Backpacker Magazine Lightens Its Ecological Rucksack
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03. 4.08
Outdoors sports magazines are falling over themselves to establish green credentials, and, we suspect, mostly for all the right reasons. Afterall their readership spend the free time out there in the very natural environment which is under threat. Taking the lead from climbing magazines Climbing and Urban Climber, and following in the wake of surf mags Drifter, Surfers Path, Surfing and Surfer comes Backpacker magazine walking its own talk.
After a six month study the mag learnt its annual carbon footprint was over 5 million pounds of CO2, or about 500,000 pounds per issue. Put another way that’s one pound of greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere for each copy of the magazine. So Backpacker implemented some changes.
“To reduce its footprint by 12%, Backpacker has changed its paper stock, moved pages from its six regional editions to the web, launched a digital edition through Zinio, and made the magazine's Boulder office a zero-waste facility. Employees have also created a commuting challenge that is open to readers; Backpacker's staff has pledged to walk, bike, or bus to work at least 25,000 miles in 2008.”
In order to make up the remaining difference toward becoming carbon-neutral, the magazine will be offsetting its emissions by investing in pollution prevention and renewable energy projects. These projects are said to meet the standards set jointly by scientists at Environmental Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the National Wildlife Federation, and The Gold Standard.
You might recall Backpacker already has an annual Editors Award for Green Product, with Timberland and Pacific Outdoor Equipment being past winners. :: Backpacker Magazine
Irony is...
Backpacker's staff has pledged to walk, bike, or bus to work at least 25,000 miles in 2008.
To greatly reduce my ecological footprint, I decided not to buy a car and buy a townhouse 4 blocks from work instead.
The irony is that while I used to (sometimes) bike the 12 km to work, I can no longer rack up the miles. :)