Fieldsports is the first country pursuits title to send out publications in recycled, fully recyclable cardboard packaging. Owner Simon K. Barr shares his thoughts.
As a lifelong consumer of countless hunting, shooting and fishing magazines from around the world, the wanton waste in the publishing sector doesn’t sit well with me.
My first step since acquiring Fieldsports was to swap the magazine’s plastic polywrap cover for a recycled and fully recyclable cardboard envelope. Yes, this increases cost, but as a dedicated and focused country pursuits publisher, we genuinely care about our environmental footprint.
We are a team of passionate hunters, fishers and shooters. Conservation and the environment are at the core of what we live and breathe. Therefore, from this issue forward we will be investing in and exploring alternative, more targeted distribution channels for the magazine, turning our backs on the wasteful and highly inefficient process of sending thousands of copies to newsagents, which, would you believe it, are pulped if not purchased.
We want to be available in more relevant places for our audience and to support the gun and country store trade that is so important to our community. We already send magazines to shooting grounds, lodges, hotels and restaurants across the country. Starting from this issue, in a pioneering move, we will now be extending this distribution over the next few issues to include 200 of the UK’s leading gun shops and country stores – the natural habitat of our audience. This will benefit our circulation and the environment. No more pulping.
As this, our third issue of the new-look Fieldsports lands on coffee tables and arrives in shooting and fishing lodges around the world, I am delighted to see a huge increase in the number of people subscribing. Not only is this the most cost-effective way to enjoy the magazine throughout the year, but it’s better for the environment, too. It’s the right thing to do.
Simon K. Barr – Owner, Fieldsports Press Limited