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When Rolling Stone magazine announced its first "green issue" (devoted to global warming, and on newsstands this week), it joined magazines as diverse as Vanity Fair, Elle, and Good Housekeeping, which have each jumped on the sustainability bandwagon and published a "green" issue within the past year. 

Unfortunately, like many other "green" issues published recently, Rolling Stone declined to print on recycled paper, though the magazine did take a step in the right direction, by selecting a paper mill that works to make its production processes carbon neutral.  When the New York Times began researching whether this step makes Rolling Stone truly green, the reporter called Co-op America. 

Our PAPER Project director, Frank Locantore, pointed out that "all the evidence shows that the greatest benefits come from using recycled paper," and urged Rolling Stone to go greener.  In defending its no-recycled-paper decision, one Rolling Stone editor told the New York Times, "we're publishing some of the world's greatest photographers and artists," and the print quality on recycled paper does not do them justice. "What we're trying to do is what we can do. We can't put out the magazine we put out on recycled paper."

The fact is, Rolling Stone's editor is mistaken.  Co-op America's "magazine heroes list" reads like a who's who of beautifully designed and executed magazines all currently printed on recycled paper, such as Fast Company, Mother Jones, Ranger Rick, and Adbusters. 

Check out our sample letter to magazines, and consider sending Rolling Stone a polite nudge to consider how well some of their peers are doing on recycled paper.  Invite them to contact our PAPER Project at jgerholdt@coopamerica.org for help finding quality eco-friendly paper that meets their needs.

Rolling Stone Magazine
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10104 - 0298
(212) 484-1616
letters@rollingstone.com

Read more about our PAPER Project
on our Web site >>

Use Co-op America's resources to tell publishers you want them to help stop deforestation.  Our WoodWise Web site gives you sample templates of effective letters to magazine publishers, or write your own letter, reminding publishers that forest loss is a slow death sentence for the many species that depend on them – including humans. 

There's no reason to cut down forests for short-term uses like magazines.  Nearly all of the 12 billion magazines printed in the US are thrown away every year.  Less than 5 percent of the paper they are printed on is recycled.  You can change that – urge the magazines you read to print on recycled paper. 

Tell them you'd like to see their magazine join our eco-paper magazine network, along with titles like the following, who are recent joiners:

• Nick Magazine, Nickelodeon's magazine for kids, which has been using recycled for more than a year now,
• Transitions Abroad, which printed its November/December 2006 "Responsible Travel" issue on recycled paper, with help from our WoodWise program director, Frank Locantore.  (They liked it so much they're switching for future publications!), and
• Verdant Magazine, a new magazine about green living, launching in 2007.