The Red, White, and Green

The June issue of Vogue, featuring "Queen of Green" Cameron Diaz and a shroud of plastic shrink-wrap

Dear Vogue,

If you really care about the two buzzwords Ms. Wintour highlights in this month’s Letter from the Editor — conscious and conscience — then something has to be done about the plastic shrink wrap packaging that my Vogue subscription now arrives in. I applaud your efforts to bring environmental awareness to the fashion community, but splashing “GREEN” on your cover in big green letters and featuring Stella McCartney organic cotton bikinis do not an eco issue make. With a subscription base of nearly 800,000, I find it incredible that Vogue would willingly send over three-quarters of a million plastic sleeves to the landfill each month — over 9.5 million each year — all for the sake of a couple of advertising inserts. (Or maybe you would; economic times are tough. But surely those advertising dollars could be secured by placing those ads inside the magazine — or maybe even by attracting green advertisers!)

Other fashion magazines — especially ones that feature green issues — have recently recognized this hypocrisy and abandoned the shrink wrap for the tried-and-true delivery method: a mailing label affixed to the bottom of the cover. Vogue should, too.

Sincerely,

The Red, White, and Green

–Jennifer Grayson

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