Forests. Climate. Community.
Modern Dog profile
Website: www.moderndogmagazine.com
Paper mill & brand: Arbor Gloss
Recycled content: 30% recycled, 30% post-consumer
Forest Stewardship Certification (Y/N): Yes
Environmental Stewardship Policy (Y/N): No
As a leading publication catering to one of the fastest growing demographics in North America, Modern Dog brings the reader award-winning photography, insightful and amusing editorial, and answers to pressing canine-related questions. Over the past few years we have been looking at our industry and learning how to make it greener by incorporating earth-conscious and sustainable business practices in to our operation. We have changed our product, our content, and our office practices to address and minimize the impact Modern Dog has on the planet.
Our medium is paper so where it is sourced from and how it is harvested is a primary concern. It took us almost three years to find a stock that was not only environmentally sound, but comparable to the look and feel our publication had had up to that point. Our second concern was cost, making the switch needed to be financially feasible. Thankfully we found a stock that was within our budget yet maintained our high production standards. With our fall 2007 issue we went green. An electronic version of the magazine will be available to our readers by June 1st, 2008 and we're looking at switching to vegetable-based inks and biodegradable polywrap (ours is currently recyclable). Looking ahead, we are committed to continued environmental responsibility and feel greener production for the publishing industry as a whole is only going to become easier as suppliers, distributors, and buyers become more aware.
As a company with a high profile, we feel it's important for us to set a good example in all that we do. We prefer to order our office supplies from an independent local retailer specializing in low impact products, and find the cost equitable with big brand name distributors. Every item we purchase from the independent results in fewer resources used to manufacture non-friendly products, putting less waste into our landfills. As well, we use light emitting diode (LED) bulbs, 100% recycled paper for all printers and copiers and are looking into off-setting our power use with our local hydro company. We also print our business reply cards, inserts, and outserts on a minimum of 50% recycled cardstock. And, of course, being a dog-friendly office, all our poo-bags are biodegradable (though, unfortunately, as we learned the hard way, not all bio-degradable poo-bags are created equal; research and samples are key).
To get Modern Dog into the hands of our readers, we rely on large shipments of the magazine to be sent to distribution plants on either side of North America. We plan our shipments well enough in advance to be able to use less-than-load (LTL) shipping companies where we share trailer space with other freight going in the same direction to be as efficient as possible. Working out of more than one shared warehouse allows us to choose the shortest shipping distance for our magazines when supplying them to events and charitable fundraisers, reducing the amount of carbon we produce in moving the magazines. Our readers pitch in and help us out by re-using the magazines as well; we have a pass along rate of ten people per copy!
© 2009 Created by Keaty Gross
