Green gimmick comes in time for earth hour

In something of a marketing act, the coloured paper was created to raise awareness of environmental issues. “The Herald's Green Issue was printed in support and celebration of that Saturday’s earth hour,” said Alan Oakley, editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. As the Green Issue, the paper saw an increase in environment-themed stories and advertising from companies such as Virgin that promoted green, environmental practices.

Though there are no apparent environmental benefits of using green paper over uncoloured paper, Fairfax did make the point that they are environmentally conscious. The entire page 13 was covered with ‘Recyclable’ and ‘Recycled’ symbols, and the broad statement that: “Not a single tree in a single forest is chopped down to bring you the news. That’s because Australians have the highest rate of newspaper recycling in the world – which means we can make our main supply of newsprint exclusively from recycled fibres and plantation offcuts. So not only is the Herald a long-time promoter of environmental sustainability, but with your help we do it everyday.”

This is the first time that the The Sydney Morning Herald has been printed on green paper, but it’s not the first time the paper has gone coloured to tie in with a special event. Last year it was printed on pink paper in support of breast cancer’s Pink Ribbon Day.

Got a view on this story? Drop us a line and let us know