A new era: Virtual Magazines

National Geographic has launched "Green Guide" magazine, with the hopes of educating consumers on how to leave a lighter footprint on the planet. The inaugural issue will also provide info on going green without breaking the bank, and enlighten readers with simple, useful ways to make their lives more ec0-friendly. Sounds a bit like a green "Real Simple."

When I first heard this news of a "green magazine," I was dubious... the last thing we need is another magazine using up precious resources for printing and circulation. Then I happened upon the following statement by the pub's editorial director:

"In creating the first-ever issue of Green Guide magazine, we've kept an eye on our own footprint. First, we offer an electronic version of the complete magazine, true to every page. In our printed magazines, the paper mixes post-consumer recycled paper with new pulp from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which holds foresters to rigorous standards. The inks are made without heavy metals. And the Green Guide, like National Geographic, is meant to be a keeper, a tool kit for going green."

Readers, what do you think of subscribing to magazines made available online? Should we do away entirely with the glossy pages and the baskets filled with old issues in our homes and go straight to the computer to "flip" through a magazine? I also wonder why newspapers are still circulating when information may be found online and news is no longer "breaking" now that we have the 24 hour Internet to keep us posted.

Maybe it's the romantic notions of newspapers over Sunday breakfast and curling up with a fashion magazine in some downtime that keeps these paper periodicals in production. Would you be willing to switch over to entirely virtual news and information to go green?