Here's one more reason to love Aveda: Last month, the company introduced a new award at the Folio Show – a.k.a. the Oscars of the magazine industry – honoring “Best practices in environmental sustainability within the magazine production processes.” The Aveda Environmental Award went to Natural Health, Utne, and the Sustainable Industries Journal – all of which print their magazines on post-consumer recycled (PCR) paper and in some cases use chlorine-free bleaching and soy inks.

According to Joel Makower, who covered Aveda's powerful influence on publishing practices in his blog, the company began investigating the environmental practices of the magazines where it runs ads several years ago. That gave way to a company-wide advertising policy requiring magazines to have a minimum of 10 percent PCR content to qualify for Aveda’s ads.

Better yet, Aveda shared its survey with other eco-minded companies, such as Patagonia, Seventh Generation, and Timberland, who are adopting the policy. It's about time that the magazine industry be pressured to clean up its act: A 2001 white paper revealed that magazine production consumes 35 million trees annually.