New goal for UNEP: Seven billion trees by the end of 2009

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced yesterday that its Billion Tree Campaign to Grow into the Seven Billion Tree Campaign.

This is great news. The Billion Tree Campaign was initiated in 2006 and in just 18 months catalyzed the planting of two billion trees, double its original target (as of today, the exact number of trees planted is 2,074,829,162).

The campaign was unveiled in 2006 as one response to the threat of global warming. The idea was inspired by Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2004 and founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, which has planted more than 30 million trees in 12 African countries since 1977.

Why planting trees? UNEP explain the logic: "safeguarding and planting forests were among the most cost-effective ways to slow climate change, blamed by the U.N. Climate Panel on emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels in factories, power plants and cars. Trees soak up carbon dioxide as they grow and release it when burnt or when they rot. Deforestation accounts for over 20 percent of the carbon dioxide humans generate. The advantages of planting trees are well known, as well as to the wider sustainability challenges from water supplies to biodiversity loss." ('World tree planting drive sets goal of 7 billion', Reuters, 5.13.08).

UNEP were surprised with the overwhelming response of governments, businesses, organizations and people to the challenge and decided it's time to raise the bar. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, told Reuters: "In 2006 we wondered if a billion tree target was too ambitious; it was not. The goal of two billion trees has also proven to be an underestimate. The goal of planting seven billion trees, equivalent to just over a tree per person alive on the planet, must therefore also be do-able."

We truly hope that he is right. We also believe in the need to conserve natural resources and in the plenty of benefits that trees provide us with (btw - check out tomorrow's blog with a new research on the value of reforestation efforts in the fight against global warming).

Eco-Libris see itself as part of the campaign's global effort (we were featured in the past on UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign website - http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/CampaignNews/Eco-Libris.asp) and we will do our best to plant as much trees as possible with our planting partners, contributing both to the planet and to making reading more sustainable.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

SmartPlanet - green news from the UK

I want to share with you a new green blog I learned about today: SmartPlanet.

SmartPlanet comes from the UK, where it was launched by CNET Networks UK. It's a one-stop guide to creating a smarter, greener and fairer planet, with an emphasis on energy-saving, ethical and organic products. You can find there the latest UK news on ethical shopping and living, from the hottest organic fashion and fresh Fairtrade grub to new solar gadgets and the coolest hybrid cars.

Today, for example, when I checked it out, I read 5 tips for HallowGreen celebrations (compost your lantern), learned about SHIBBY, which utilizes old billboard advertising banners to make bags, got updates from the Tokyo Motor Show on Mazda's hydrogen-fuelled future cars, and saw a video on Londoner’s carbon footprints.

Most of the green blogosphere, and especially the part dealing with green lifestyle, is dominated by US-based blogs and is very US oriented. Therefore, it is great to see another green website bringing us cool green news and updates from the UK, where a lot of interesting green stories take place.

SmartPlanet's editor is Adam Vaughan, co-founder of Hippyshopper, blogger at thegreenguy.co.uk and helps with Friends of the Earth's Green Living pages. He is also the guy who is standing to the right of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Good luck to Adam and SmartPlanet! I'll check this blog regularly. You are welcome to do the same.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!

2007 People's Choice Award for the Green Business of the Year - introduction

You've probably heard the exciting news about Co-Op's 2007 People's Choice Award for the Green Business of the Year - last week Co-Op America announced the names of the of ten nominees for this prestigious award.

As this is the people's award, your votes are going to decide which business will win the award. The vote is open for everyone and can be made on Co-Op America's website until October 15. The announcement of the winner will be made on November 10 at the Green Festival in San Francisco.

All of the nominees are really great and choosing your favorite one is not an easy task at all. Anyway, how much do you know about these businesses, their green practices and the way they try to make a difference? That's where Eco-Libris blog comes to your help! I will start tomorrow my People's Award Nominees series, where I will try to provide you with relevant information on each one of the nominees.

In order to do that, I sent all the nominees a short questionnaire that they were asked to reply. I hope their replies will make it easier for you to compare between the nominees and decide which one is your no. 1.

Here are the nominees:

1. Flexcar
2. Greenfeet.com: The Planet's Homestore
3. Green Living Now
4. Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils
5. Mountains of the Moon
6. Only Natural Pet Store
7. Pizza Fusion
8. ReusableBags.com
9. UsedCardboardBoxes.com
10. Yoga Nine/Buddha Body Fair Trade Store

As you can see, Eco-Libris is not included in the list (well, we're only 3 months old), but maybe next year..

So stay with me for the exciting nominees series starting TOMORROW!

Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

No car today (and perhaps tomorrow?)

Today is Carfree Day, where you leave your car untouched..

It's a worldwide celebration highlighting the many problems caused by our dependence on cars, including air pollution, global warming, stress, and other issues.

According to World Carfree Network's website "Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighborhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept our car-dominated society."

The idea of the movement is of course to challenge the concept that we cannot live without cars and encourage people to check out eco-friendly alternatives (public transpiration, walking, cycling, etc.). They also call governments to assist people who want to replace their car with greener alternatives by making these options more available and convenient.

For many people, especially those who don't live in big cities, life without a car is not an option, as there are no real other options even to get to the supermarket or a local coffee shop.

In any case, for everyone today is a good opportunity to leave the car untouched and think of the ways we can make our transpiration choices more sustainable.

To get more information about this day and what's going on today all over the world (How about having a parking meter party ?), please check out the World Carfree Network's website.

Enjoy this car free day,
Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Recycling rocks in Philly!

At first I learned about it after reading a post of Sarah Schmalbach at Philly STYLE Magazine. Then I went to GreenFest Philly and saw some of the people involved in it. And now all is left to do is to get to Philly on Saturday, Sept. 29 and climb to the roof of Whole Foods on market and 10th streets. There you'll find a unique event combining activism and party - Rock & RecycleNOW.

So what is it all about? over the past 18 months RecycleNOW Philadelphia has been collecting over 12,000 signatures, lobbying for public hearings, and making sure the next mayor of Philadelphia will implement a dependable weekly curbside recycling program for everyone in the city.

Their request is simple: expand the recycling pilot projects conducted in Chestnut Hill and West Oak Lane by RecycleBank to all of the city. RecycleBank is a private company that initiated a brilliant recycling program based on an offer people cannot refuse - receive incentives to recycle more. The program rewards resident participation by each with up to $400 a year in discount shopping coupons. You recycle more, you get more coupons.

The idea was to combine attractive incentives with simplicity and comfort - residents were given a single 35 gallon container for all recyclables: glass metal and plastic food containers and all kinds of paper including Cardboard. This way it became much easier for them to recycle (check RecycleBank's demo to see how it works).

RecyleBank created a Win-Win-Win program where everybody wins: residents (more comfort, more coupons), the city (smaller amounts of garbage save the city money) and the companies providing coupons (green promotion for them). No wonder the program is a huge success and increased the percentage of recycling according to RecycleNOW Philadelphia in as much as 125 percent. But somehow, the organization says Philadelphia's city officials remain skeptical of these results and, as it has with previous successful pilots, called for more study.

And now they need your help and support. As they write on their website "Enough is enough. The Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia here calls on you and all Philadelphians to raise our collective voices and let our elected officials know in no uncertain terms: implement and expand Recycle Bank™ recycling program immediately, every week from homes and businesses in every neighborhood across the City."

I support this call as RecycleBank's model succeeded where many other models and ideas have failed and this is the reason they have spread to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York. So, it seems only logical to expand it to the rest of Philly for the benefit of both the residents and the city.

The event will feature live performances by Philly’s best local bands: The Capitol Years, The Swimmers, The Adam Monaco Band, Adam and Dave’s Bloodline, Sarsaparilla, Tough Guys Take Over.

The event will take place between 3 to 7 pm. Tickets are $15 and available at http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/fundraiser.html

So rock and recycle, show your support and come to the party!

See you there,
Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Book site of the week: Your home library

From this week on, we'll recommend you on bookish websites or blogs that we like. My first one is actually a site that is dedicated to home libraries - Your home library.

This is the a great site that gives you the opportunity to check out home libraries from all over the world. I believe you can learn a lot about people, their culture and the place they live in from their libraries. Anyway, it's always fun and interesting to take a glance at someone's house from within :-)

This site is of Kim from the Netherlands, who explains on the site that "It started off as me, wondering about your home libraries. I have always been interested in libraries, big and small. Since most of my readers have a passion for books, I am wondering what your library looks like. It does not have to be a proper library, like you see in fancy houses. It could be just a space in a room that is dedicated to your book collection. Or just the most important shelves. No matter how big or small: I would love to see it!"

So, if you want to show the whole world your lovely library, just send Kim email. She is also responsible for the interesting blog KIMBOOKTU,which is defined as "gadgets to book lovers' site.

Both sites will be the first ones to enter our list of the bookish blogs and sites we like on the right side of the blog.

Enjoy your library and have a bookish weekend,

Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

p.s. on the picture here, we can see Maggie's library from the site.

Eco-Libris is balancing out Net Impact's "Business as UNusual"

Dreaming about green MBA, or just regular MBA but with the best CSR (corporate social responsibility) or sustainable management classes? need more info where you can find the program that fits your social and environmental interests? What you need is Business as UNusual: The 2007 Net Impact Guide to Graduate Business Programs. Not only it's a great guide, it's also balanced out by Eco-Libris.

I'm very excited to present our current collaboration with Net Impact, an international nonprofit organization with 10,000 graduate business students and professional members dedicated to creating a better world through business.

'Business as UNusual' is an annual guide written by students at 56 business schools, which highlights programs in CSR, sustainable management, and other socially responsible practices. It is the first to focus on MBA and other graduate students' perspectives on social and environmental themes in curricula, career service, and the perspective of other students at business schools worldwide.

The guide was created in response to inquiries from students applying to business school with social and environmental interests. In addition to preparation of students to become responsible business leaders, the guide also compares data on different MBA programs and educates graduate school applicants to help them find the program that is right for them.

So, how we get into the picture? well, the guide can be downloaded online at no charge, but there is also a limited number of printed copies that will be sold on Amazon.com. Net Impact collaborated with Eco-Libris to balance out these printed copies. This means that Eco-Libris works to plant one tree for each one of these copies. The logo of Eco-Libris is been printed on the cover of the guide saying "One tree planted for this book".

I am a proud Net member of Net Impact and I think this informative guide is a great service for prospective and current MBA students who want to make a difference through business. If you have any thoughts of doing MBA, please check it out, and don't forget to take a look at our beautiful logo on the cover :-)

More information on the guide can be found on Net Impact's news release at: http://www.csrwire.com/News/9609.html

Raz

Eco- Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Say it out loud: Swap-O-Rama-Rama

"In 2005 I created an event that I designed to be an alternative to consumerism called Swap-O-Rama-Rama. Since its introduction into the world it has grown to include more than 40 cities in the US and around the world and it continues to grow."

This is part of the bio of Wendy Tremayne who brought to the world the wonderful concept of Swap-O-Rama-Rama. I was very excited to read about it today during one of my searches in TreeHugger.

So what is it? according to its site, Swap-O-Rama-Ram is " a clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing. "

I think its a great concept as it takes one of the basic rules of the green economy - maximize the usage of every existing material as much as you can, either by reusing it or recycling it - and combines it with creativity and fun. What could go wrong with such a mix?

Want to learn more? check Wendy's website and also watch TreeHugger's video here.

If you like the idea, check for the locations of upcoming Swap events, and if you can't find anything nearby, just start one by yourself.

Enjoy swapping,
Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

The future of e-books

Have you have read an electronic book? I haven't.. I'm not the type of person who will read a book from his cell phone or those other small gadgets that you can download books to. I guess that I'm, like most people, waiting for an e-book reader that will be user-friendly and affordable. So far there were none, but according to an article yesterday on the New York Times (Are Books Passe? Web giants envision the next chapter), significant advances are on the way and maybe faster than we think.

The main progress is made by Amazon.com that according to the article will unveil in October their new e-book reader. The new device won't be that affordable - it will be priced at $400 to $500. Yet, it is going to be wirelessly connected (but only to Amazon's e-book store of course), which is a big improvement in comparison with older e-book devices that had to be connected to the computer in order to download books or articles.

The article is trying to figure out if we're on the verge of a significant breakthrough in electronic books, which seemed very promising a while ago, but eventually had a very disappointing history. Overall, according to the article, there's a reason to be optimistic this time, but we still have a long way ahead of us until the e-book will become common.

Eco-Libris supports the concept of e-books as a sustainable alternative to books made of paper. Yet, we know it can take many years until e-books will be available for everyone. In the meantime we call all book lovers not to sit aside and wait, but to take an action and plant a tree for every book they read.

Raz

Nice day for green wedding

Green weddings are getting more popular, and it all starts with the invitations. Formal-invatations.com reports in a news release that "many couples are choosing to 'Go Green' when they design and fashion their wedding invitations for the coming year, and are avoiding the traditional and predictable. Eco-chic options abound in a wide range of environment-friendly recycled stock, and handmade tree-free papers."

Yep, there are alternatives to invitations made of virgin paper, and you don't have to tradeoff quality or design when choosing the green option. The company offers many options of invitations and envelopes made of recycled paper and are processed chlorine-free or made of tree-free materials.

If you're worried about staying stylish, Formal-invatations.com brings you a short guide for 2008 trends in invitations, where you can learn for example that "For a spring wedding in 2008, an invitation's color scheme can echo the colors of the blooming gardens with sky blue, leaf green and magnolia pink. Summer brings hotter weather and high-voltage tints will be everywhere -especially apple green, aqua blue, bright yellow and sunset orange."

If you're still not satisfied with the green alternatives, you can always send your invitations by email :-)

Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Outdoor reading in the big apple

Summer is almost gone (I know, it's terrible even to think about it..), but the NYT brings us a great piece about one of the summer's greatest pleasures - outdoor reading.

Well, what can be better than enjoying a good book and a great weather at the same time? New York has many great places to read outside, from well-known Central Park to many others less known, such as Carl Schurz Park on the Upper East Side.

I learned from the article about NYC's Bryant Park Reading Room, a spot located behind the New York Public Library, which has been reopened in 2003, after it was closed for almost 60 years. It was opened originally in 1935: the New York Public Library opened the “Open Air Library” to give these out-of-work businessmen and intellectuals a place to go where they did not need money, a valid address, a library card, or any identification to enjoy the reading materials.).

The Bryant Park Corporation has repeated history by recreating the Bryant Park Reading Room. It is modeled after the original with the additions of custom-designed carts for an extensive and eclectic selection of books, periodicals and newspapers. Certainly worth a visit!

The article is not only worth reading because of all the interesting stories about people that like to read in public and their favorite spots, but also because lines like these ones:

"Reading is a solitary pursuit, even a lone passage to a separate world. Yet to read in public, amid strangers, gives it another dimension. Sometimes the city speaks to the page, or the page seems to open up to people passing by. An outdoor reader shares the pulse of a timeless urban conversation between the world and the written word."
Link to the article - On the Outdoor Book Tour, the Word Is Spreading.

So grab a book and get outside. and enjoy reading outdoors while you still can :-)

Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!