Monday's green books: Celebrate Green! (and a giveaway of the book)

After a short break of one week we're back with our beloved Monday's green books series, and today we're celebrating! Our book today is:

"Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations & Traditions for the Whole Family" by Corey Colwell-Lipson & Lynn Colwell

Few weeks ago we announced here on our collaboration with the authors (buyers of the book on the Celebrate Green! website are offered to plant a tree with their copy of Celebrate Green!) and today we're happy to review the book and to give away one copy of it.

I read quite a few guides for green living in the last year or so, but this is the first guide I know that is focused on holidays and celebrations. Why? the authors explain: "the reason it's important to green up our celebrations is that holidays and special days are plentiful...holidays and special days don't happen on one day only in one place; they occur throughout the year in homes, schools, and places of work across the globe." (p. 20)

I have to say I like the concept. Firstly, holidays and celebrations are many times part of traditions, whether these are on personal, family, local or national level. If we embed green practices into traditions, it will be much easier to pass them to the next generations. Second, holidays and celebrations require planning and giving some thought about the details, and hence provide an excellent opportunity to think and discuss the importance of green practices. Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson, a mother and daughter, started their green holidays journey on Halloween 2006 and this book is an important milestone on their green journey.

The book is covering various holidays, from Christmas and Hanukkah to Father's Day and St. Patrick's Day. It also talks about many types of celebrations such as baby showers, wedding anniversaries, office parties and so on. For each of these holidays and celebrations you will find many useful tips on how to green them up. Want an example? how about Halloween, the holiday where it all started for the authors and actually the nearest holiday on the calender..

So how to green up your Halloween? it starts with choosing eco-friendly and/or people friendly treats and treasures. Also use the 3Rs when it comes to treats and treasures: reduce their amount (kids will cherish it more), recycle (make treasures from recycled materials) and reuse (stuff you don't need can be great treasures). You will also find recommendations on green party favors and prizes, eco-friendly costumes, tips on hosting a Green Halloween party and more.

One important thing is that the book try to keep it real. Not too much complicated stuff and many ideas that can fit everyone - from the busiest people to those who have all the time in the world. Still, the authors don't pretend green celebrations can be made at no time and make sure you will understand that it requires planning to have a successful green holiday or party. They also show you how green alternatives don't have to be necessarily costly, as many people may assume mistakenly. Anyone who will implement the 3Rs for any of the holidays will find that you can actually "save some green while going green".

So if you are kind of person (and who doesn't) who likes to celebrate and enjoy the holidays and at the same time care about the environment and your footprint this is defenitely the book for you! Add to it the facts that Celebrate Green! is printed on 30% recycled and 70% FSC certified paper, collaborating with Eco-Libris and a portion of the proceeds from the book benefit Treeswing and Healthy Child, Healthy World and you've also a great green and affordable gift to give on the holidays.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

We are giving away our review copy of Celebrate Green! How do you get a chance to win it? all you have to do is to add a comment below with a story or advice of yours on how to make holidays and celebrations more eco-friendly. If you have a tip or a story about Halloween that would be great!

Submissions are accepted until Sunday, November 2, 12PM EST. We will pick the comment we liked best and the winner will be announced the following day.

And don't forget to check out these websites:

Celebrate Green! website - http://www.celebrategreen.net

More suggestions on how to green your Halloween - http://www.greenhalloween.org

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

New survey: 40% of magazine readers will pay more for greener magazines

I learned on Treehugger on a new survey of Hearst Magazines subscribers, which has a very green bottom line: many magazine readers care about the environment and are ready to pay more for magazines printed on recycled paper and committed to eco-friendly practices.

Net Ives reports on Advertising Age on the survey's results:

- Almost four out of five respondents agreed that everyone should care about being eco-friendly.

- 43% of respondents agreed with the statement "If I learned that a product I regularly use was not eco-friendly, I would stop buying it."

- 43% said they would pay more for a magazine printed on recycled paper

- 39% said they would pay more for a magazine committed to eco-friendly practices.

These are pretty good results, although you see an approximate 50% transition ratio - about 80% think everyone should care about the environment, but only about half of them translate it into action, whether negatively to stop using products that are not eco-friendly, or positively by paying a premium for magazines that go green.

Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see that level of support and willingness to pay a premium for magazines that go green. But how much eco-conscious readers are really willing to pay? I guess that when you break it into numbers (more than $1, less than $1, etc.), you will get better understanding of the value readers see in the usage of recycled paper or using eco-friendly practices.

You can see it on a 2005 study of American book and magazine readers that found that almost 80% of consumers are willing to pay more for books printed on recycled paper. At the same time "only" 42% were willing to pay $1 more per book according to the survey.

In any case, it is clear that there is a growing number of readers that are willing to show their support for greener books, magazines and newspapers by paying a reasonable premium for these products, just like they pay it for many other green products they purchase.

More related articles:

Can wheat straw replace trees as the source of paper?

Green Options - ReadyMade Magazine Goes Digital in Green Issue

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Green signing event of BUTT UGLY this Sunday in Santa Barbara

Last month we presented a green children's book entitled "BUTT UGLY". I'm sure you remember it. How can anyone forget such a great name? Now you can meet the book's author and Emmy winner, Lynn Montgomery, and get a signed copy of the book on a signing event this Sunday (Oct 26) at Chaucer's Books in Santa Barbara.

As part of our collaboration with the book's author, a tree will be planted for every copy of the book sold this signing event!

Here are the details of the event:

Where: Chaucer's Books, 3321 State Street in Loreto Plaza, Santa Barbara, CA 93105

When: Sunday, Oct 26, 3 p.m.

And a reminder on the book:

What the book is about (from the book's web page): the book is about a little green runt who needs a home. He's green. He's puny. And nobody wants to give him a home. What happens to the runt of the litter when he's abandoned on a doorstep in a Ding-Dong-Ditch? Mutts of the world unite! This book is for every 4-legged, 2-legged, and even 50-legged creature who has ever felt a little shy, a little alone, or a little butt ugly. And for all the heroes who have opened their homes and their hearts to love them.

How much green? very much! the book is printed in a very eco-friendly manner:

- on recycled paper

- with vegetable based inks

- no chlorine bleach

- printed with wind power in the U.S.

You can find more details on the book at http://www.zuzupetalsbooks.com

More on our collaboration with the author:

Green book of the week (and a new partner): BUTT UGLY by Lynn Montgomery

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Reminder: five more days for our special newsletter offer

You got five more days to take advantage of our special offer: sign up to our newsletter by the end of October and you can win a copy of Mira Tweti's new book 'Of Parrots and People'.

Eco-Libris newsletter is planned right now to be a monthly newsletter, so you can expect to hear from us only once a month. On the newsletter we will offer you updates about our work and our latest collaborations in the book industry. We will also include articles on the book and paper industry from our unique green perspective, as well as special offers and discounts!

And as mentioned above, if you sign up until October 31, you will have the chance of winning a copy of "Of Parrots and People: The Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species" by Mira Tweti.

All you have to do is just to sign up, using the box on the right side of the page saying 'Join Our Email List' and that's it. We will have a raffle between the new subscribers on November 1st and will post here the name of the winner. And of course, a tree will be planted for this copy as well!

Thank you to the author Mira Tweti for the copy. Our collaboration with her started in her last book "Here, There and Everywhere", and continues in this book as well. The book endorses Eco-Libris - there is an entire page (page 304) devoted to Eco-Libris and how readers can balance out their copy of the book on Eco-Libris website.

You can find more about the book on this link: http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2008/08/of-parrots-and-people-new-book-of.html

So what are you waiting for?

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

www.ecolibris.net

'The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear' goes green with Eco-Libris!

We are happy to announce on a new collaboration of Eco-Libris with David Bruins, the author of the new children's book entitled "The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear".

For every copy printed of "The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear", a tree will be planted with Eco-Libris. You can also find our logo on the cover of the book! In addition, the book is printed using vegetable-based ink, on 30% recycled paper, by a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified printer.

"The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear" is an illustrated children's story about three friends who discover an important truth about equality, diversity and how to appreciate one another's unique traits. The pictures and prose work together to capture children's attention, spark their imagination, and impart a valuable lesson about the world around them. The book also include instructions on how to play the game Ninja Cowboy Bear.

The book is available now online (http://www.ninja-cowboy-bear.com/buy.htm) and in many bookstores in Toronto and its surroundings (see full list here - http://www.ninja-cowboy-bear.com/wheretobuy.htm).

It's a great book with a great name and we're very happy to green it up! We'll review the book in a couple of weeks and also have a giveaway of a copy of the book so stay tuned!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

New guide for buyers: Canada's sustainable forest products

A new guide from Canada - Environmental Leader reports that The Forest Products Association of Canada and PricewaterhouseCoopers have published a buyer’s guide for Canada's sustainable forest products. This guide is designed to provide buyers guidance on what to consider when writing procurement policies and programs that need to be based on sustainable and socially responsible forest practices.

The Guide provides practical advice in areas critical to ensuring that purchasing practices contribute to the positive development of communities and do not harm the environment.

So what you can find in this guide?
The guide encourages readers to go beyond the traditional considerations of price, quality, service and availability, by considering all aspects of the production process and their impact on the environment. Such topics as climate change, traceability, certification, legality and social desirability in the production of Canadian forest products are covered in the Guide.

It is designed to address the major considerations presented by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Institute (WRII) in their guide to Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-based Products, with respect to forest products produced in Canada, including:

Sourcing and Legality Aspects (origin, information accuracy, legality)
Environmental Aspects (sustainability, environmental protection, special places, other resources, climate change, recycled fibre)
Social Aspects (local communities and indigenous peoples)

As always, you have to take into consideration the point of view of the writers - FPAC is the voice of Canada's wood, pulp, and paper producers (a $80-billion dollar a year industry that represents 2% of Canada's GDP!). Last year by the way FPAC announced that Canada’s forest products industry is setting a new bar for environmental responsibility and action on climate change: industry-wide carbon-neutrality by 2015 without the purchase of carbon offset credits.

If you want to learn more about the FPAC please visit their website -http://www.fpac.ca/en. You are also welcome to watch an Interview with Avrim Lazar on Global TV - http://www.fpac.ca/en/media_centre/video.


Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
http://www.ecolibris.net

Eco-Libris blog on the virtual book tour of 'The White Road'

Last month we wrote here on our collaboration with author Tania Hershman to balance out her first book, The White Road and other Stories, published by UK's renowned Salt Publishing. This great collection of short stories is balanced out by planting a tree with Eco-Libris for every copy printed.

Now Tania is having a virtual book tour and we're very happy to be one of the stops on this grand tour!! On December 10 we'll host Tania for virtual green beer and a conversation on her book and how it feels to have the first collection of short stories worldwide that is planting a tree for every copy printed!

The tour stops are as follows (you're most welcome to check them all!):

28 Oct 2008 Keeper of the Snails

5 Nov 2008 Literary Minded: Angela Meyer

9 Nov 2008 Vanessa Gebbie’s News

18 Nov 2008 Sue Guiney: Me and Others

26 Nov 2008 Tim Jones: Books in the Trees

2 Dec 2008 Eric Forbes’ Book Addict’s Guide to Good Books

10 Dec 2008 Eco-Libris

16 Dec 2008 Kelly Spitzer (Writers In Profile)

23 Dec 2008 Kanlaon

29 Dec 2008 Thoughts from Botswana

In the meantime, here's a reminder of the author's bio:

Tania Hershman (TaniaHershman.com) was born in London in 1970 and in 1994 moved to Jerusalem, Israel, where she now lives with her partner. Tania is a former science journalist and her award-winning short stories combine her two loves: fiction and science. Many of Tania's stories, which have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in print and online, are inspired by articles from popular science magazines. In November 2007, she founded The Short Review, a unique website dedicated to reviewing short story collections. For further information, visit the White Road and Other Stories. Tania blogs at TitaniaWrites.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net