It arrived this morning and was waiting there on the doormat when I got home - the very last, the ultimate, the final print edition of The Ecologist, "the world's leading environmental magazine".

I subscribed to The Ecologist only a few years ago, probably around the time this green blog was launched at the start of 2006, but the magazine has been going for nearly four decades!

Started in 1970 by environmentalist and eco-philosopher Edward Goldsmith the magazine was run by his nephew Zac Goldsmith who, whilst no longer the editor, remains the Chairman & Director of The Ecologist.

Despite all the huge positives over the years such as publishing a special edition that inspired the formation of what is now the Green Party, the constant, often controversial & deeply inquiring investigative journalism, being printed on 100% recycled paper with environmentally-friendly inks and being stuffed with the most useful information, news, ads, goods, services & even the "flyers" - The Ecologist, even with its 20,000 circulation, has called it a day on the printed edition.

However, all is not lost. In a time when advertising revenues are taking a hit, newspapers & magazines are shutting their doors for good, The Ecologist is making the most of its online presence. So from now on you'll be able to get your fix of ecological goodness online anytime and the audience is limitless. What the cost & carbon footprint of a copy of the magazine is compared to the online edition, we don't know, but here's to The Ecologist and to another 40 years of environmentalism. Cheers!