reading and planting this summer in the UK

We read an interesting story on thisischeshire.co.uk and Hippyshopper (a great website - very recommended!) about The Big Wild Read - a program that encourages children in the UK to go the libraries and read books through the summer holidays.

The program is running this summer for the ninth time and is aimed at 4-11 year olds kids all over the UK. According to the article "Children are challenged to read six or more books, spurred on by a range of free incentives and activities."

Not only that, but the program is also a call to action for children to make a positive difference to the environment, and trees are been planted for every book the children read, via a partnership with the Woodland Trust's Tree for All campaign. Their target, according to the program's website, is to plant 20,000 new trees this summer.

What a great program - gives children incentives to read, gives them the opportunity to take the books from the library, and also gives them an important lesson on the need to go green by planting trees for the books they read.

Now, with Jamie Oliver taking care of their healthy school dinners and programs like this, it seems that children in the UK are greener and healthier than ever.

More information on the Big Wild Read can be found here.

Raz

The picture above is from the Big Wild Read website.

Planting trees for Harry

The new Harry Potter will be released this Saturday (July 21), and Eco-Libris joins J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter’s fans in the celebration of the new Potter book's release (though we’re sad it’s the last one).

As you may know, the new Harry Potter books are being published on partially or fully recycled paper worldwide. So for us, Harry Potter is not only a great story; it also sets an example for the future of the book publishing industry, and a vision which we share.

To show our appreciation to the courageous author and to the young magician we’ll be celebrating by letting Harry Potter fans plant new trees and win a free copy, made of 100% recycled paper, of the new book.

To participate in "Eco-Libris and The Green Wizards" promotions, Harry Potter's fans need to send a picture of themselves posing with any of the books in the series. The first 50 people to do so will receive a special gift - seven trees planted for them in developing countries, to balance out seven of their books in honor of the seven books in the Potter series. They will also receive seven Eco-Libris stickers saying “One Tree was Planted for This Book” to be proudly displayed on their books sleeves.

Our judges will pick the best photo of all and we'll send a free copy of the new Harry Potter, printed on 100% recycled paper, to the gifted photographer.

So please check out our our special Harry Potter celebration page (http://www.ecolibris.net/harry_potter_promo.asp) and join the green wizard's party.

have fun,

Raz

Bid with your lid for SHI

We got exciting news from one of our planting partners, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) - they have been selected to benefit from Stonyfield Farm’s ‘Bid With Your Lid’ program!

I am sure you all know Stonyfield Farm and their great organic dairy products, including their very tasty yogurts. The company, through its Profits for the Planet program, donates 10% of their profits to efforts that help protect and restore the earth.

Their annual 'Bid with Your Lid' program gives each one of us a chance to help direct a portion of these donations. They will give a total of $100,000 to three organizations that help the earth. Each organization will receive $20,000 plus a percentage of $40,000, based on your voting.

SHI is one of these 3 organizations, and we call everyone to cast their vote for SHI. You can do it online or by mail and receive great prizes on the way, like chocolate, tea, tote bags and of course yogurt!

We are very proud that one of our planting partners is participating in this program, and we send our greetings to Florence Reed, SHI founder, and all the people at SHI. They'll sure get our vote and hopefully yours as well. Voting begins July 1, 2007 and ends October 15, 2007.

Here's the link to receive more details on the program and how to vote and receive prizes: http://www.stonyfield.com/SpecialOffers/bidwithyourlid/index.cfm

and here's a link to SHI website, where you can learn more about it: http://www.sustainableharvest.org/

Raz

Live Earth Concerts

The date: 7-7-07

The place: 7 continents

The event: Live Earth is a 24-hour concert series that aims to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis. Well, we're not sure if one more concert can help, but it sure can't hurt that more people will hear and learn about climate change and what can and should be done about it.

Expected audience: 2 Billion (live and online)

Number of artists: 100 +

The most interesting band: Nunatak - the band that will play in Antarctica. This band, playing indie-rock music, includes 5 staff members of the Rothera Research Station in Antarctica. Since no other band can get to Antarctica due to the weather conditions in July there, these guys actually are the most valuable band in the whole event - without them, the organizers wouldn't be able to keep their promise and have it on all of the continents. Nunatak will play in front of the other 17 people that are stationed there, in a temperature that is expected to be around -15 degrees Fahrenheit (-26 degrees Celsius). No wonder that on the station's website they call it: the coolest gig in the world :-)

Eco-Libris favorite performers (in brackets, the concert's location): Beastie Boys, Genesis, Spinal Tap, Red Hot Chili Peppers (Wembley Stadium, UK), Roger Waters (Giants Stadium, US), UB40 (Coca Cola Dome, South Africa), Snoop Dog (HSH Nordbank Arena, Germany) and of course Nunatak (Rothera Research Station, Antarctica).
Where to hear it online: the concerts will be streamed live on July 7 by MSN at www.LiveEarth.MSN.com.

You can find more information on the event's website.

Have fun on 7/7 and don't forget the cause - bringing more awareness to the climate change crisis.

Raz

the photo is from the British Antarctic Survey website (http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/)

The most unique (and veggie) orchestra in the world

They might not be vegetarians, but they sure know how to play the vegetables.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the one and only: The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra.




You can find more information on the orchestra at their website: http://www.gemueseorchester.org/

enjoy,

Raz

so, what’s the deal with paper?

We got few requests to give more information about the environmental impacts of the paper used by the book publishing industry. We are happy to receive such requests because we believe this info is something that every book lover should get acquainted with.

In our blog, we’ll try to give you the full picture of what’s going on out there with the production of paper. We promise to bring you each week one new fact about paper and the way its production affects the world we’re living in.

One of the best information sources for this issue is Green Press Initiative, a non-profit program, which its mission is to work with publishers, industry stakeholders and authors to create paper-use transformations that will conserve natural resources and preserve endangered forests. These people are doing a great job and are a significant force in the effort to move the book publishing industry towards sustainability.

At the Book Expo America 2007, a major event of the book publishing industry that took place in NYC at the beginning of June, Green Press Initiative participated in a panel on the environmental impacts of book publishing (isn't the panel itself a sign of change? I believe it is..). This interesting panel included also 3 publishers (Random House, Chronicle Books and Powell’s Books). All four delivered presentations that are available on Green Press Initiative’s website.

The presentation given by Green Press Initiative (the first one on this page) is a great introduction to anyone who is interested in the environmental impacts of paper. Think of it as Paper 101. But if it’s not enough for you, don’t worry, it’s just the beginning. In the next couple of weeks, I will write more thoroughly on many of the issues brought up in the presentation.

And as promised, to the fact of the week:

Fact 1: Canada’s Boreal Forest stores more carbon than any other forest. It is estimated that 2.5 million acres of forest are cut there each year, and 65% of the trees cut down are harvested specifically to make paper – much of it consumed by publishers (news, book, magazine, catalog) in the US. Source: Green Press Initiative

Raz

small changes have the power to make a BIG impact