Thursday, 01 July 2004
Wild Animal Baby: NWF is First Magazine Publisher to Print on FSC-Certified Paper
Last month Wild Animal Baby, National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) premier magazine for children ages one to three years, became the first magazine in the United States to be printed on FSC-certified paper. The magazine was printed on Tembec’s FSC-certified Kallima® coated cover. Beginning with the June 2004 edition, all issues of Wild Animal Baby will be printed 10 times a year on Kallima®. Wild Animal Baby has an average circulation of 180,000 copies per issue, for a total of 380,000 pounds of paper per year.
“We are proud to print Wild Animal Baby on FSC-certified paper,” says Laura Hickey, Senior Director of Production for NWF publications. “NWF is one of the largest conservation education organizations in the country, and using FSC-certified paper demonstrates our support for wildlife-friendly forest management.”
“Maintaining healthy forest habitats is very important to us,” says Eric Palola, Director of NWF’s Northeast Natural Resource Center. “Careless logging and cut-and-run forest practices can harm sensitive wildlife habitat for decades. Switching to FSC guarantees us that the wood used to make the paper was harvested in an environmentally responsible way.”
In 2003, the Tembec Paper Group, a forest management and chain-of-custody (COC) certificate holder in Canada, announced the manufacture of an FSC-certified board stock that would be appropriate for NWF’s magazine. In December 2003, NWF’s printer, QuadGraphics, received its COC certificate. Finally in April 2004, NWF’s magazine paper merchant, Central Lewmar South, received its COC certificate, making it possible for NWF to become the first magazine publisher in the United States to use FSC paper in a consumer publication. SmartWood, a program of the Rainforest Alliance, granted all of the COC certifications.
Tembec sells more FSC-certified wood, newsprint and paperboard than any other company in North America. More than 25 percent of Tembec’s Canadian forest operations are FSC-certified. The Company’s goal is to obtain certification for all 40-million acres of Canadian forest under its care by the end of 2005, which goes well beyond regulatory requirements. In doing so, Tembec is taking a significant step toward better forest management and protecting the environment.
“When the National Wildlife Federation went looking for an ecologically sound product for its children’s magazine, Wild Animal Baby, Tembec’s name was at the top of the suppliers’ list,” said Mel Zangwill, Senior Vice President, Paperboard Group. “Soon, the award-winning board books that keep little ones entertained will have the unmistakable Tembec touch with FSC-certified Kallima® coated cover,” he said.
Initially, the switch to FSC-certified paper was expected to cost more due to increased costs for additional presswork needed to varnish one side of the paper. However, because Tembec paper has a significantly lower basis weight, the amount of paper used and the costs to mail Wild Animal Baby actually decreased, saving NWF approximately $46,000 per year. In addition to the environmental benefit of being FSC-certified, NWF will actually consumer less paper and wood fiber.
“We are exploring our options with the hope of moving our other publications to FSC-certified papers,” says Hickey. Those publications include Your Big Backyard, Ranger Rick, and National Wildlife magazines. Currently, NWF publications use only non-chlorine bleached paper containing 15 percent post-consumer waste.
Protecting wildlife through education and action since 1936, the National Wildlife Federation is America’s conservation organization creating solutions that balance the needs of people and wildlife, now and for future generations. The National Wildlife Federation has been a leader in educating and entertaining children about wildlife and wild places through its award-winning magazines, among them Wild Animal Baby.
For more information about NWF, visit www.nwf.org.