Nacelle, the monthly Club Magazine of the TOMCC, has now completely changed to using paper envelopes for all its mailings. Previously the UK posting used plastic 'polylopes', but concern over plastic in the environment has prompted the switch for all of the 8,000 (and growing) magazines issued every month.
When Nacelle went 'large scale' back in 2011 it was decided to use 'polylopes' as a cheap way to post out the magazine. These envelopes could be wrapped around the magazines automatically from a single roll of plastic film and were a lot lighter than traditional paper envelopes which kept the total weight down below the then Royal Mail weight limits.
Since then, an issue with some postal service address scanning machines in other countries where the reflective nature of the plastic film caused them to fail to read the address correctly was solved by switching to paper envelopes for overseas addresses. This also stopped the odd postal employee taking the magazine because it looked interesting.
Following on from the success of paper envelopes for overseas addresses, and the general concern raised about plastic use, it was decided to ditch the plastic 'polylopes' completely and go with an alternative. The choice came down to either paper, or bio-poly (made from potato starch). They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Bio-poly is completely compostable and is used by organisations such as Kew Gardens and the National Trust and could be wrapped around magazines as the plastic 'polylopes' were, but it is still fairly expensive. Paper is a bit heavier but since Royal Mail changed the weight limits a while ago it doesn't impact on postage cost, but they are more expensive than normal plastic, aren't compostable, and some recycling centres can't yet accept them for recycling because of the glue.
The decision was made to go with paper envelopes for all Nacelle mailings.
Please recycle the envelopes that you receive Nacelle in. You could open them carefully and keep them to reuse (also saves buying large envelopes), or you could put them in your recycling bin if they can be recycled by your local centre.
If you would like to receive Nacelle, you can either become a Member of the TOMCC (you must own a machine that is powered by a Triumph engine), or you can take out a Magazine Subscription for only £22 for 12 issues - a bargain!
As a Full Member, you can read back-issues of Nacelle online (you must sign in to the TOMCC website first).
