Action: Ask More Magazines to Print on Recycled Paper

Use Co-op America's resources to tell publishers you want them to help stop deforestation.  Our WoodWise Web site gives you sample templates of effective letters to magazine publishers, or write your own letter, reminding publishers that forest loss is a slow death sentence for the many species that depend on them – including humans. 

There's no reason to cut down forests for short-term uses like magazines.  Nearly all of the 12 billion magazines printed in the US are thrown away every year.  Less than 5 percent of the paper they are printed on is recycled.  You can change that – urge the magazines you read to print on recycled paper. 

Tell them you'd like to see their magazine join our eco-paper magazine network, along with titles like the following, who are recent joiners:

• Nick Magazine, Nickelodeon's magazine for kids, which has been using recycled for more than a year now,
• Transitions Abroad, which printed its November/December 2006 "Responsible Travel" issue on recycled paper, with help from our WoodWise program director, Frank Locantore.  (They liked it so much they're switching for future publications!), and
• Verdant Magazine, a new magazine about green living, launching in 2007.

(Of course, please rest assured that all of Co-op America's publications are printed on eco-friendly paper, processed-chlorine-free, with the highest post-consumer waste percentages possible.)

News: House Votes to Raise Wages in the Marianas

As part of their "first 100 hours" of legislation, the new Democratic House of Representatives took action on a longstanding sweatshop loophole affecting thousands of workers in the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

As called for by a Co-op America editorial last summer, the House legislated higher wages on the Marianas by including them in the minimum wage increase that passed on January 10.  For more than a decade, efforts to apply minimum-wage and other labor laws in the Marianas were impeded by now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his congressional allies, though garments manufactured there were represented to the public as "made in the USA." 

A similar bill is scheduled for Senate hearings in February, and if passed, the measure will then need the president's signature to become law. Such a law would cap nine years of effort by Co-op America's publications director Dennis Greenia, who began investigating the connections between the Marianas and Abramoff while working on Co-op America's Guide to Ending Sweatshops in 1998.  His research helped reporters, authors, and investigators break the Abramoff story and hold him accountable for his actions. 

To learn more about the Marianas and the recent House action, visit Co-op America's Sweatshops.org.

Resources: Real Money Gives You Tips for Green Decorating

If you’re looking for ways to beautify your home while treading lightly on the Earth, look no further than the latest issue of Real Money, our green living newsletter.

With tips on how to find low- or no-VOC paint, eco-friendly flooring, sustainably harvested wood furniture, and other green decorating supplies, our latest featured article brings you valuable resources for green home improvement, and points you toward companies in our National Green Pages™  that can make your decorating dreams reality.

Our article also tells you which indoor plants are most effective at removing toxins from the air, and brings you advice from expert members of Co-op America’s Green Business Network™ on low-cost decorating techniques to rejuvenate your space. 

(Not receiving Real Money at home?  Join Co-op America today for only $20, and don’t miss our next complete issue by mail.)

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