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By John Craven
As part of our commitment to covering the beverage industry, we often write about packaging and consumer attitudes toward environmental responsibility. What we have seen is that those attitudes are having a lingering effect: a recent industry survey we conducted determined that an increasing number of beverage marketers are embracing, or plan to embrace, eco-friendly and/or socially conscious concepts into their products, as well as in their ongoing operations.
I thought that the news that the industry was stepping up and taking environmental concerns seriously was encouraging. And it has also made it clear that BevNET and Beverage Spectrum should step up as an organization and try to figure out how we can take responsibility for our own environmental impact. After all, we are a company that also consumes raw materials and fuel to produce and distribute our products. Couldn’t we also lessen our environmental footprint?
Working with our publishing partners, we found that the answer was a resounding “yes.” Starting with our January / February 2010 issue of Beverage Spectrum, the paper we print on will be 80-lb Somerset Recycled FSC, a recycled paper stock certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Additionally, our printer has itself also received certification from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). We’ve also begun using Agri-Web environmentally friendly inks.
In addition, Beverage Spectrum has joined 1% for the Planet. As a member of this organization, BevNET.com, Inc. is committing to donate 1% of the sales for Beverage Spectrum Magazine to environmental charities.
And on a day to day operational level, we’ve tried to be mindful of having our printed circulation only go to those who request it; we continue to offer a digital subscription option. We also take pride in attempting to partner with environmentally-conscious vendors for our live events.
To track the changes to this magazine, you can look at the new Environmental Benefits Statement on our masthead. We know, of course, that we will consume energy and resources. It is the nature of the publishing business. But we, like many others in our industry — and in the industry we cover — are trying to consume our resources in a smarter, more responsible way.
Please let us know if you have any suggestions that can help us to achieve those ends.