Tom Allen’s article on the Australian paper industry makes for grim reading and poses some uncomfortable challenges for Manna Matters.
Those reading the paper edition of Manna Matters are reading this editorial from what, to the best of our knowledge, seems to be the only actual 100% post-consumer waste recycled copy paper on the Australian market today. It is made by Ecocern, a small company based in Sydney. And as you can see below, it is not white.
Tom Allen’s article on the Australian paper industry (this edition) makes for grim reading. I asked Tom to do some investigating for me after I began to run into trouble sourcing post-consumer waste paper on which to print Manna Matters. Earlier this year, I thought I had found a good solution with a product that proudly proclaimed its 100% post-consumer waste credentials; however, it seems my confidence in Australia’s ‘truth in labelling’ laws may have been naively inflated. We still don’t know that this product is not what it claims to be, however, Tom’s research casts a large cloud of doubt over it, showing that it requires trust in the processes of large multinational corporations and Indonesian mills, taking place behind a veil that the consumer cannot penetrate, and our regulators won’t. I am afraid my trust does not extend that far.
This poses some uncomfortable challenges for Manna Matters. Currently, just under 200 readers get Manna Matters as hard copy, and about 700 receive the email version. Why not simply switch to being fully digital?
There are many reasons we have so far resisted this. Firstly, I know that if we went exclusively digital, there are people who would be immediately excluded from reading Manna Matters, some due to admirable life commitments, and others who are the forgotten people of Australia’s digital divide. We live in a technological culture that blithely leaves such laggards and luddites behind, but that should not be the disposition of Christ’s people (BTW, check out episode 28 of the MannaCast where we discuss who the real Luddites actually were.)
Secondly, the substantial research into the differences between reading from screens and reading off paper is unambiguous. Reading from screens results in substantially lower reading comprehension, depth of reflection, and retention. (This is also why we do not include hyperlinks within the electronic versions of articles – they have been shown to substantially scramble reading comprehension.)
I think you will agree that Manna Matters is generally not light reading material. It asks something of the reader. That is because we are committed to trying to explore deep and difficult issues with some depth and nuance, something which is becoming increasingly scarce in our culture. Manna Gum exists for this sort of communication, and Manna Matters is produced to be read—not just perused, but engaged.
Moreover, the vast majority of emailed versions get buried in people’s bursting inboxes, and, despite many people’s best intentions, never get read. I have good evidence that the much smaller number of hardcopy mailouts actually contribute the bulk of engaged Manna Matters reading. Moreover, as Tom indicates in his article, it is not like the online and virtual world doesn’t come with its own substantial environmental problems.
If we went exclusively digital, there are people who would be immediately excluded from reading Manna Matters, some due to admirable life commitments, and others who are the forgotten people of Australia’s digital divide. We live in a technological culture that blithely leaves such laggards and luddites behind, but that should not be the disposition of Christ’s people.
To be clear, I am not denying that there are certainly those who do read Manna Matters in electronic form, and read well. That is why having an electronic version is a great option, and we have invested a large amount of energy to make it as good a product as possible. But there are good reasons for it not being the only option.
Finally, a deeper reason for persisting with a paper edition is our commitment to materiality. Christians proclaim a creator God who is Spirit, and yet so loves the material cosmos that has been created, to the point of becoming flesh and suffering the same death that awaits all flesh. The solution to our ecological crisis and hyper-consumerism does not lie in virtual existence, let alone a transhuman or trans-planetary future. The solution lies in redeemed materiality—learning to love and care for the good creation that sustains us. That is why reducing our overall material consumption and working to build a genuinely circular economy (in contrast to what parades under that term today) are two of the most urgent political problems we face.
We want to hear from you
Manna Gum is throwing its procurement policy open for public consultation.
All this editorialising is really just throat clearing for what I really want say: Manna Gum is throwing its procurement policy open for public consultation.
Should we switch to printing Manna Matters on this genuine post-consumer waste brown paper, or should we finally acquiesce and go fully digital?
We really want to hear from you, and especially from our hard copy readers: how do you think you would go with a Manna Matters printed on this sort of brown paper?
As I have said, Manna Matters is produced to be read, so there is no point switching to this paper for sound ethical reasons if hardly anyone will actually read it. My initial canvassing so far suggests that people don’t mind the look and feel of it, but the real test is whether people will actually read it. Perhaps we just need to try an edition or two and see how it goes? We want to hear what you think, so if you have a view, please take a moment to send us an email. Or write us a letter!