Country Life magazine has swapped plastic wrapping for paper on copies delivered to subscribers as part of efforts to improve sustainability.

The weekly title’s publisher TI Media (formerly Time Inc UK) said it was “exploring a range of alternatives”as it looks to ditch polythene wrapping.

Country Life is the first of its 40 brands to make the change. It also owns Woman and Home, Marie Claire UK, Now, Horse and Hound and TV Times.

Copies of Country Life sold on the newsstand are unwrapped.

Editor Mark Hedges said: “The tide is finally turning on how we all think about the use of plastic and our responsibility to live more sustainably.

“More so than ever before, our readers are becoming advocates for our environment and that ethos should come through in everything we do.

“They are making changes to address their environmental impact and now they can rest assured that their subscription to Country Life is that bit kinder to the planet too.”

Managing director Steve Prentice added that paper was a better material for wrapping the magazine as “it is so widely recycled” compared to polythene.

Country Life is not the first UK media brand to drop plastic wrapping. The Guardian’s Saturday edition now comes in biodegradable wrapping while The Times and Sunday Times followed use compostable wrapping.