corner of our counter for the first couple of weeks.

This is a range introduced to us through newsXpress.

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Environment

Promoting green magazines

green_magazines.JPGWe have moved four magazines which always feature articles on green environmentally friendly living to a new location and created better retail story. We have placed Green Living, Green Smart, ReNew and G Magazine in our home, living and garden magazine section.

While sales of green titles are not strong, I am certain that better placement, together and in a higher traffic location, will help – in our newsagencies at least.

Previously, these titles were in separate locations, where each is guided to be placed based on their Magazine Publishers of Australia segment codes. Bringing them together creates a more noticeable story. Placing them between Notebook, House and Garden, Better Homes and Gardens and Inside Out ensure they are browsed by more people.

If another title comes out with a green issue, we will place it with these magazines. We will also play this the display in the photo to visually frame these green titles, so they stand out more.

I noticed a report at Environmental Leader over the weekend saying that environmentally-themed issues of US magazines are underperforming. My sense is that we will gain more traction from promoting the titles which are dedicated to these issues rather than infrequent special issues.  Hence our moving of the four titled mentioned to a better location.

NOTE TO MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS: This post highlights a key benefit of the newsagency channel.  We can create opportunities like this – around a new retail segment placed in a high-traffic location – from which various publishers stand to benefit.  Try and negotiate this with a supermarket or petrol outlet.  They will not do it unless you do the work.  Newsagents are your best friends if you want to innovate.  Try working together as publishers and engaging with newsagents.

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Environment

A dinosaur of an industry

Peter Cox pulls no punches in his article about newspapers bublished at Business Spectator.

Cutting down trees and selling them on street corners is a dinosaur doomed to extinction in its present form.

I suspect that environmental issues will play a bigger role in shaping the future of print mediathan we have expected.

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Environment

The carbon footprint of overseas magazines

dsc05651.JPGDiscover magazine published an excellent article in April 2008 about the carbon footprint of each issue.  It wroked back the carbon cost of each issue from in-the-field news gathering through production, the retail and subscription distribution channels and, ultimately, to recycling.

The article got me thinking about the carbon footprint for a copy of Discover purchased here in Australia. It would be far greater by the time you add the cost of shipping product to Australia and distributing this on trucks across the country to newsagents.

Discover is not the only overseas title we carry.  Indeed, there are hundreds being air and sea freighted to Australia for distribution through the newsagency channel.  With a (generous) estimated average sell through of 50% and the unsold stock being returned, the carbon footprint on these imported titles is significant.

On environmental grounds alone, the distributing overseas titles here needs to be reassessed.  In some cases, such as Discover, they serve a purpose and fill a genuine need while in other cases, crosswords, craft titles and home furnishing titles for example, they are filler taking sales from an excellent range of locally produced product.  The environmental impact of this unnecessary stock ought to bar them from entry. Yet we have them because magazine distributors make it cheap to distribute them without allowing for the environmental cost.

Take crosswords, I’d love to work out the carbon footprint of a Lovatts crossword title and a Penny Press crossword title.  I suspect the difference would illustrate why we need to restrict overseas titles in segments where consumer interest is well satisfied with local printed and published titles.

Publishers are aware of environmental issues.  Surfing magazine was onto this in 2007 – but only through an offsets program.  The PPA in the UK undertook some research into this in May 2008. FIPP is also doing work in this area.  There is an interested related discussion at Dead Tree Edition.

Just as packaged foods warn us about fat, sugar and sodium and washing machines are rated on energy and water efficiency, maybe products such as magazines ought to have a carbon footprint rating.   At the very least, there could be a warning sticker on the cover of overseas titles in a category well serviced with local and more efficient titles.

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Environment

South Australia bans plastic bags

Legislation banning the use of plastic bags was passed in South Australia on Thursday. The Government has a good website with all the details. This makes it easier for retailers to deal with this complex issue. Acting on a law is far easier than a voluntary situation. We have tried a couple of times to charge for bags or eliminate them altogether and each time our customers complained – they like plastic bags, especially for newspapers.

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Environment

Recycled magazines

recycled_magazines.JPGThis photo shows a range of products made from recycled magazines.  They use a technique similar to that used for making household items from bamboo.  The items I saw look and feel good.  The environmental message is strong, especially in the magazine space.  These are items which would fit nicely in a newsagency, especially if made out of magazines we returned.  There were two companies at the trade show in Hong Kong with items made from recycled magazines.

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Environment

A warning about paper

Canadian Forest Products Association President Avrim Lazar delivered an interesting speech at the American Magazine Conference last week. Click here for the Canadian Mags blog coverage. He talked about the environmental challenges of using paper and the risk of consumers turning against print.

People will feel that they are dinosaurs, that they are not with it because they are buying your magazine.

There is a growing discussion that environmental issues and not disruption by new technology which will present the biggest challenge to print media. It is an interesting issue for consideration.

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Environment

The green magazine store idea

What if newsagents introduce a cardboard recycle box for customers who return old magazines when they come in to purchase new issues? This would present a good community message and build habit – getting customers to return to us. Of course, there would have to be some rules around what we do with these but they can be easily sorted out.

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Environment

2009 recycled paper diaries

debden_environ.JPGThe Enviro range from Debden is the other 2009 diary range of note we have in store right now. Produced on recycled paper, this range is fashionable and sustainable. As with my previous post, it will be important for us to ensure that our teams know about the back story for these diaries.

Speaking of diaries, even though we do not have our full 2009 range out yet, sales are good – showing that August is not too early to be selling 2009 dated diaries.

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Diaries

Carbon neutral diaries

debden_kyoto.JPGI am pleased we have the Debden Kyoto range of diaries in stock. These carbon neutral 2009 diaries will appeal to our customers. That we have them in-stock demonstrates that we have taken care to offer an environmentally friendly product. Printed on recycled paper, these diaries are sure to be a hit this diary season. Product knowledge is the key with the Kyoto range – ensuring that every team members understands what this range stands for and why that is important.

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Diaries

Green office products

OfficeMax in the US has announced that they will carry a range of “green” office products from Terra Cycle. Made from recycled materials, these products are as good for the OfficeMax image as they are for the environment. The story of getting good media attention in the US.

In Hong Kong last week I noticed several stationery products suppliers offering green ranges. These products are available to us.

This is a space in which newsagents should be playing – not only carrying green stationery and home office products but talking about it in the media as OfficeMax in the US has done this mast week. We should lead on this in Australia.

Plastic bags are not the only environment related issue for retailers, it’s about the products we sell. We can demonstrate leadership fropm our shop floor through the choices we provide consumers.

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Environment
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