And the Winner Is...

Aveda and Green America, a non-profit focused on helping magazine publishers identify and implement environmentally responsible paper and production practices, announced the 2009 Aveda Environmental Awards for Magazines this week and Audubon is the proud winner of the greatest improvement category. “Top honors have been awarded to Mother Earth News, Audubon and Boho magazines. Now in its fourth year, the awards recognize environmental leadership and achievement in the consumer and business-to-business magazine industry through use of environmentally responsible paper and production practices. Submissions for the award are accepted in three categories: New Launch, Greatest Improvement and Long-time Leader,” the press release reads.

“Audubon, a magazine for nature enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers and socially conscious consumers, has used post-consumer recycled paper since 1993. The publication’s priority on beautiful photography, however, limited the total recycled percentage until recently. Now printed on 90 percent post-consumer recycled paper, Audubon wins in the Greatest Improvement category, and helps demonstrate to other photo-centric magazines that beautiful imagery can exist on high-content post-consumer recycled paper,” it goes on to say.

“Audubon has been in the vanguard in use of post-consumer recycled fiber by mainstream consumer magazines,” says our production director, Heidi DeVos. “We began with 10 percent post consumer recycled content in our body stock in 1993, switched to 30 percent post in 2004, and to 90 percent post in 2009. We consistently win photography and design awards, which just goes to show that good color reproduction can be maintained on paper with a high level of post-consumer recycled fiber.”

To read more about the improvements we made this year, check out “King of the Mill,” which ran in our September-October issue.