And we have a winner on the giveaway of 'The Carbon Diaries: 2015'

The last giveaway of our green book reviews week is over! This is the giveaway of "The Carbon Diaries: 2015", where we ask you to share with us your favorite diary book or movie.

And we have a winner!

Our winner is Marion G. who chose the unforgettable and maybe the most known of all -Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl . Marion wrote the following:

Hi My favorite diary book is The Diary of Anne Frank. That is an awesome book. I however like the teaser you've written on The Carbon Diaries. I am very interested in reading this book as is my daughter. Merci. MarionG.

Congrats Marion! You won a copy of The Carbon Diaries: 2015 and we will also plant with our planting partners one tree for this book. We also wish to thank all the other participants.

We'll continue now as usual with a green book review every Monday and with more giveaways of great green books to come.

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

The censor's dilemma?

Yes, censorship is still here and it even can be used against one of the most interesting and successful green books - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

Thanks to Tom Laskawy of Grist I learned that it seems like The Omnivore's Dilemma is being censored at Washington State University (WSU). The story is that WSU officials decided to cancel Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma as the common reading assignment for freshman orientation next year, with hints that pressure from Washington agribusiness interests may have been behind the cancellation.

As reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "an explanation on the university's Web site is vague and implies the withdrawal of the book was due to budget constraints. But some people on the campus say that the university, which has a prominent agriculture college, bowed to pressure from agribusiness interests. They also question the budget argument, noting that the university has already purchased more than 4,000 copies of the book."

But is it really about money? The Chronicle also reports that "In an e-mail message to The Chronicle, Patricia Freitag Ericsson, an assistant professor of rhetoric and professional writing who also sits on the implementation committee, said that in a meeting on May 4, an administrator told panel members that the common-reading program would be canceled, in large part because of political pressure arising from this year's book choice."

If the cancellation is really due to such a pressure of local powerful agribusiness this is really a shame, given the importance of the book and the fact that many members of Congress were carrying copies of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma" as recently reported on the New York Times. Maybe the agribusiness weren't acting fast enough in the Capitol..

In any event, it looks to me that like in many other cases, these efforts will eventually fail and only push more students at WSU to read this great book to learn what is this book that the university doesn't want them to read.

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

Why BookExpo America is not going greener? is going green only a luxury of the (relatively) good days?

BookExpo America (BEA) will begin next Thursday (May 28) in NYC. This is the largest book industry event in North America with over 1,500 exhibitors from 37 countries, and one of the largest gatherings of English language publishers in the world. We'll be there as well!

The BEA will also have special industry and author events, including some green content. But this year the green content is much more limited in comparison with last year, and we're wondering why is that? is going green only a luxury of the (relatively) good days? is no longer relevant during economic recession?

If you recall Eylon's reports from last the 2008 BEA in Los Angeles, there were several panels about green issues, including Buying, Packaging & Publishing Green Books: The Publishers' Perspective, Environmental Trends: Where Does the U.S. Book Industry Stand Today?, Investing in a Sustainable World: How the Green Revolution will Create New Industries, Opportunities, Economies and Fortunes, and so on.

This year there's only one - Publishing Green: A Recipe for Success in Tough Times. This panel will be held on Saturday, May 30 between 9:30-10:30. The participants will be Todd Pollak, Program Manager, Green Press Initiative (moderator), Steve Geck, Exec Editor, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, Charles Melcher, founder, Melcher Media and Pete Datos, Vice President, Strategic Planning & Publishing Operations, Hachette Book Group.

So why we see a reduction in the number of the panels? what happened to the green spirit that we thought was ruling last year's BEA? my guestimation is that in times where the industry is struggling to keep its head above the water, discussions on green issues look a little bit less relevant or maybe even unrealistic, as going green may be associated with increased costs.

BUT, is it true?

Well I guess the participants in the panel will provide some answers from their own experience, so it would definitely be worthwhile to attend the panel. Other than that the book industry in many ways is no different than most of the industries, and therefore the basics of how going green can benefit a business apply here.

And these benefits include:

1. Driving revenues up

2. Enhancing intangible value

3. Cutting costs

4. Reducing risk

It actually looks like in times like these, such benefits are actually more important and more attractive. Who wouldn't like now to drive revenues up of cut costs? and if it helps the environment at the same time, creating win-win solutions that's even better! That's I guess the same logic President Obama sees in his policy to promote green solutions.

So in all, it seems like going green can be the remedy or at least a significant part of it. And with the upcoming regulation that will put price tag on carbon emissions, it looks like there will be even more economic reasoning why going green and reducing your carbon footprint is the right thing to do. Some in the industry already move forward in this direction.

But general observation is not enough and the burden of proof is still on our shoulders - can you do well by doing good? can you create shared value benefiting both your business and the environment/society? we think the answers are YES and following the BEA we intend to get more into the benefits we presented above and provide you with more specifics on how you can gain them by going green.

We will start with bringing you updates and news from the BEA and of course from the green panel we mentioned. So stay tuned and let us know what you think about this issue. We'll be happy to receive your feedback!

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

A great article about our planting partner AIR, or: How to plant the seeds of sustainable future

We're very proud of our planting partners and always happy to share the news about them. Today we have an article recently released at OurWorld 2.0, a UN webzine, about our planting partner AIR.

The writer, Adam Darragh, is a recent graduate of Stetson University who majored in Religious Studies. He went last summer to Guatemala with four other Stetson University students, to volunteer for a month with the Alliance for International Reforestation (AIR), accompanied by AIR's founder, political science professor Dr. Anne Hallum from Stetson University.

Darragh helped with tree planting, is describing in the article the work he done with his colleauges and AIR's staff, planting trees , building four fuel-efficient stoves for community leaders, planting vegetables, and working alongside students and teachers to build improvements to schools that partner with AIR.

Here's a part where he speaks about his tree planting experience:

"We arrived in June during Guatemala’s rainy season, months after community-operated tree nurseries started by AIR had planted and raised thousands of seedlings of pine, peach, and other kinds of trees. Our average day was spent hopping into pickup trucks, heading to the tree nursery, then riding with the villagers to farmlands, deforested hillsides, or post-landslide slopes. Under the direction of AIR staff and village farmers, we planted as many trees as we could before the monsoon-like rains arrived."

Darragh not only describing the efforts of AIR to teach communities an alternative way to the slash and burn practices, but also the way AIR is working in general, collaborating with families and communities, putting an emphasis on education as well respect to the locals, to ensure the effectiveness of their programs. Darragh explains:

"My experience with AIR has shown me that the world’s reforestation issues can’t be top-down, enforced change, but rather must be the product of individuals, their families, and their communities. While much of AIR’s support comes from gracious donors, the actual work is done by a dedicated group of Guatemalans who partner with farmers, whole villages and schools in education and planting.

It’s a community-based effort, which remains effective because it tempers the goal — reforestation and community development — with respect for Guatemalan cultural heritage and area-specific needs."

In all, AIR has planted so far more than three million trees in Guatemala and Nicaragua, educated more than 1,600 families in sustainable, organic farming methods and built more than 700 fuel-efficient ovens have been built (only recently, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues granted AIR US $8,200 to build additional brick stoves in Guatemala).

If you want to learn more about AIR and the great work they do, you're welcome to read this great article at http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/2009/04/21/roots-that-bind. You can also visit their website at www2.stetson.edu/air

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

* Photos are courtesy of AIR

And we have a winner on the Big Green Cookbook giveaway

Last week was our green books review week, where we had a new review every day and also three giveaways. The second giveaway was of a great book entitled 'Big Green Cookbook'.

We asked you to share with us no less than your favorite dish and got many great replies/dishes. And we have a winner!

The winner is Cherry Blossoms, who chose a great dish that made all of us very very hungry :) The chosen one was:

"My favorite dish is Shrimp and Lemon Oil over Linguine with Arugula and fresh parsley! Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Congrats to Cherry Blossoms, who won a copy of 'Big Green Cookbook: Hundreds of Planet-Pleasing Recipes and Tips for a Luscious, Low-Carbon Lifestyle'! We hope many great dishes will come out of it.

We will also plant one tree for this book and add our sticker saying "One tree planted for this book".

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

www.ecolibris.net

And we have a winner on The Idealist.org Handbook to Buliding a Better World giveaway

Thanks to the participants in the giveaway of 'The Idealist.org Handbook to Building a Better World', following the review of the book last Monday.

We asked you to share with us what is your favorite organization and how it helps to build a better world. We got great replies and we have a winner!

The winner is Laureen, who chose Green America (formerly Co-Op America) and wrote the following:

"I am a big fan (and member) of Green America (formerly Co-Op America). This organization concerns itself with many issues that are critical to building a better world through improving social justice and environmental sustainability.

Green America co-sponsors the Green Festival in various cities each year (love the GF!) which is open to the public and offers a wide range of well-known speakers and eco-friendly company booths.

Green America publishes the National Green Pages - a great consumer guide to making responsible purchases that help the environment and/or individuals-in-need who produce the eco-friendly goods."

Congrats to Laureen, who won a copy of 'The Idealist.org Handbook to Building a Better World: How to Turn Your Good Intentions into Actions that Make a Difference'!

We will also plant one tree for this book and add our sticker saying "One tree planted for this book".

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

www.ecolibris.net

Green Beginnings - and now the film!

Avrim and Vicki Topel, the authors of "Green Beginnings: The Story of How We Built Our Green & Sustainable Home", who are partnering with Eco-Libris to plant a tree for every sold copy of the book, are offering now not just a great book, but also a very interesting film!

What this video is about? her here are some details from the authors' website:

The Green Beginnings Video is a unique, original-content eco-documentary that features the professional team who built the Green Beginnings House, an award-winning LEED Silver green and sustainable home. The team offers perspective as they explain the project and green homes in a new stand-alone educational film that can also be utilized as an adjunct teaching companion to the Green Beginnings Book that explains the project and green homes from the homeowner’s perspective.

Viewed together with the Green Beginnings book as a complete green homes educational package, viewers are offered a unique opportunity to learn about green homes from both the homeowners' point of view (consumer mindset) and the professionals' perspective.

Produced by Freeland Media in association with Amy Cornelius, LEED AP, Hugh Lofting Timber Frames, and directed by award winning cinematographer Erik Freeland, the film depicts the collaborative effort between the professional team and homeowners who designed and built the Green Beginnings house, a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Silver home. Shot on location amidst a picturesque backdrop of rolling farmlands in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, the film follows the true story of planning and building a state-of-the-art green and sustainable home.

Here's the film's trailer:



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