Vanity Fair Saying Goodbye To Annual Green Issue?
Filed under: magazines — Michael d'Estries @ 11:39 am
March 30th 2009
After three years of using the April edition of Vanity Fair to highlight the green world and the people inside of it, it appears that publishing giant Condé Nast is moving on. Next month’s cover features Judd Apatow’s comedy troupe and May’s issue spotlights Gisele Bündchen. Requests for comments on the decision to abandon the green issue have gone unanswered.
It was a good run for the green scene to be featured in such a high-profile mag — but as many have commented on this site before, the days of “special green issues” may have passed us by. This can either be interrpreted as maturity of the environmental scene into everyday life — or a passing fad of “green as the new black”. I think it’s a bit of both — but hope that VF continues to integrate environmental topics throughout the year into their news cycle. That, and maybe some recycled paper? (We’re not holding our breath on that one.)
It’s neither difficult nor expensive for magazines to be green. Although printing anything on paper is fundamentally bad for the environment, magazines can still use locally-sourced FSC-certified paper and soy-based inks without sacrificing quality. I subscribe to Vanity Fair and will miss their annual green issue if it goes away.