Just because Vanity Fair [1] editor-in-chief Graydon Carter drives [2] an SUV [3] doesn't mean he isn't at least thinking green. After all, he oversaw the magazine's first-ever green issue [4], on stands next week. In the table of contents: an essay by Al Gore (still rocking the enviro tip [5] with his climate change lecture series, documentary, and upcoming book) and glossy profiles of folks like Patagonia [6] founder Yvon Chouinard and Nobel Prize-winning tree planter Wangari Muta Maathai [7]. Also included is a "green guide" that the mag says offers up "50 simple things you can do in your daily life to help save the planet."

One idea the editors might have overlooked: using recycled items - like, say, the paper your magazine is printed on. According to the dedicated snoops over at Muckracked.com [8], Vanity Fair had originally planned to print the issue on partially recycled content, but scrapped the idea due to time constraints [9].

The Muckers use Environmental Defense's Paper Calculator [10] to point out this "green" issue's environmental impact: "up to 4,331,757 pounds of greenhouse gases [10],13,413,922 gallons of wastewater, and 1,744,060 pounds of solid waste throughout the printing process."

Here's a thought: If time didn't allow for this issue to be printed on recycled paper, why not go for next issue? Hey, why not print every issue on recycled paper? Laurie David [11] would be proud: She guest-edited Elle magazine's own green issue, printed on 10 percent recycled content.

Photo credit: Vanity Fair [12]