My Green Resolution for 2009 - Novel Places

Our journey in search of green resolutions for the new year brings us today to Novel Places in Maryland. We have the pleasure to host the owner of this bookstore, Patrick Darby.

Novel Places started 2 years ago by Patrick Darby who has almost 30 years experience in book retail. The store started as an antiquarian online store, but recently, new titles and accessories were added. The books offered by Novel Places can be found online and also at Mayorga Coffee and Green Earth Goods at Clarksburg, MD.

Novel Places is also participating in Eco-Libris' bookstores program, where customers at the store can plant a tree for every book they buy there and receive our sticker at the counter!

Hello Patrick. What is your green resolution for 2009?
My Green Resolution for 2009:
Buy bulk as much as possible to cut down the amount of packaging.

What's your green wish for 2009?
My 2009 wish is for people to reduce travel time by shopping local
(and help me and my fellow businesses succeed).

Other greetings for the New Year?
Instead of greetings, I want to suggest these 2 recently released
books, "Greentailing" and "You are Here", available through Novel Places.

Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retail: Hot Ideas That Are Grabbing Customers' Attention and Raising Profits
$29.95
ISBN - 0470288582

You Are Here: Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet
A leading environmental journalist travels to the most fragile places on Earth to show how what individuals do at home affects people, places, and things across the globe.
$25.95
ISBN - 0061580368

Any other plans for 2009 you would like to share with our readers?
Plans are continuing (slowly) to build an eco-friendly bookstore.

Thanks, Patrick!

To learn more about the books available at Novel Places, please check their website at http://www.novelplacesusa.com

So far on "My Green Resolution for 2009":

Erica Caldwell of Present Tense

Bart Babek of AboutMyPlanet.com

Angela Wieck of EcoBrain

Author Amy Guth of the Pilcrow Lit Fest and So New Publishing

Dr. Anne Hallum of the International Alliance for Reforestation (AIR)

Surendra James Conti of East West Bookstore

Jennifer Taylor of GreetQ

Bill Roth, author of "On Empty (Out of Time)"

Vonda Schaefer of Valley Books

Madeline Kaplan, author of "Planet Earth Gets Well"

Chris Flynn of Torpedo

Edain Duguay of Wyrdwood Publications

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

A green comment on the rise of self-publishing

The NYT had an excellent article yesterday about self publishing ("Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pay the Tab", Motoko Rich), showing that while traditional publishers are struggling with the slowing economy, self-publishing companies are doing very well.

According to the article nearly 480,000 books were published or distributed in the U.S. Alone, up from close to 375,000 in 2007 (figures are from the industry tracker Bowker).

So POD self-publishing companies such as Blurb, Author Solutions, LuLu and others are flourishing, which is great news, but is it also good news for the environment?

Well, the basic answer is that POD is an eco-friendly printing system in comparison with the regular printing system that produce a lot of waste - in 2006 more than 1 billion books, or 25% of the books produced, weren't sold and some of it ends eventually in landfills, not to mention all the wasted resources (as well as costs). When you print on demand, there's no such thing and you always sell what you print.

Self-publishing is a a small niche - according to the article, Author Solutions sold a total of 2.5 million copies last year, which is a fraction of the total number of books sold (around 3 billion books). Still, it's a growing niche (Author Solutions represented according to the article 19,000 titles in 2008, nearly six times more than the number of titles Random House released last year) and a one that will get more and more attention, and therefore we hope to see more and more self-publishers who go green and adopt eco-friendly practices, including greater use of recycled paper.

It's true POD is not for everyone and it also has its disadvantages, but all in all I'm happy to see it growing and I think it benefits the whole industry by making publishing a more open and creative industry. I also hope to POD will contribute to make publishing more eco-friendly.

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

My Green Resolution for 2009 - Present Tense

Today we visit a great independent bookstore in our search for green resolutions and greetings for 2009. We're happy to have with us Erica Caldwell, the owner of Present Tense.

Located in Batavia, NY, halfway between the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, Present Tense is a locally-owned independent bookstore that serves as a center for reading, writing, and the arts in Western New York. Present Tense is also participating in Eco-Libris' bookstores program, where customers at the store can plant a tree for every book they buy there and receive our sticker at the counter!

Hello Erica. What is your green resolution for 2009?
Our green resolution for 2009 is to keep looking for ways to reduce our business's impact on the environment. We carry a lot of local products, which reduces transportation needs. We also carry several lines of eco-friendly products, which we hope to expand this year.

We've made other changes too, like using only biodegradable, compostable beverage cups during store events, giving our paper (and we generally have lots of it!) to the local school to recycle as part of their fundraising program, and switching our cleaning products to environmentally friendly brands. This year, we hope to continue these small changes and if we are thinking green, I'm sure we'll find more areas were we can implement eco-friendly practices into our business.

This year, Present Tense is co-sponsoring the second annual Earth Day Art Contest, which encourages people of all ages in our community to write, draw, sculpt, knit, or otherwise craft a piece of art that reflects the spirit of Earth Day. We have prize categories for different types of media, ages, and use of recycled materials in the artwork. Last year we had over 100 entries in our first year of holding the contest, and we are looking forward to this year's entries as well!

Thanks Erica!

For more information on Present Tense please visit their website at www.presenttensebooks.com. You're also welcome to read the interview I made with her last September.

So far on "My Green Resolution for 2009":

Bart Babek of AboutMyPlanet.com

Angela Wieck of EcoBrain

Author Amy Guth of the Pilcrow Lit Fest and So New Publishing

Dr. Anne Hallum of the International Alliance for Reforestation (AIR)

Surendra James Conti of East West Bookstore

Jennifer Taylor of GreetQ

Bill Roth, author of "On Empty (Out of Time)"

Vonda Schaefer of Valley Books

Madeline Kaplan, author of "Planet Earth Gets Well"

Chris Flynn of Torpedo

Edain Duguay of Wyrdwood Publications

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

Bad news from Indonesia

We read on MONGABAY.COM that Indonesia has reversed a ban on paper and pulp companies from harvesting wood from natural forests.

According to the report "the decision by the forestry ministry to reverse the ban signals a shortage of wood from forest plantation projects for the pulp and paper industry. Last year plantation companies apparently delayed new plantation projects and over-harvested existing plantations."

This is very bad news. There's no doubt that this move move will add further pressure on Indonesia's natural forests. Already, according to Greenpeace, Indonesia had the fastest pace of deforestation in the world between 2000-2005, with an area of forest equivalent to 300 soccer pitches destroyed every hour. One reason for these unbelievable rates of deforestation are the rapidly expanding palm oil plantations, partly driven by ambitious plans for biofuels.

Deforestation (and also the forest fires) is also one of the main reasons that Indonesia is among the world's top three greenhouse gas emitters, together with the US and China.

This decision also presents the campaign Indonesia initiated in November 2007 to plant 79 million trees in one single day (November 28, 2007) in a different light and brings questions regarding the government's direction. We can only hope that the Indonesian government will cancel this decision and find another way, more sustainable, to support its straggling economy.

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

My Green Resolution for 2009 - the team of AboutMyPlanet.com

Our journey in search of green resolutions and greetings continues today with the team of the AboutMyPlanet.com, who created one of the leading green voices throughout the internet.

Last month we announced on our collaboration with AboutMyPlanet.com that released in December two books: "Go Green Revolution: My Life" and "Go Green Revolution: My Office Handbook".

These books focus on specific areas of your life and what you can do to go green and save money on your energy bill. A tree is being planted with Eco-Libris for every package of these e-books sold (also - for the 50 first packages of e-books sold we matched the purchase and plant one more tree for each one of the packages).

We asked Bart Babek, founder of AboutMyPlanet.com, to share with us their green thoughts for the upcoming year.

Hello Bart. What are the green wishes and resolutions for 2009 of AboutMyPlanet.com?

At AboutMyPlanet.com our daily life is green, we strive in leading eco-friendly lives and leading by example.

We have had an amazing past year, our readership has doubled and we have launched 4 new websites to be able to cover more green topics in greater detail.

Our resolution for 2009 is to reach and educate even more people, while writing green tips and news is a great way to teach people about the environment we think there are even more engaging ways to get everyone involved.

This week we have launched a new service called "Green QuestionVille", it's a new section on our website where members can submit green Questions, Answers and Votes in the community.

We hope you can join us at "Green QuestionVille" and submit a question or an answer today!

Our one wish this year is that the new President of the United States doesn't encounter much resistance in greening America. We believe that this is a pivotal point in the history of civilization and we wish him all the luck in the world.

We wanted to thank Eco-Libris for partnering up on our green tip "Go Green Revolution" book launch. We were able to plant 480 trees, remember the partnership continues and for every book still sold we will plant one tree. If you're interested in making a difference in your life and on the environment then you can find out more information here.

Thank You for reading, we wish you a warm and happy new year and hope that all your wishes come true.

Team at AboutMyPlanet.com

Thanks to Bart and the rest of the AboutMyPlanet.com's great team! For more information please visit their website at www.aboutmyplanet.com

So far on "My Green Resolution for 2009":

Angela Wieck of EcoBrain

Author Amy Guth of the Pilcrow Lit Fest and So New Publishing

Dr. Anne Hallum of the International Alliance for Reforestation (AIR)

Surendra James Conti of East West Bookstore

Jennifer Taylor of GreetQ

Bill Roth, author of "On Empty (Out of Time)"

Vonda Schaefer of Valley Books

Madeline Kaplan, author of "Planet Earth Gets Well"

Chris Flynn of Torpedo

Edain Duguay of Wyrdwood Publications


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

Mixing creativity with Swiss cheese design to create the world's first eco-friendly font!

After the eco-friendly alternatives to paper and ink were created (see for example the paper used for President's Obama Inauguration), it was only a question of time before we'll reach the next level - eco-friendly font. And this time has finally arrived!

I was very happy to read an update on Springwise newsletter about the new Ecofont.

This innovative font was developed by the Dutch creative communications agency SPRANQ, which was looking for ways to reduce the environmental costs of printing. SPRANQ found out after extensive testing with all kinds of shapes that the best results were achieved using small circles.

Their idea came from the no other than cheese design, and as they explain "after Dutch holey cheese, there now is a Dutch font with holes as well." The new font according to SPRANQ uses up to 20% less ink. Very impressive!

Gerjon Zomer, the co-founder of SPRANQ, told AP that the font isn't beautiful, but it could be adequate for personal use or for internal use at a company. I actually really liked the font and I think that Zomer will be surprised eventually how many will use it especially when it's free to download and free to use.

AP also reported that SPRANQ is inviting developers to improve the Ecofont further under a free, open-source model, and Zomer says Arabic and Hebrew versions are already under development. As someone who also writes in Hebrew I'll be waiting for it!

Kudos to SPRANQ for their innovative idea. This is a great example of how small and simple ideas can create a win-win model, helping you to support the environment while saving money.

For more information please check Ecofont's website at www.ecofont.eu.

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

My Green Resolution for 2009 - Angela Wieck of EcoBrain

Our quest for 2009 green resolutions and greetings in going online today. We're very happy to have with us today Angela Wieck, co-founder of EcoBrain, an independent eBook distributor and the only online retailer of eBooks dedicated to the environment and environmentally friendly living.

We partner with EcoBrain, which offers its customers to plant trees with Eco-Libris.

Hello Angela. What is your green resolution for 2009?

1. Get tough with garbage - I am trying hard to think about what I put into the garbage and see if there is a way to reuse the item. It is so easy to throw stuff away. I’ve started keeping a pile that can be donated or given to someone in need. And using old stuff to make a craft pile that the kids can use. They find great fun making things with old bits of yarn, buttons, cardboard, and so on.

2. Use green products at home - Over the past year I have eliminated a lot of toxic chemicals that had been in use in my house. I didn’t realize that most laundry detergent is a petroleum product! So this journey continues.

3. Educate my children about green living - They remind us when we lapse because they have great memories and want to do the right thing. I left the water running between veggie washing and my son kindly reminded me to turn it off. Children make great coaches.

4. Continue to educate about the benefits of eBooks - We all know that books come from trees, but it goes much further when you add in trees being cut down, pollution to create the paper, fuel to deliver and so on. If we choose to read a few eBooks per year rather than buy paper books the difference we can make would be enormous.

What's your green wish for 2009?
World peace of course! Read eBooks! And another wish for 2009 is that manufacturers will produce less packaging; and that we consumers will not want it. A few years ago I was in Germany and noticed that at the drugstore most bottles do not come in a cardboard box. When I asked about this I was told that manufacturers are charged extra if they provide a product with unnecessary packaging. They are way ahead of us on that!

Other greetings for the New Year?
EcoBrain would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2009. Let’s continue to make this world a better place.
.

Any other plans for 2009 you would like to share with our readers?

EcoBrain continues to offer great eBook titles at great prices to our customers. We love to hear feedback, so let us know what you think and if there is something you’d like to see. Happy New Year!!!

Thanks, Angela!

To learn more about the eBooks offered at EcoBrain, you are welcome to visit EcoBrain's website at http://www.ecobrain.com


More articles related to EcoBrain:

The eBooks that will help your business go green!

eBooks - A Greener Choice or Not?

Green Options: Want to Green Your Addiction to Books? Buy Ebooks

So far on "My Green Resolution for 2009":

Author Amy Guth of the Pilcrow Lit Fest and So New Publishing

Dr. Anne Hallum of the International Alliance for Reforestation (AIR)

Surendra James Conti of East West Bookstore

Jennifer Taylor of GreetQ

Bill Roth, author of "On Empty (Out of Time)"

Vonda Schaefer of Valley Books

Madeline Kaplan, author of "Planet Earth Gets Well"

Chris Flynn of Torpedo

Edain Duguay of Wyrdwood Publications


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