Green Rankings 2012: Media & Publishing

Despite the media industry’s relatively low carbon impact, 54 percent of the companies ranked in this category have implemented a program to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions. Roughly the same number have adopted environmental management systems to guide their environmental performance. However, while the industry continues to move toward providing more digital content, it remains a large consumer of paper, and 58 percent of companies here have yet to adopt green procurement standards concerning paper. Across the industry, disclosure on key indicators, such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper and recycled material, is poor.

Key Industry Impacts

• Water, greenhouse-gas emissions, and general waste together account for more than 82 percent of the total environmental footprint of the Media & Publishing industry.

Critical Issue Profile: Paper Use

Deforestation and poor forestry practices are two major contributors to global warming, and the Media & Publishing industry is a major consumer of paper. Two key ways for the industry to reduce its environmental impact in this area are by increasing the digitization of content and by promoting sustainable forestry, for example, by sourcing paper certified only through internationally recognized standards such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. But the majority of companies ranked have yet to formally commit to sourcing “chain of custody” certified paper.

Industry Ranking: How U.S. Media & Publishing Companies Stack Up