Darlington-based UK daily The Northern Echo changed its colour to green last week for World Environment Day, aiming to raise awareness about the environment, HoldtheFrontPage reported Friday.

The special edition was published on green newsprint, a 52-page supplement contained news, tips and features on environmental issues and how to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. The paper also looked at local companies' efforts to become more environmentally friendly, featured an article by England's Secretary of State for the Environment and had a 15-year-old guest editor, who is serving as a government “Climate Change Champion” for the area.

The paper also gave a lot of coverage to the English government's recent announcement that it plans to create 11 offshore windfarms.

“Going green isn't something I'd do every day, but as a one-off initiative to make people sit up and take notice, I think it's been very worthwhile and the reaction has been very positive,” Peter Barron, the paper's editor, told HoldtheFrontPage. “We wanted to make a bold statement to make readers think about what they as individuals can do to make a difference to the environment. And because it's about our future, we wanted to give young people a strong voice, which is why Jack was brought in as guest editor.”

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