A great video on the future of publishing

Here's a clever video prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books and produced by Khaki Films. We like it and we hope that you'll enjoy it as well:



Here are some more details about it from its YouTube's page:
This video was prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books and produced by Khaki Films (http://www.thekhakigroup.com/). Originally meant solely for a DK sales conference, the video was such a hit internally that it is now being shared externally. We hope you enjoy it (and make sure you watch it up to at least the halfway point, there's a surprise!).

Read an interview with the creator of the video on the Penguin Blog: http://bit.ly/futureofpublishing. The clip was inspired by a video created by an Argentinean agency, Savaglio/TBWA entitled Truth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFz5jbUfJbk

If you're looking for more resources on the future of publishing, please check our 'Future of Publishing' webpage at http://www.ecolibris.net/publishing_future.asp, where we share with you some of the most interesting articles, posts, updates and news we find on this issue.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Challenge16 - More biking, more change, more trees!

I am far from being an example when it comes to riding a bike. I wish I would ride them much more and drive a car much less.

I believe that riding a bike is a win-win, getting you healthier and supporting the environment at the same time. That's why I was excited to hear about the new campaign - Challenge16 - Ride the Bike, Drive the Change!

This is a free global biking campaign aiming at making people and the world healthier. It challenges everybody to use their bike in their daily movements in order to save CO₂, and for every 16 new members who join challenge16.com a new tree will be planted with Plant a Tree Denmark, a Danish NGO that launched the campaign.

Their idea is to enable people to act now and to put pressure on politicians at the next COP16 in Mexico. "We wanted to make a simple campaign with great effect. Most people have a bike, and if you jump on your bike instead of getting behind the wheel in your everyday movements, you can actually save some CO₂. At the same time, we plant new trees, and trees absorb CO₂. It is an equation with a pretty good result" says Bjørn Døssing, Information Manager at Plant a Tree, Denmark.

"It is definitely our ambition that Challenge16 spreads across the world” continues Bjørn Døssing. “We are convinced that there is great commitment all over the world to make an effort to fight climate changes. But we have to ensure that the challenge asked is a practicable one. Even small changes, like using the bike instead of the car and planting new trees have a positive impact on both climate and body. We really hope this initiative will spread in ever-widening circles.”

The campaign suggest that every person counts. I couldn't agree more and I join their call to act now! You can read more details on their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5575149&id=690835338#!/challenge16?ref=ts

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

How to green your Seder?

Today is the time for the Passover Seder, which is a Jewish ritual held on the first night (and in some places also in the second night) of Passover, which is one of my favorite Jewish holidays.

The Seder is a family gathering, sitting together around the table, reading the Haggadah (he story of the Israelite exodus from Egypt), singing the holiday songs and eating the holiday's traditional food. Even President Obama will host one at the White House.

So how do you green your Seder? Yahoo! Joe Laur has some great recommendations on Greenopolis, Ann Bell Muzaurieta adds on the Daily Green tips and recipes to keep your Passover healthy and sustainable, and finally the Huddler's Green Home Community brings you on Yahoo! Green 10 good tips on how to have an eco-friendly and organic Seder.

I haven't found yet an Haggadah from recycled paper, but still there are other many steps you can take to make sure you celebrate the Passover in an eco-friendly style.

Enjoy your Seder and Happy Passover!
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

What is the future of bookstores? More customers like President Obama or death by eBook readers?

President Obama stopped by last week at Prairie Lights, an independent bookstore in Iowa City and bought couple of books for his daughters (and Robert Gibbs' son as well). But although the President seemed to enjoy his visit at the bookstore, it looks like the future of bookstores has never looked so bleak.

Not only that bookstores need to compete with online bookstores and deal with the cheap prices retailers like Wal-Mart are offering, now they also have to face what looks like their biggest challenge: the rise of e-books.

"Are eBook Readers the death of bookstores?" asks Tim Martin on News Blaze and adds that "this has been a question more people are starting to ask, especially with the upcoming release of the Apple iPad coming up on April 3, 2010."

And he is not alone. You can find more and more of these questions and debates over the Internet. Many see the iPad, Amazon's Kindle, the Nook and other current and future eBook readers as the most significant threat on bookstores. Others, on the other side, see it as an opportunity and not just a risk. Bill Harley, for example, wrote recently that "independent booksellers should be rooting for electronic media. Their survival may depend on it."

For us this is more than just a theoretical debate on opportunities and risks. We love bookstores, some of our most great partners are bookstores and we see in them an important part of the book industry today and tomorrow. We believe that the way bookstores will be operate in the future can play an important role in the efforts to make the industry more sustainable.

That's why we follow the discussions on the future of bookstores very closely, and we would like to share with you some of the most interesting articles, like the ones mentioned above.

We collect the posts, updates and news we find on a new page on our website entitled "The Future of Bookstores". This webpage will be updated on almost daily basis and we hope you will find it useful! And of course if you see something we missed, please send us an email (info [at] ecolibris [net]) and we'll be happy to add your input.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Green printing tip no. 39: Do I have any new Green Printing ideas for you?

We are back today with a new tip on our weekly series of green printing tips, where we bring you information on green printing in collaboration with Greg Barber, an experienced eco-friendly printer.

Today Greg is presenting an innovative green printing concept that works for the NFL and can work for you as well!

Do I have any new Green Printing ideas for you?

Tip #39

I am always on the look out for new ways to promote my firm and to recommend these new ideas to other firms. Recently, we did an invitation for the NFL that was printed on SEED paper for their annual meetings (see picture below).

Seed Paper has Wild Flower seeds embedded in the paper, and after the recipient reads their invitation, they can plant it in their garden and Wild Flowers will grow.

Every morning that person will see their Wild Flowers and think about the NFL. Why not think about doing that for yourself or your company?
















Seed Paper is very expensive, but the lasting image of the Wild Flowers, may actually make the printing cost seem reasonable. I am expanding my Seed Paper marketing to include our Eco Circles, found at my website www.ecofriendlyprinter.com. On the left side , click Eco Circles.

I feature Tree Free paper made from the remains of the Mango, Banana, Lemon and Coffee plants, mixed with 100% PCW, and I am now adding Seed Paper to these Social Media Networking Cards.

Seed Paper comes in many different colors. Because the paper is so unique, we recommend printing in 1 or 2 colors. Four color printing is a lot more money. We see use of Seed paper for business cards, and postcards and wedding invitations. Think of a new beginning and think of the beautiful Wild Flowers :)

For additional information, please visit www.gregbarberco.com and www.ecofriendlyprinter.com. You can email Greg at greg@gregbarberco.com.

You can find links to all the tips we published so far on our green printing tips page, which is part of our green printing tools & resources.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

One woman's commitment to plastic bag free life inspires millions in the UK (Blogathon post)

This post is our contribution to sustainablog's Pedal-a-Watt Powered Blogathon this weekend. The long-running green blog (and new green shopping site) is publishing for 24 hours straight to raise funds for the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Northeastern Missouri. Go join the fun: read post contributions from around the green blogosphere, leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for some great green prizes, and join in the Tweetchat at #susbppb.

The theme of the Blogathon is "Radical Sustainability, Ordinary People", which got me thinking right away about Rebeca Hosking of Modbury, UK.

Well, you might not have heard of her, but let's start with John Sauven, director of Greenpeace UK, who said about her: "She's changed the national perspective about the issue in a few months. She went as far away as she could get from her town and gave what is happening in the Pacific real meaning and relevance here. She should be prime minister."

So what's the issue? what did she do? She is the woman who in less than a month persuaded all 43 shopkeepers in little Modbury to get rid of plastic bags and replace them with with reusable cloth bags. Hosking did it in March 2007 shortly after filming a BBC documentary about the devastating effect of plastic bags on marine life in Hawaii.

She showed the film to the town's traders. Four weeks of sleepless nights researching viable alternatives followed and in May 2007 Modbury became the first plastic bag free town in the UK (and actually in all Europe as well). It got so much attention and made both retailers and consumers more aware of the damages plastic bags cause.

One thing led to another and at the end of 2008, seven BRC supermarket members voluntarily pledged to reduce the number of single-use carrier bags used by customers by 50 per cent by the end of May 2009, compared with May 2006. The result was almost unbelievable - they actually met this challenging goal: in July 2009, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported on a 48% reduction in the number of bags used by consumers. In absolute numbers it sounds even better: Comparing May 2006 to May 2009, 346 million fewer bags were used by customers in that one month alone.

So you can't say that Rebeca Hosking is responsible to each and every one of these 346 million fewer bags, but her spirit, commitment and willingness to make a difference is definitely behind this achievement. There is no greater symbol of our unsustainable wasteful lifestyle than plastic bags, and although life without them seems a bit radical, Rebeca Hosking, the town of Modbury and all the millions of British consumers that got rid of them prove that it's just a state of mind and willingness to do the right thing. That's all. So we can only hope that more ordinary people like Rebeca Hosking will follow suit and lead us to a plastic bag free planet. Radical? not really. Necessary? Definitely!

Good luck to Jeff and the rest of the participants in the Blogathon!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Join our fans page on Facebook and get a chance to win the new audiobook "Story of Stuff"

Everyone wants to be liked and we're no different! We hope you like us for who we are and what we do, and we invite you to join our Facebook fans page. We also want to show you that love is a two way street with a giveaway of the new audiobook "Story of Stuff"!

Yes, we'll have a giveaway of this new audiobook (courtesy of the publisher, Simon & Simon audio) next Friday (April 2nd) on 4PM between all the fans that we'll have by then. So if you're already a fan, you're already in, but if you're not, please join the fans page and get a chance to win the Story of Stuff!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!