Newsroom Notes: SBJ publishes green issue amid digital edition talks

While I can’t speak for other publications, I can say that Springfield Business Journal does think about the environmental impact of its operations.

SBJ is among the nearly 100 companies that have signed the pledge for the Partnership for Sustainability (click here for the story), but our green efforts date back further than that.

Our weekly issues are printed on recycled-content paper, and we use earth-friendly soy-based ink.

Still, we’re aware that a lot of paper comes through – and goes out of – our offices. Internally, we have a recycling team, affectionately dubbed “Team Enviro,” which is responsible for taking our waste paper to local recycling stations. Not only do we recycle back issues of our paper and the myriad other newspapers we receive and review, but we also take care to recycle press releases and printouts when we’re finished with them. Sometimes, we’re not finished until both sides of a sheet of paper is used, but even when that’s not possible, we use the recycling bins rather than trash cans.

Even as this issue is put to bed, upper management at SBJ is discussing a digital version of the weekly paper for our subscribers.

Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Jackson explained that although SBJ posts its weekly content on our Web site, www.sbj.net, along with Web-specific news, a digital version of SBJ could replace the printed newspaper, allowing readers to point and click on electronic pages that look exactly like their printed counterparts. If – or more likely, when – SBJ begins offering a digital subscription option, the Web site would continue to function as a separate and unique product.

Admittedly, I’m a little skeptical about how a digital edition would work, as I’m one of those people who enjoys sitting down with a book or a magazine and reading the pages one by one, highlighting interesting points and dog-earing pages when necessary. I have noticed, though, that digital options are increasingly common, so it’s good that we’re thinking about this now.

And clearly, we’re not alone in looking at practices and programs that can lessen negative environmental effects.

This issue brings to light several companies and organizations that are thinking green in the Ozarks, whether by implementing new technology or materials or by honoring others who have done so. (Click here for the story.)

We tossed around many titles for this special issue before settling on Green Works. It’s catchy, and it fits on many different levels. Along with plenty of examples of companies and people undertaking green works to improve and sustain the environment, we have columnist John Moore of the Upper White River Basin Foundation (see page 16) who, in addressing local water quality, gives a clear reason why protecting the environment is important – and why we need to make green work.

There are also many examples of things businesses and people can do to put environmentally friendly practices to work in their homes and businesses, even if they don’t have lots of money to spend.

Enjoy this issue of Springfield Business Journal, but when you’re done with it, recycle it – it’s the green thing to do.

Maria Hoover is Features Editor of Springfield Business Journal. She may be reached at mhoover@sbj.net.

SBJ.net Poll

If Springfield Business Journal were to offer a digital version of the weekly issues, with electronic pages mirroring their printed counterparts, would you choose that instead of paper? Why or why not?

Vote at sbj.net/poll.[[In-content Ad]]