Eco-Libris medalists at the Garden Gate Shop

I just saw Michael Phelps winning gold medal no. 8. What a performance! This is so exciting and I was so happy for him. So kudos to Phelps, and now it's time to brag with our own medalists -Sheena Petty, Heather Osborn, and Megan Harper (from left to right in the photo).

Sheena, Heather and Megan didn't receive these medals in Beijing, but in St. Louis, Missouri, or if I'll be more specific at the Garden Gate Shop in the Missouri Botanical Garden. The Garden Gate Shop is taking part in our bookstores program, offering visitors to plant a tree with us for every book they buy at the store and receive our "One tree planted for this book" sticker at the counter.

The store has a great success with the customers and this is also due an Eco Libris sales contest they initiated. The contest was between the sales associates and the prizes for the winners were really cool - an hour lunch, a free lunch in the Garden’s café, 5 Eco Libris stickers and 50% off any shop item.

So Sheena, Heather and Megan (along with Lucy Herleth) are the Eco-Libris medalists and we're very proud in it!! Thank you to all of them, as well as all the other wonderful people of the Garden's shop who are taking part in making reading more sustainable. And of course many thanks to the Garden Shop's Book, Media, and Toy Buyer, Christine Kennedy, for contacting us originally and making all of this happen!

Below you can see another photo of the medalists, this time with the oldest tree in the Garden in the background (a ginkgo).

The Missouri Botanical Garden is conveniently located off I-44, and is easily accessible from the major highways in the area.4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110. Automated events hotline: (314) 577-9400, 1-800-642-8842.

And if you visit this beautiful place, don't forget to check out the Missouri Botanical Garden’s café, Sassafras, that has just been designated as the first Certified Green Restaurant in the state of Missouri by the Green Restaurant Association. This is another outstanding example of the Garden’s ongoing pledge to care for the planet and preserve its resources!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Are we out of time? Author Bill Roth is answering in a new book and collaborating with Eco-Libris!

Eco-Libris is happy to announce a new collaboration with Bill Roth, author of 'On Empty (Out of Time)'.

Bill Roth is working with Eco-Libris to green up this new green-themed book. A tree will be planted for every copy sold of the book. Buyers will also receive our sticker with their book, saying "One tree planted for this book".

We're very excited to work on this important book, which readers have described as "America's final "wake-up call"" and "A must read if you want freedom from high pump prices!". As it looks like we are running out of time with regards to the current energy sources we use and the prompt need in high , it's definitely an important book.

So what is this book all about? Here is the description of it:

On Empty (out of Time) graphically details the threat of economic and environmental disaster tied to our unsustainable addiction to fossil fuels. It proposes fresh ideas for implementing a Man on the Moon national commitment for deploying American-owned sustainable technologies that will achieve lower pump/meter prices, solve Global Warming and eliminate the need for Boots on the Ground protecting other people's oil fields. And it outlines how the American consumer, a $10 trillion a year buying force, can be empowered to vote with their pocket books for changes that their political votes have yet to achieve.

About the author: Bill Roth is Entrepreneur.com’s Green Business Coach with a regular column and he is President of NCCT (http://www.cleantechgrowth.com).

The book is already available (though the first edition was sold out!) and can be purchased at Amzon.com, http://www.onemptroth.com, http://www.cleantechgrowth.com, and on Lafayette Book Store.

If you're curious to learn more, you can read a chapter in the book right here on this link - http://onemptyroth.com/images/docs/Sample_Chapter_On_Empty_Out_of_Time.pdf. We will also review the book very soon, so stay tuned.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Which is the best specialty bookstore in San Francisco Bay?

It's Borderland Books! Yes, we're happy and proud to update you that Borderland Books was chosen in the recent Best of the Bay poll in the San Francisco Bay Guardian as the Best Specialty Bookstore!

Borderland is a unique bookstore and is San Francisco's home for science fiction, fantasy, and horror books. It carries both new and used titles within their specialties, as well as eclectic periodicals, British imports, small press titles, videos and DVDs and many other items of interest to the fan or collector of genre literature. And no, you won't find there items such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Star Trek books.

As mentioned Borderland Books is part of Eco-Libris bookstores program, which means that customers customers at the store can plant a tree for every book they buy there and receive our sticker at the counter.

Kudos to Borderlands and if you're in SF and a fan of science fiction, fantasy or horror books don't forget to visit them. The store is opened 7 days a week and the address is: 866 Valencia, SF. You can find more information on their website: http://www.borderlands-books.com/. Don't forget to check out the events calendar - they host authors almost every week and have many other interesting events.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

* the photo is of Borderlands, from the front door of the store (from Borderlands Books photo gallery)

The economy is weak? public libraries provide a solution

When prices are rising and over all the American economy doesn't do that well, there's at least one institution that has more customers and its volume of operation is growing significantly: the public library.

NPR reported two weeks ago on this interesting phenomenon - more and more people are finding, either for the first time or back after many years of absence, the great advantage of libraries: access to books, newspapers, magazines and cultural activities for both adults and kids, and it's all for free.

According to the NPR story, librarians all over the country report that many people are checking out books rather than buying them. Libraries are also reporting on significant growth in the usage of many of their (free) services, such as computers, magazines, newspapers, etc.

From my own experience with the library in Newark, DE, I can't really say whether it's also true here or not - the library, which I go to in the last couple of years, always seems busy to me and the parking lot is full most of the times.

By the way, and this important point is also true here in Newark, a big advantage of many libraries is their accessibility. Many of the libraries are within a walking distance or next to a bus station and don't require a long and expensive travel with a car to get there.

My hope is that even when the economy will get back on its feet, people will keep going to libraries and find out that libraries have a great value on both difficult and easy times. There's an important place in our communities and cultural life for both bookstores and libraries and I hope both will thrive and provide us with access to these little treasures called books!

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Green Options - How to Avoid the Card and Wrap Trap

As part of Eco-Libris' ongoing content partnership with Green Options Media, we feature a post that was originally published by Delia Montgomery on August 11 on Feelgood Style. Today's post is about the growing options to make your gifts more eco-friendly.

What is a card or wrap trap? A waste of resources that eventually cost more than money! Most people spend special occasion and holiday funds on ultimate trash when they buy conventional cards, gift wrapping paper and ribbon. Such items are rarely recycled and cause an excessive landfill burden, especially during December.

Perhaps you’ve noticed gift and holiday supplies proudly claiming recycled, post-consumer, chlorine-free, or tree-free? Sounds nice, but are you confused? Most consumers are when trying to decipher it all. Frustrations peak when claims are misleading.

Monday's green books series: 'Planet Earth Gets Well' by Madeline Kaplan (and a copy giveaway)

Many of us think of Planet Earth in terms of Mother. Author Madeline Kaplan sees it as child. And this child feels sick in her new children's book 'Planet Earth Gets Well', which is our book today on Monday's green books series.

So what's wrong with Planet Earth? "I have a runny nose. My ice caps are melting; and no matter what I do, I can't stop them from running into the ocean." This is just one of the environmental problem he is describing in the book (including high fever because his tempreture rises), which is formed in a way of dialogue between the child Planet Earth and his mother, who is no other than Mother Nature.

Mother Nature's diagnosis is very clear: "you have a bad case of global warming". She cares about her son's health and therefore tries to instruct him how to take better care of himself and gives him advice how his people (us..) should behave to take his temperature down.

There are three main things I like about the book:

1. The basic idea of Planet Earth as a child that doesn't feel well and asks his mom, Mother Nature, for advice. Somehow it seems to me that it fits reality much better than any other metaphoric description of Planet Earth.

2. The positive educational spirit of the book - this book aims to help young readers to think proactively about their environment. It gives children educational information about 'heavy stuff' such as global warming, energy depletion and deforestation, and at the same time stays optimistic and tries to show them that it's not too late to make Planet Earth feel better.

3. The illustrations are great. Taillefer Long's full color beautiful illustrations make it a vivid and attractive book for children.

This is Kaplan's first children's book and I enjoyed it very much. It is an intelligent children's tale that tries to give kids facts and explain concepts which are not that easy to explain to them (and sometimes not even to adults), but also tries to keep it fun and entertaining, as much as a story about a sick Planet Earth can be.

The bottom line is that children can identify with the poor little fellow and understand that they can make him feel better by doing little things -for example, "they could save trees in the forest by using less paper". This is an easy lesson and I'm sure many children will get it right. If their parents will understand and implement it as well, then there's a much better chance that Planet Earth will eventually get better.

Book details:

Book's name: Planet Earth Gets Well

Author: Madeline Kaplan
Illustrator: Taillefer Long
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Publication Date: April 20, 2008
The book is available on Amazon.com.

And this book is also going green with Eco-Libris: As we announced earlier, the author, Madeline Kaplan, is working now with Eco-Libris to green up the book - a tree will be planted for every copy sold at the book signing events and at other promotional sales. Readers who will buy the book on these events will also receive our sticker with their book, saying "One tree planted for this book".

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!
Author Madeline Kaplan will be giving away a copy of the book, and it also comes with a tree that will be planted for it with us and our sticker of course.

How you can win? please add a comment below with an answer the following question: what do you think children can do to make Planet Earth feel better, and what would be the best way for them to convince their parents to join them? if you have any personal stories of your own kids, please share! Submissions are accepted until Saturday, August 18, 12PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a Tree for every Book you Read!

And the winner in a copy of 'Welcome to Shirley' is..

Thank you for all the participants in our giveaway of the book 'Welcome to Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town' by Kelly McMasters we reviewed last Monday.

We got great ideas for eco-themed fiction novels, and the winners is Cindi, who suggested the following:

Hello! My suggestions of books are:"Ecotopia" by Ernest Callenbach, "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard, "Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver and "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson.

Congratulations Cindi and thank you to all the other participants for the great tips on these great green books!

And don't forget to keep following our giveaways. We have many more green books to review and give away so stay tuned (we'll have one tomorrow!).

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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