The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 7: Leap Books

We still have some time left before we begin with the Green Books Campaign on Wednesday, Nov 10, at 1:00 PM, and we continue to present some of the publishers that participate in the campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is Leap Books.

Leap Books is a fresh voice in fiction for teens and tweens. Our books take you on a journey into the unknown, into love, into discovery, into new worlds. So read them, and LEAP...

Leap Books is participating in the campaign with the following books (all printed on FSC-certified paper):

1. For the Love of Strangers by Jacqueline Horsfall will be reviewed on Melody's Reading Corner.

2. Freaksville by Kitty Keswick will be reviewed on Frenetic Reader.

3. Island Sting by Bonnie J. Doerr will be reviewed on Curling Up by the Fire.

4. I Was a Teenage Alien by Jane Greenhill will be reviewed on Book Reading Gals.

5. Under My Skin by Judith Graves will be reviewed on Cafe of Dreams.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
As the publisher of tween and teen books, Leap Books cares deeply about the audience we serve. We aim to produce books that encourage teens to read, enlarge their world, help them cope with life challenges, and provide pleasurable experiences. Because we care about teens, we want to ensure that they grow up in a clean, healthy world, one with plenty of trees and natural resources. Leap Books is committed not only to using eco-friendly paper, but to supporting environmental efforts in any way we can.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
We are committed to using eco-friendly paper for all our books and materials. We also participate in programs to plant trees to replace the paper we use for our books because we believe it’s important to renew any resources we deplete.

Are there other ways you're going green?
Leap Books opened with the intention of being as green as possible. In addition to contributing to environmental efforts, we also publish books with green themes. The first title we published, Island Sting by Bonnie J. Doerr is an eco-mystery about saving the endangered Key deer from poachers. The main characters in the book form a “green-teen” environmental group, Keys Teens Care, which works to clean up pollution and go green. Each of Doerr’s books in the series deals with saving an endangered animal as well as an environmental clean-up project. We’ve been told that the book has sparked “green-teen” groups around the country.

Author Bonnie Doerr also reports on teen efforts to go green on her blog, Bonnie Blogs Green, and a portion of the proceeds from this book have been donated to environmental groups. Another book we’re publishing, Jacqueline Horsfall’s For the Love Strangers, has a strong theme of caring for the world around us. Jacqueline is also the author of Play Lightly on the Earth.

In addition to promoting the replanting of trees, Leap Books uses recycled products in our offices. Promotions and press releases are done via the Internet as often as possible. We do small print runs to prevent remaindering, provide free “Exclusive” reads on our website rather than printing them, offer pdfs of our book group discussion guides and curriculum materials, publish our catalog online, give reviewers the option of reading ARCs as e-books, and have begun offering some of our titles as e-books.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Try to purchase books from publishers that use eco-friendly paper, are committed to recycling, and support environmental programs. Consider donating to companies that are replanting trees or saving rain forests. Also, if you can, think about purchasing e-books to save paper.

Thank you Leap Books for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Green Books Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp. You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 6: HOPS Press

less than 48 hours have left to the Green Books Campaign and we continue to present some of the publishers that participate in the campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is HOPS Press.

HOPS Press, LLC publishes six books and six videos by author, builder, wilderness survival instructor, and conservationist, Thomas J. Elpel, providing practical hands-on skills to restore our connection with nature.

Two of Elpel’s books are included in thee campaign. Participating in Nature (to be reviewed on raganella) is a book of wilderness survival skills, enabling the reader to discover nature through the process of using it to meet the basic needs for shelter, fire, water, and food. Living Homes (to be reviewed on Beth's Book Reviews) provides nuts-and-bolts construction advice for building high-efficiency homes on a shoestring budget. Both books are printed on 100% recycled paper.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
With my background as a wilderness survival instructor, I am accustomed to getting by with scarce resources. In wilderness survival, one simply cannot afford the luxury of waste. I’ve applied that survival mentality to life at home and work as well, building high quality houses out of scavenged materials, paying cash to avoid paying interest on a mortgage, and installing solar panels to zero-out our electric bill.

I am shocked every time I drive by the community dumpster and see all the valuable resources that have been discarded. As a country, we are burying our wealth in landfills, and it is not remotely sustainable. Most of my books are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper to help close the loop on waste. It is pretty exciting to hold a new product that was made without harvesting new resources.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
I ask our printer for 100% post-consumer recycled paper stock, if available. If 100% post-consumer recycled paper is not available, I’ll take the best we can get for the job.

Are there other ways you're going green?
I wear many different hats over the course of a year, and one of my favorite activities is teaching wilderness survival skills to public school kids. I take the local junior high kids out camping for three days and two nights every year, teaching them skill such as: how to start fires by rubbing sticks together, how to make their own plates, bowls, and utensils, how to cook a stir-fry dinner with hot rocks in a bark pan, how to stay warm and dry without a sleeping bag or a tent, and so forth, as documented in my newest video, Classroom in the Woods: Primitive Skills for Public Schools.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Support publishers that print on 100% recycled paper. Enjoy a good read, then pass the book along to a friend or library to get the most use out of it.

Thank you HOPS Press for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!