JAY – Verso Paper has contracted to supply paper for National Geographic’s new quarterly publication, “The Green Guide” that will provide information to help people develop more environmentally-friendly lifestyles.

National Geographic announced Monday it would launch the consumer magazine on March 4, according to a release on the company’s Web site: nationalgeographic.com.

Following National Geographic’s century-long mission to inspire people to care about the planet, the guide will offer practical, in-depth information on products and lifestyle decision for the health of their families and the environment, the release states.

“Written for general consumers, not for enviromaniacs, National Geographic Green Guide is chock-full of simple, useful ideas, broken down into achievable steps that make ‘going green’ a gradual and affordable process rather than an all-or-nothing plunge,” Seth Bauer, editorial director of the guide, stated.

Verso Paper’s Androscoggin Mill in Jay will manufacture a grade of coated paper that includes a percentage of recycled paper for the inside pages in the magazine and Verso’s Quinnesec Mill in Wisconsin will supply the heavier, glossy cover paper for the guide, Verso Paper spokesman Bill Cohen said Tuesday.

Verso paper for the guide carries the FSC Mixed-Source Label, that means the wood comes from Forest Stewardship Council-certified forests, sources controlled in accordance with FSC standards, or recycled material, National Geographic’s release states.

“Maine has sustainable forestry practices that means we plant more trees than we harvest,” Cohen said. “FSC is a third party auditor that certifies we are living up to the rules of certified sustainable forest practices.”

Verso has been providing some of the paper for a while, he said.

“This is a reaffirmation of our efforts toward our (corporate) sustainable policy,” Cohen said.

Verso, Quad/Graphics, the chosen printer of the magazine, and Texterity, a digital publishing company, which will make the entire publication available in a paper-free “published Web format,” all share the sense of stewardship and responsibility that National Geographic does, the news release states.

The guide is an evolution of the pre-existing Green Guide Web site and newsletter, founded in 1994 by former Natural Resources Defense Council staff scientist Wendy Gordon. National Geographic acquired the original Green Guide in March 2007.

The quarterly publication will be available for a $15 annual subscription or a $4.95 newsstand price at locations including Barnes & Noble and Whole Foods Markets.

A National Geographic spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.