Banning phone book litter in Seattle? Not so fast...

Last week the city of Seattle made an important step last week - it voted "on a yellow pages "opt-out" ordinance that would get rid of those phone books." It makes Seattle the first city in the country to set up an opt-out registry if you don't want to receive yellow pages.

We have discussed here before how wasteful are the Yellow/White Pages' practices ('The Yellow Pages are going green, but how about eliminating the wasteful printing in the first place?') and also compared the carbon footprint of a search on Google and a Yellow Pages directory. So any step in the right direction is a reason to be more optimistic.

Nevertheless, I'm not sure if the headline given by our friends at Treehugger to this story (Phone Book Litter Banned in Seattle, Nation's First Opt-Out City) is not a bit too optimistic. Applying Opt-out system is an important step, but it's very far from banning phone book litter. First, you can already opt out system for Yellow Pages (well, right now they're upgrading it so you can't really use it) and second, it's going to be real ban only when it will change to an opt-in system.

I'm afraid that even the most user-friendly opt-out system won't get enough people to move themselves out of the list, even in a progressive city like Seattle. If the city really wants "to allow residents to say no to the books" it should give them the freedom to choose if they want to receive these books in the first place. It's reasonable, better to the environment and will save money to the city (according to the announcement "City Councilor Mike O'Brien says unwanted yellow pages cost the Seattle $350,000 a year in recycling costs").

So I hope that the city of Seattle won't stop in launching an opt-out system and will end the current wasteful practice by creating an opt-in system to get things done. Then, we'll be able to talk about banning phone books litter in Seattle.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Eco-Libris is available now at One Earth One Design store in Seattle!

We're very excited to have our West Coast office in Seattle. This is a great city and now it also has a first representative on our bookstores program - One Earth One Design.

One Earth One Design, founded and owned by Sandy Campbell, is a Seattle-based company that specializes in sustainable interior design services for both commercial and residential projects, with a sustainable lifestyle store on 14300 Greenwood Ave. N. (Suite A).

Customers will have the opportunity to pay $1 to plant a tree to balance each book they purchase in the store. They will also receive an Eco-Libris sticker (made of recycled paper) at the counter for each book they balance out, saying 'One tree planted for this book'.

We're very happy that our first collaboration in Seattle is with such a sustainable store, and we invite everyone to visit the store and 1Earth 1Design's website to learn more about their unique and green offers.

This week, there's a very good reason to visit at the store: Artist reception and book signing event on Thursday, August 21, 6 - 9:00PM, with great green authors that will attend the event. Here are the details from the store's events page:

Join us in celebrating local artists, authors and designers of eco-friendly products from the Seattle-area community. An Artist Reception and Book Signing will highlight seven Northwest artists and authors. Locally made wine and delicious, seasonal appetizers will be served. Who will be featured:

Scott Anderson, artist and creator of Hatched Egg'rs children's art and toy boxes, made from non-toxic materials and re-claimed wood. http://www.hatchedeggrs.com/

Juli Adams, well known, contemporary painter of imaginative and whimsical characters and scenes. http://www.juliadams.com/

Dinah Coops, designer of nature inspired, eco-friendly and modern silk screened patterns on PaperStone. http://www.dinahcoops.com/

Darren Guyaz, photographer of natural environments, capturing ephemeral moments of vivid color, form and pattern. http://www.darrenguyaz.com/

Kathleen O'Brien, co-author of the Northwest Green Home Primer, a green building guide. http://www.obrienandco.com/

Michelle Salazar, figurative painter of emotionally charged and abstract symbolic pieces. http://michellesalazar.com/

Becky Selengut, private chef and co-author of the Washington Local and Seasonal Cookbook. fd. http://www.cornucopiacuisine.com/

This event is FREE. RSVP requested but not required.

Store's address and phone:

14300 Greenwood Ave. N., Suite A, Seattle, WA 98133

(206) 418-8120

Store Hours:
Monday - Saturday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM. Open late Thursdays for film nights and cooking classes. Check schedule of events. Free Parking on Street.

For the full list of stores on our bookstores program, please check http://www.ecolibris.net/bookstores.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

The Green Festival in Seattle

If you're in Seattle today, don't miss the Green Festival there. Seattle became this year the fourth city in the festival circuit and today is the second (and last) day of the event.

Green Festival, a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America, is the largest green living event in the U.S. What I like about the festival is that it is also a great opportunity to see and explore so much of the green world, which is concentrated like a green capsule for two days under one roof.

According to its press release, Seattle’s Green Festival is expecting attendance of 30,000 visitors and will 300 local and national green businesses, and dozens of community and non-profit groups. There will be also a local focus to this festival, which was designed with the help of The Seattle Host Committee of nearly 200 community leaders.

The Green Festival is not only a great place to explore the green market, but also to learn. There are many great speakers, such as Summer Rayne Oakes ('Green Gone Wild' at room 3, 1:00 p.m.), Cecile Andrews ('The Slow Life Movement: Living Happier with a Smaller Footprint', room 1, 3:00 p.m.), Richard Heinberg ('Peak Everything: Treating Our Collective Hydrocarbon Addiction', room 1, 4:00 p.m) and many others.

So, here are the details:

Hours: 11AM - 6PM

Address: Washington State Convention & Trade Center 800 Convention Place Seattle, WA

Price: $15 (see more info on pricing at http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/991/438/)

How to get there: http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/blogcategory/144/392/

So go and enjoy the festival, and don't forget to check the booth of our friends at Kedzie Press,which are actually based in Seattle.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

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