As I hear the thud of our Sunday newspaper hitting the mat, I find myself thinking about the poor boys and girls having to deliver them to people like me. In times gone by, they could get away with throwing a satchel-like bag across their shoulders and heading off on the delivery round. Now, due to the increasing number of sections of most broadsheet titles, they’re likely to need a fork lift truck or the physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger and two or three trips, just to deliver them all.
Recently, I saw a TV ad for one paper, boasting of its total of more than 20 sections as its main marketing tactic.
1) do people read all of that stuff?
2) even though most news print is recycled, the energy and chemical use required for the de-inking and re-manufacture of all that paper can’t be good for the environment.
So when it comes to the three R’s of resource efficiency (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), let’s see if we can push the Reuse button first.