School magazine Spick turns 40 - and more sustainable
Spick, the "smart student magazine from Switzerland," turns 40 and switches its mailing to a cover made of recycled paper.
The publisher, editors and readers are delighted: The Spick can do without plastic from now on. "We have finally found a solution to get away from shipping in a plastic sleeve," says Roger Hartmann. The publishing director knows: "Our readers have rightly complained time and again about the plastic sleeve we used to use." A mailing envelope is needed for technical reasons alone - but plastic-free packaging seemed impossible for a long time. Now, on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary, the changeover can finally be realized. The AVD print shop in Goldach is making it possible.
"Sustainability is, after all, always a central theme in our magazine," says Editor-in-Chief Hans Schödel. "I'm very happy that we can now contribute even more to this ourselves." In keeping with this, there is an April issue with several articles on the topic - from fold-out pages on the endangered marine habitat to a report on a permaculture project in Malawi.
The publisher is digging "deep into its pockets" to mark the anniversary and is giving all subscribers a sachet of sunflower seeds. "With this, we want to make the whole of Switzerland bloom," says editor-in-chief Schödel and explains: "We're doing a competition in which individual children and entire school classes can take part." Prizes include class excursions, for example to the Zurich Zoo or to a chocolate factory.
And there's another surprise in the anniversary edition of the Spick: Klaus Cornfield, illustrator of the Spick-Meckbande" comic strip and musician, donates the "Sunflower Song. A QR code in the magazine leads to the catchy tune - taken from the current episode of the comic. While listening, you can then listen to the new Spick-The towel is woven from 100% recycled fibers. The slogan on it: "Save the planet".
A 40-year success story
It was in 1982: Zurich graphic designer Otmar Bucher and his wife, journalist and teacher Angelika Bucher-Waldis, thought that there was simply no really good magazine for children. So they invented one themselves. And on January 1, 1982, they launched the first Spick-issue.
The magazine quickly became a cult throughout Switzerland. At that time the Spick slightly thinner than today and you could tear out its pages to collect them in folders.
Since 2005, the Spick at the KünzlerBachmann publishing house in St. Gallen. Since then the magazine eight pages more in size.
