Simon & Schuster goes green

The big news of this week came from Simon & Schuster (S&S), one of the big four publishing firms in the world (the Big Four) and a home to writers such as Stephen King, David McCullough, Ursula Hegi and Bob Woodward.

Associated Press reported last Thursday that Simon & Schuster announced on a new environmental initiative and paper policy that will dramatically increase the amount of recycled fiber in the paper used to manufacture its books.

The new policy includes the following goals:

1. For books printed and bound in the U.S. - an incremental increase of the use of recycled fiber from its current 10% baseline level to a 25% or greater aggregate level by 2012.

2. Simon & Schuster will endeavor to have at least 10% of its paper Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified by 2012.

3. For books printed and bound in the United States, Simon & Schuster will endeavor to eliminate the use of paper that may contain fiber from endangered and old-growth forest areas.

4. By the end of 2007 and going forward, all Simon & Schuster shipping cartons will be made exclusively from 100% recycled post-consumer waste, subject to availability.

Firstly, this is good news for the environment - S&S purchases approximately 70,000 tons of paper annually. So at current production levels, the shift to 25 percent recycled fiber will result in saving approximately 483,000 trees annually and reducing greenhouse gases by nearly 85 million pounds!

This is also good news to all the book publishing industry because I believe this step will have further consequences. Such a step will certainly influence other publishers, especially the big ones that won't like to stay behind S&S. I am quite sure that the news from S&S gave the usage of recycled paper and other eco-friendly practices a much higher place than it used to have on the to-do list of many publishers.

Simon & Schuster developed its policy and will implement it with the help of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit organization, which is currently one of the most significant forces that work to move the book industry toward working in an eco-friendlier manner.

Now, I congratulate S&S for their big step, but I was wondering why it didn't go a little bit further and at least matched its goals with the Green Press Initiative's Industry Treatise. This treatise (Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper), already been adopted by more than 140 publishers.

Especially I'm referring to the treatise goal of "shifting the book industry's collective average use of recycled fiber from an estimated 5% recycled average at present to a 30% recycled industry average by 2012. " S&S said it will move to 25% by 2012 (or greater aggregate, which is a bit vague). The difference of 5% might sounds marginal, but we're talking here about almost 100,000 trees a year!

And just to remind you, we have already one of the Big Four that is committed to a goal of 30% recycled paper -Random House announced last year it will incrementally increase the recycled paper content of its books to 30% by 2010.

I also hope to see Simon & Schuster going further and take responsibility for all the trees cut down to supply their paper that is not sourced out of recycled paper or certified forests (FSC). Even on 2012, it will total in more than 1.5 million trees a year! Eco-Libris will certainly be willing to help here.

All in all, it's a great day for all the eco-conscious book lovers out there, and I look forward to reading more news from the book industry that will start like this : "Simon & Schuster, Inc., and its employees are committed to publishing in a manner that both respects the environment and helps to preserve the world’s great forest regions for the use and pleasure of future generations. "

Yours,
Raz@ Eco-Libris

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

The amazing tree

Eco-Libris Environmental and Natural Resource Advisor, Gili Koniak, returned from a visit in India and brought us a great picture of her and one of the most amazing trees I've ever seen.

Here's Gili description of the photo:

The picture was taken in the state of Rajasthan (more precise, near Pushkar), in the desert. This is a tree from the Ficus family and one more thing - this is all one tree!!! the trunk with air-roots that became part of the trunk.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

Eco-Libris is collaborating with Kimbooktu in a special contest

Greetings to Kimbooktu!

This great website (we recommended its project site 'Your home library' in the past), which is dedicated to reading, is celebrating its 100,000th visitor today. This is an impressive achievement taking into consideration that the Kimbooktu is less than a year online. To celebrate this event, Kimbooktu is collaborating with Eco-Libris to initiate a special contest to its readers.

It goes like this:

How to win

All you have to do is review a ‘green’ book. You can pick any book you like, as long as you explain why you think the book is ‘green’ in your review. The total review does not have to be longer than three paragraphs. You can see two previous reviews here and here.

The prizes

Eco-Libris has made ten prize packages that two reviewers can win every week. Each winner receives coupons for five trees. These trees will be planted in your name. This is not all. The review of the book gets published on the Eco-Libris blog as a holiday gift suggestion.

Kimbooktu will contact the two winners via e-mail every Monday for five weeks, starting on November 19. We look forward to your reviews! You can send them to Kim, who initiated and run Kimbooktu, via this address.

We hope to see many readers joining Kimbooktu's celebration and enriching us with more recommendations on great green books.

Kudos to Kim and her blog and we hope to celebrate with her Kimbooktu's 200,000th visitor very soon :-)

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

Author Grows Toward Balance and Plants Trees for Book Signing Tour

One of the nice things about Eco-Libris is that it allows me to learn about interesting authors, and get to know great new books.

Mary Kearns and her new book “Growing Toward Balance” are just such an example. The fact that she decided to join the Eco-Libris circle of friends, balance out, and plant trees for all of the books she will be selling in her upcoming book signing tour, makes it even better ;-)

Kearns credentials are impressive and varied. She holds a doctorate in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fordham University, and is a Reiki practitioner. She completed her coaching training through the Institute for Life Coach Training, practices Bikram Yoga, and studied the philosophies of Buddhism, Quakerism and the works of Maria Montessori, the Sedona Method, Reiki, Tai Chi and Feng Shui.

The book is a self-improvement guide that offers exercises and coaching-style questions to help cultivate your best self – mind, body, and spirit. A free downloadable workbook companion in PDF format is available for free download so you can get a taste.

Want to learn more? Her first book tour stop is in Bethesda, MD on November 17, and we'll keep you updated about it. So buy her book and plant some trees!

Here are the complete details:

Saturday, November 17, 2007
4:00pm-6:00pm
Be You Wellness Center and Spa
Wyngate Medical Park
5602 Shields Drive
Bethesda, MD 20817
(301) 493-4911


"Please join us for a book signing featuring food, door prizes and bonus download materials. 10% of gross sales will be donated to Northern Virginia Family Services and 1 tree will be planted by Eco-Libris for every book purchased."

UPDATE - Another confirmed venue:

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

6:00pm-9:00pm

Moorenko's

1359 Chain Bridge Road

McLean, VA 22101

703-752-1919

http://www.moorenkosicecream.com/

Best,

Eylon @ Eco-Libris

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

What's up with Amazon's Kindle?

Last September we updated you on Amazon.com efforts to unveil in October their new e-book reader - the Kindle.

Today the New York Times reports that it seems that the company has pushed back that date and is aiming for an introduction by the end of this year.

So, if you are waiting for the Kindle, hold your horses at least until next month. I guess the delay is for the best, as Amazon is trying to come out to the market with the best product possible. According to the item "publishing executives say Amazon is trying to work out technology kinks in the Kindle and bring as many titles — books, magazines and newspapers — onto the service as possible before introduction."

Well, we'll have to wait and see if the Kindle will be able to change the current reality, where e-books represent only a tiny part of the $35 billion a year book business. My guess is that we'll have to wait to Kindle 2.0 and more probably to Kindle 3.0 or 4.0 before we see any significant change in the market share of e-books.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

The Joy of Vegan Baking - Holiday green gift guide for book lovers: part 3

Welcome to part 3 of Eco-Libris blog's green gift guide, the one that will help you find the best green books to give as gifts this holiday season.

Today I am very excited to bring you today the recommendation of Victoria E. For those of you who don't know her, Victoria E is a creatively versatile eco-powerhouse: she is a freelance writer, life-long model, on-camera personality, official U.S. spokesperson for Twice Shy Clothing and founder of the San Francisco Craft Mafia - a classic Renaissance woman and mistress-of-all-trades.

Starting as an outlet for updates about her freelance writing and modeling, her official website at http://www.victoria-e.com/ has quickly grown into a dependable source for a variety of information on green, crafty, and DIY living. You're welcome to check it out!

Victoria's recommendation for this holiday's gift is:

The Vegan Joy of Baking

Author: Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Publisher: Fair Winds Press

Published in: 2007

What it is about + Why it's a great gift: The holidays always make me want to slow down and spend more time in the kitchen, making delicious goodies from my friends and loved ones. I've been progressing to become a vegetarian for a few months now, and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's podcast, Vegetarian Food For Thought has been a wonderful outlet for learning about compassionate eating and actions.

Though I don't drink soy milk or even have any blocks of soy in my fridge, I've learned so much from her tips that even my meat-loving boyfriend has been enjoying our dinners even more as of late. Imagine my delight when I heard Colleen was coming out with her first cookbook, titled The Joy of Vegan Baking.

The thought of not baking with milk or eggs put me on edge right away, but after tasting some delicious vegan donuts and cupcakes recently, it was clear that no taste would be lost in the transition. There are oodles of preconceived notions about vegetarian and vegan foods, especially desserts, but after tasting some goodies that I made from these recipes, it is clear that those perceptions are wildly outdated.

Though I won't be able to spend any of the holidays with my family this year, I will be making treats from my best friend and boyfriend out this book. Will I tell them its vegan? Not until they eat 3 or 4 of them and rave about how tasty they are.

Any cook, experienced or novice, would enjoy The Joy of Baking - new food revolutions are on the horizon, and vegan baking is just one of them. "Featuring full-color photos and 150 familiar favorites -- from cakes, cookies, and crêpes to pies, puddings, and pastries -- this book will show you just how easy, convenient, and delectable baking without eggs and dairy can be."


This book is fresh from the oven - it came out on October 2007. Check out the book's website for sample recipes and of course to see where you can buy it. Thank you Victoria!

If you choose to give your friends or family this book as a gift on the holidays, you are more than welcome to balance it out with Eco-Libris, add its sticker to the book and make it the perfect green gift for the holidays.

And just a reminder on past recommendations on our series:

Part 1 - The Man who Planted Trees by Jean Giono

Part 2: Home Work : Handbuilt Shelter by Lloyd Kahn

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

Do the green thing

Today I want to recommend on a new great website - Do the green thing.

Green Thing according to the site wants to help make a difference in the fight against climate change. It wants to help us achieving a more sustainable lifestyle, where we emit no more than 1 tone of CO2 a year.

Green thing encourages us to do a new green thing every month and keep doing these things throughout the year. They know it's only a start, but an important one that can make a difference eventually : "once enough people do the Green Thing, Green Thing can use this people power to persuade governments and businesses to do the Green Thing too and make changes necessary to begin to reduce the other fifty per cent."

I like their style, very light and British (in a good and humoristic way!). October's Green Thing is Walk once, to college or work or wherever. This month they encourage you to turn your lights off early and have some fun in the dark. What kind of fun? you could sleep or think a dark thought (listen to the audio here, it's hilarious).

Check also their video clip on their homepage for more ideas, and don't forget to join them and do a green thing or two this month.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great gift for the holidays!