Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Earth Day Campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 39

We have 2 more days of our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 190,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.

So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day 2011 page.

Reason no. 39:
This is a great interim solution on our way to implement cradle to cradle solutions, which makes so much sense. William McDonough and Michael Braungart wrote about it in their book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things: The tree, among the finest of nature's creations, plays a crucial and multifaceted role in our interdependent ecosystem. As such, it has been an important model and metaphor for our thinking, as you will discover. But also as such, it is not a fitting resource to use in producing so humble and transient a substance as paper. The use of an alternative material expresses our intention to evolve away from the use of wood fibers for paper as we seek more effective solutions." - Richard

Thank you Richard for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your books!

Richard, just like all the other readers whose replies we'll publish, is winning one of the great 41 prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf and The Healthy Home by Dave Wentz and Dr. Myron Wentz. You can see the full list of the prizes on our earth day campaign's page.

Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the book Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects by Ann Budd.

Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects by Ann Budd - Detailing a wide range of perspectives and approaches to environmental issues, this unique crafting manual offers ideas for knitting conscientiously. Leading figures of the industry, from designers to yarn company executives, share their methods for integrating green principles into their work and lives—selecting organic products, facilitating an alternative to chemical detergent, recycling old projects, reducing disposable plastic bags, and creating pieces that provide warmth and save on energy.

Inventive and timely, this practical guidebook explains answers to important questions such as
What makes a yarn organic? and Are natural dyes safer than chemical dyes? Providing 22 clever designs for earth-friendly garments, accessories, gifts, and home furnishings, craft enthusiasts of all skill levels will enjoy projects that balance the altruism of saving the planet with the joyful benefits of their favorite hobby.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Our weekly list of 10 recommended green ebooks - Plastic: A Toxic Love Story and 9 other great green ebooks!

We're back again with our weekly update of 10 recommendations on green ebooks!

Just a reminder - Each week we present you here with list of 10 recommended e-books on a variety of green issues - from climate change and conservation to sustainable living and green marketing. Most of these green ebooks are new and were either released in the last month or two or about to be released (but already available as ebooks).

The links of these ebooks are to Amazon.com and I apologize in advance to all the Nook, iPad, Kobo and Sony Reader owners. I hope you can easily find an ebook you'll like on other ebookstores. This is also the place to disclose that we're taking part in Amazon's affiliate program and therefore will receive a small percentage of every purchase made using these links. We hope you don't mind!
You can find all the lists published so far on our recommended green ebooks webpage.

Without further ado, here's this week's list of 10 recommended green e-books:


1.Plastic: A Toxic Love Story by Susan Freinkel - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 18, 2011)

2. The Green to Gold Business Playbook: How to Implement Sustainability Practices for Bottom-Line Results in Every Business Function by Daniel Esty and P.J. Simmons - Wiley (April 8, 2011)

3. Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier by Edward Glaeser - The Penguin Press (February 10, 2011)

4. Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn - VIKING ADULT (March 3, 2011)

5. Beyond the Cold: An American's Warm Portrait of Norway by Michael Kleiner - Infinity Publishing (September 30, 2010)

6. Turn Your House Green by Diane Hamel - Diane Hamel (April 7, 2011)

7. Garden Composting: How Garden Recycling Works by Bill Butterworth - MX Publishing (April 19, 2011)

8. Be a Greentrepreneur by Scott Cardinal - Amazon Digital Services (March 17, 2011)

9. Crop Chemophobia: Will Precaution Kill the Green Revolution? by Jon Entine - AEI Press (April 16, 2011)

10. Urban Agriculture: Ideas and Designs for the New Food Revolution by David Tracey - New Society Publishers (April 1, 2011)

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!