Writing about sustainability and environmental work without being part of it is for us an impossibility. We commit ourselves to significantly improved environmental work with tangible environmental goals and a sustainable society. This we do by only writing and talking about what should be done. We want to do our bit, and our magazine is a clear example. The paper we use, Munken Lynx, is one of the world’s best papers from a green perspective.

Water has a vital function in the production of paper. The paper we use comes from the Munkedal paper mill, www.arcticpaper.com, in western Sweden. The mill has put a great deal of time and effort into perfecting methods of recycling and cleansing the process water to ensure minimum environmental impact. This is achieved through biological cleansing. The exhibition halls in the mill’s environmental centre are next to the large dams that constitute the cleansing plant’s final stage. The success of the plant is visible in the fish, crustaceans and frogs that are all thriving in the dams. The water is so clean that it is drinkable after just one filtering.

Figures released by the World Wildlife Fund show that 140 litres of water are required to manufacture the various ingredients in a cup of coffee, and around 9,000 litres to make a pair of jeans. To produce one kilo of the paper we use today requires 2.7 litres of water. In Europe in general, around ten litres of water is used per kilo of paper. Munkedal’s vision is zero litres per kilo of paper. Small shifts can lead to stunning results.

There is an international forest certification abbreviated as FSC, Forest Stewardship Council. The aim of the certification is to ensure that forests are utilised in a sustainable manner. In Europe and North America, the certification is supplemented by even more stringent legislation. The FSC is an independent organisation that was founded in Toronto in 1993 on the initiative of environmental organisations from 25 countries. The FSC has the most stringent criteria for ecological forest utilisation of all certification institutes and monitoring of the criteria takes place on site in the forests. The organisation works globally and also takes responsibility in developing countries. It is also the only organisation with social criteria that acknowledges the emergence of ecological problems as a result of human activity. This is why the FSC is accepted by environmental organisations the world over. Munken Lynx is an FSC paper.

We think our magazine paper is good, but it can be improved. At least 35 per cent of the paper this magazine is printed on is recycled. We are a magazine in progress.