'My Green Bookshelf' with Karen Stewart and Howard Brown, the founders of Stewart+Brown

We're happy to present you with another green guest on our new series 'My Green Bookshelf', where we're taking a look at the reading habits of interesting people from the green world with special focus on their green reading. Actually, today you'll get two in the price of one :-)

We are very excited to have with us today husband and wife duo, Karen Stewart and Howard Brown, the founders of the eco-fashion brand Stewart + Brown (http://www.stewartbrown.com/).

In 2002 Karen and Howard, partners in life and work, realized their destiny; They gave birth to a baby girl named Hazel Stewart Brown and a baby brand named Stewart+Brown, which ever since was always at the cutting edge of eco fashion and style.

Design for Karen and Howard is a passion and a way of life. Their professional journey stems from a union of creativity and purpose. Karen, a trained painter and New York native, and Howard, a graphic artist and Montana native, oversee every aspect of the product and brand themselves. Each Stewart+Brown collection, at an elemental level, is a fusion of experiences and insights filtered through their creative core and rendered into their own unique and personal aesthetic.

Howard Brown replied to our questionnaire on behalf of the couple.

When do you find the time to read? what are your favorite genres?

I read headlines and articles during the day but it's hard for me to find the time and focus to read novels. I read a lot about current events and global economics. I have a subscription to the New York Times Sunday edition and usually spend the Sunday mornings and the first part of the week to get through it.For leisure reading my favorite genres are non-fiction and biographies. I don't care for fiction and never have.

How many books do you have in your library at home?

A few thousand. Among other things, my wife and I collect vintage art and design books.

What's your favorite green book?

I don't know if you would consider it a green book but I'm in the middle of Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and it's the best book I've read in awhile.

Who is your favorite green author?

Not that he's green but I've been reading everything by Michael Pollan that I can get my hands on...he writes a column for the NYT online edition and various editorials for them as well. I also like Paul Hawken a lot.

What green books do you have in your library at home?

Way too many to name. Most of which I / we have not read.

Do you borrow books from friends? do you lend yours to others after you read them?

Yes and yes.

Are you registered to a library?

Yes.

If you had to go to a deserted island, what 3 books would you take with you?

I'd probably bring 3 books that had to do w/desert island survival - how to grow food, identify indigenous plants to eat, build shelters, etc. And also Robinson Crusoe.

What's your favorite bookstore?

I like Powell's in Portland and The Strand and St. Mark's Books in New York. But since I live in California, I do most of my book shopping on Amazon.com

E-books - for or against?

I've never experienced an e-book but I'm not sure why I'd be against them.

And just a reminder: as a small token of appreciation to our guest on the series, Eco-Libris will plant with its planting partners 50 new trees on behalf of each and every guest in the series!

You're welcome to check out other guests we had on 'My Green Bookshelf':

Sophie Young, founder of g=9.8

Ron Gonen, Co-founder and CEO of RecycleBank

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

* photos of Karen and Howard and Stewart+Brown items are courtesy of Stewart+Brown.

'My Green Bookshelf' with Sophie Young, founder of g=9.8

Two weeks ago we started with a new series 'My Green Bookshelf', where we're taking a look at the reading habits of interesting people from the green world with special focus on their green reading.

As a small token of appreciation to our guest on the series, Eco-Libris will plant with its planting partners 50 new trees on behalf of each and every participant!

Today we are very excited to have with us a special guest from France: Sophie Young, the founder of g=9.8 (http://www.g98.fr/).

g=9.8 is an organic lingerie and loungewear brand g=9.8 offers a unique combination of seductive ecology: naturally sensual, combined with the velvety touch of pine fiber. Yes, all the sexy items manufactured by g=9.8 are made from a fiber originating in the branches of white pine (the pine trees used to produce this material are grown specifically for this use and new ones are replanted to replace ones used for production). Production is made locally in France.

Sophie graduated in 1995 from the University of Architecture in Paris. Her work focused on the creation of a recycling site in the center of Paris, visited as a museum. In 2005, after several years working in architecture, she founded g=9.8 in order to create a line of underwear respectful of eco-principles, such as minimizing the water consumption in the industrial production, eco-packaging, waste recycling and eco-marketing.

Sophie, as you can see from her replies to our questionnaire below, is not just an innovative creator of sexy eco-friendly lingerie, but also a passionate reader.

When do you find the time to read? what are your favorite genres?

I read at night, every so often. Usually, I read a book I like in 3 or 4 times.

My choice varies and is eclectic. I like biographies. I gobble up good mangas, some are excellent history books (in particular the Gen series, by Keiji Nakazawa, a Hiroshima survivor who tells his story and agony). I read lots of books on world war II (books by Primo Levi, among others).

Nevertheless, my favourite book is '84 Charing Cross Road' by Helene Hanff, a work that cannot be classified. I also liked 'Sex and the City' by Candace Bushnell ! I already read it two times.

How many books do you have in your library at home?

I cannot say, but I have a linear shelving of nearly 10 meters with lots of architecture books, and quite a lot of mangas. I lent the other books I like and thus they are no longer in my library.

Photo: A small part of Sophie's home library

What's your favorite green book?

Without hesitation, a book by Pierre Rabhi, 'Parole de Terre', but also 'Conscience et environnement', another book by the same author.

Who is your favorite green author?

Pierre Rabhi, but to be honest every history books are green references to me. They show how daily life was in the past and especially they tell us about the rhythm of life, which is, to me, the cornerstone of sustainable development.

What green books do you have in your library at home?

'Pourquoi j’ai mangé mon père' by Roy Lewis, a few architecture books about nomadic settlement or green buildings for instance, such as the book written by the architect Glenn Murcutt.

Many mangas about the rhythm of life in the past, like for instance 'Seton' by Jiro taniguchi or 'La bicyclette rouge' by Kim Dong HWA, a Korean manga writer. Recently I liked 'Into the Wild' by Jon Krakauer.

Do you borrow books from friends? do you lend yours to others after you read them?

I lend the books I liked to others but they never come back to me, except the ones I only lend to my closest relatives. I buy or borrow books.

Are you registered to a library?

I am registered to a library but I only go to the children library near my house. Adult libraries have become impersonal media libraries, and I don’t really like to go there, I prefer a book I have heard about.

If you had to go to a deserted island, what 3 books would you take with you?

1. '84 Charing Cross Road' by Helene Hanff,
·2. a book I have not read yet but that I really want to discover. For example '80 hommes pour changer le monde' by Mathieu Le roux and Sylvain Darnil.
3. and maybe the biography of Nelson Mandela which I have not read yet (your previous interviewee really enjoyed it!)

What's your favorite bookstore?
All of them. There are two bookstores I really like, I always go in if I walk past them.

Entre les Lignes - 110 rue St Dominique 75007 PARIS
In the museum of the arts décoratifs ( fashion museum in the LOUVRE) in Paris -107, rue de Rivoli 75001 PARIS
Chantelivre (adults and children’s bookstore) - 13 r Sèvres 75006 PARIS 01 45 48 87 90

E-books - for or against?

E-books are not user-friendly neither in the desert, nor in a garden, and nor in the evening in one’s bed, so for now I do not need them.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

* photos of Sophie Young and the g=9.8 lingerie are courtesy of Sophie Young.

'My Green Bookshelf' with Ron Gonen, RecycleBank's co-founder and CEO

I don't know about you, but when I read about green celebrities, CEOs of green companies, and other green figures, I'm always curious - what do these people read? what's their favorite green book? how many green books they have on their bookshelf? so I decided that it's time to try and get some answers.

Hence we begin today a new series - 'My Green Bookshelf'. In this series we will take a look at the reading habits of interesting people from the green world with special focus on their green reading. As a small token of appreciation to our gusest in the series, Eco-Libris will plant with its planting partners 50 new trees on behalf of each and every participant!

Our first guest in the series is Ron Gonen, the co-founder and CEO of RecycleBank.

RecycleBank is a Philadelphia based company that has revolutionized municipal recycling in America, by initiating a brilliant recycling program that rewards people for recycling at home. RecycleBank, which was founded in 2004, currently provides service in more than 35 municipalities in the states of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

Prior to RecycleBank, Ron Gonen was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting. Ron was a co-recipient of Deloitte Consulting's National Impact Award in 2002 for his development and management of a consulting unit that provides pro bono consulting services to non-profit and charitable organizations. Ron holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Ron is not only a successful CEO of a great green company, but also an avid reader. He has agreed to share with us his reading habits and below you'll find his replies to our questions.

When do you find the time to read?

Before I get to sleep and on planes.

How many books do you have in your library at home?

A lot. I was a voracious reader back when I had time to read.

What's your favorite green book?

let my people go surfing by Yvon Chouinard

Do you borrow books from friends? do you lend yours to others after you read them?

Yes.

Are you registered to a library?

No.

If you had to go to a deserted island, what 3 books would you take with you?

1. Exodus by Leon Uris

2. Nelson Mandela's autobiography

3. Any book by Al Franken

E-book - for or against?

Not sure.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

* photos of Ron Gonen and the logo of RecycleBank are courtesy of RecycleBank.