Another green book review week is coming!

After a successful green book review week we had last May, our bookshelf is full again with great green books waiting for their turn to be reviewed, so we'll do it again!

This upcoming we'll have a green book review not only on Monday, but on every day of the week!

And of course, more reviews mean more giveaways, so next week watch out for three giveaways in one week!

We have some really great books, which cover a wide range of green themes. Here's our plan for next week:

Monday:The Green Year: 365 Small Things You Can Do to Make a Big Difference by Jodi Helmer

Tuesday: The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle

Wednesday: A Conservationist Manifesto Scott Russell Sanders

Thursday: The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget: Save Money. Save Time. Save the Planet by Josh Dorfman

Friday: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Greening Your Business by Trish Riley and Heather Gadonniex

See you on Monday!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
Eco-Libris: promoting green reading!

"Beyond the Cold" by Michael Kleiner receives first place in Beach Book Festival

We're always happy to update you with prizes and awards that books we're working with are receiving.

This time it's "Beyond the Cold: An American’s Warm Portrait of Norway" by Michael Kleiner that received receive first prize in the autobiography/biography category of The Beach Book Festival.

Michael is a fellow SBN member and he plants a tree with every copy sold of his book, which chronicles Kleiner’s year living in Norway with his family at age 11, attending a Norwegian school, learning a different language, new sports and about Norwegian culture. He has returned five times as an adult, and he develops an affinity and passion for the country, its culture and people although he is not of Norwegian descent. Not only does he find a second home and family, but a country that is more than cold weather and that these intercultural experiences contributed to the person he has become.

You could read more about the prize here at http://www.beyondthecold.com/pressroom.htm

The book is available through his web site – http://www.beyondthecold.com – which also has blogcasts of his appearances; Infinity Publishing’s web site store – http://www.buybooksontheweb, as well as Amazon and barnesandnoble.com.

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

My Summer Reading with Kathleen Wilson, author of the new eco-fantasy "Rumer and Qix"

This week on our series My Summer Reading we have the pleasure to have with us Kathleen S. Wilson, the author of the new book 'Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita'.

Kathleen consults with media companies on digital strategy and creative development and teaches in the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is the author of a new book, “Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita” – a futuristic, eco-fantasy adventure for tweens and all those who are forever tweens at heart. To learn more about “Rumer & Qix”, visit http://www.rumerandqix.com.

Kathleen is collaborating with Eco-Libris and for every sold copy of 'Rmuer & Qix' a new tree will be planted with us. Buyers of the new book will also receive our "One tree planted for this book" sticker.

Hi Kathleen, what are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading “The Earthsea Trilogy” by the incredibly imaginative and original Ursula Le Guin. I became intrigued when I read that one of my favorite animators, Hayao Miyazaki, a pre-eminent Japanese anime writer/director, once approached Le Guin to make a film based on her Earthsea series, was rejected at first, then later granted the rights.

Any recommendation on a good summer reading?
It’s great to have a range of options available in the summer depending on things like your mood, the weather, where you are and who you’re with.

Some of the summer reads I’ve enjoyed over the years are “World of Wonders” the last book in a trilogy by Canadian writer Robertson Davies, the science fiction classic, “Enders Game” by Orson Scott Card, Neal Stephenson’s eco-thriller “Zodiac,” “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night,” a fascinating, first-person insight into Asperger’s Syndrome by Mark Haddon and, for readers of all ages, “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss.

What you are planning to read this summer?
As always, there are so many books I’d like to read that I don’t know where to begin. I’m into a fantasy streak at the moment and a few that keep bubbling up to the top of my list are “The Wind Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel” by Haruki Murakami because it’s been described as both surreal and amusing, “The Gone Away World” by Nick Harkaway, which is supposed to be a post-apocalyptic fantasy with funny moments, “The Dark is Rising” by Susan Cooper, a magical, mythical fantasy that has been adapted to film and, not a fantasy, but still intriguing, “The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World" by Michael Pollan.

What is your favorite place to read in the summer?
I live in NYC and, like everyone who lives in a big city, tend to spend too much time inside. When the warm weather arrives, I love to find a place outside to read. After a long winter, it feels like a dream to sit on the grass under a tree with a good book in any of the city’s fantastic parks, or at a table at one of the many restaurants with outside seating, or to escape the city altogether to find a spot to read by the ocean or in the mountains, either of which can be reached within a couple of hours from NewYork City.

Thanks Kathleen!

So far on My Summer Reading series:

Christian Valentiner of the Norwegian publisher Flux

Avrim Topel, co-author of 'My Green Beginnings'

Tania Hershman, author of 'The White Road and Other Stories'

Elisabeth Baines, author of the upcoming book 'Too Many Magpie'

Erica Caldwell of the bookstore Present Tense

Sue Schrader of the bookstore Sources of Hope

Jennifer Taylor of GreetQ

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading

An event at Bryant Park Reading Room on Wednesday with some great green authors and experts

If you're by any chance on New York next Wednesday (and why shouldn't you? it should be a nice day with 80 degrees), we got an offer you can't refuse: an event at the beautiful Bryant Park Reading Room with some of the most interesting green authors and experts around. And it's free!

The list of participants include a CEO of one of the most innovative green companies and the author of "Revolution in the Bottle", the editor of Edible Manhattan, a Canadian journalist who wrote a book on her 366-day journey to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle, making one positive change each day and a food writer who chronicles in a new book her experiences as an urban farmer.

Sounds interesting? Here are more details on the event:

Greening Gotham

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Moderated by Maureen Hackett, Director of Horticulture Bryant Park

Participants: Novella Carpenter (Farm City), Gabrielle Langholtz (Editor of Edible Manhattan), Tom Szaky (Revolution in a Bottle: How TerraCycle Is Redefining Green Business) and Vanessa Farquharson (Sleeping Naked is Green).

Learn just what it takes to turn concrete into vegetables, skyscrapers into eco-buildings, and parks into havens, at a special author panel dedicated to creating a greener Gotham. At this event, Maureen Hackett (Director of Horticulture Bryant Park) talks with a panel of experts and authors with stories to tell about how they are helping the planet.

The event is FREE and open to the public. For updates and additional information, please visit the website at www.bryantpark.org. The Bryant Park Reading Room located on the 42nd Street side of the park - under the trees - between the back of the NYPL & 6th Avenue. Look for the burgundy and white umbrellas. Rain Venue: Library of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen 20 West 44th Street (between 5th & 6th Avenue). New York.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading

Green printing is going mainstream!

We were happy to read that green printing is now not only the quest of a small number of printers, but it's also on the agenda of the the world’s largest graphic arts trade association - Printing Industries of America.

Yes, Printing Industries of America is providing now its members with a new tool for who wants to go green: The Green Guide for Graphic Communications.

According to their website the guide will help printers to turn your green profile into a market position, make appropriate and credible green claims, issue periodic reports on your green progress, better understand third-party certification and eco-labels,communicate effectively with customers, prospects, and other stakeholders, and so on.

It sounds like a valuable “how-to” guide for printers, that shows them how going green can not only benefit the environment, but also their business, and I hope many of them will make a good use of it.

This guide is provided free of charge to members of Printing Industries of America. You can read more about the guide at http://www.printing.org/greenguide?id=PGAMA

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting green printing

Happy Birthday - Eco-Libris is two years old!

Last weekend when the United States celebrated Independence Day, Eco-Libris had its own birthday celebration - we have just turned two years old!

Yes, another year passed and let me tell you - it wasn't an easy one. Like many others we had to cope with difficult economy and work hard to keep our heads above the water. At the same time, we try to look at these difficulties as an opportunity to improve, innovate, develop new programs and explore more ways to pursue our mission more effectively.

Still it was a year of progress - we managed to create more partnerships, enhance our educational work, tighten our relationships with our planting partners, contribute to the discussion about green issues in the book industry and of course plant more trees!

I am proud to report that Eco-Libris balanced out so far 98,066 books, which resulted in 111,390 new trees, of which 45,525 are the result of our operations on the second year.


















Here's a reminder of some of things we did on this year, month by month:

July 2008
The UConn co-op joins Eco-Libris bookstores program

Madeline Kaplan, author of "Planet Earth Gets Well" is collaborating with Eco-Libris

Subscription option is becoming available on Eco-Libris website

August 2008
BlogHer's first book "Sleep is for the Weak" is going green with Eco-Libris

Tania Hershman, author of "The White Road and Other Stories" is collaborating with Eco-Libris

New collaboration with Bookworm Baskets, which sells book-themed gift baskets

September 2008
GreetQ, an online greeting card retailer, is collaborating with Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris is contributing to a demonstration of a green campus residence hall

A collaboration with Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing in an educational contest for kids

October 2008
New partnership with the Norwegian publisher Flux starts with a book on Arne Næss

Eco-Libris is collaborating with Dutch author Annet Struik

"The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear" is going green with Eco-Libris

November 2008
A new collaboration with Aaspirations Publishing, a proud green publisher

We have a monthly newsletter with special offers to our subscribers

Eco-Libris is collaborating with BookSwim in an holiday campaign

December 2008
We publish the annual assessments of our planting partners

An interview on Treehugger.com

Publishing the Green Collar Holiday Gift Guide for Book Lovers

January 2009
Collaboration with eBook publisher, Wyrdwood Publications, starts with "The Mouse in the Viking's Beard"

Publishing an interview with Greg Barber, an eco-friendly printer

Celebrating a new year with a new series - My green resolution for 2009

February 2009
Eco-Libris is available now at Hooray for Books! in Old Alexandria, Virginia

Celebrating another successful planting season of our planting partner RIPPLE Africa with photos from Malawi

We report on our blog on a green publisher that bits the recession - Chelsea Green Publishing

March 2009
The publisher and the author of "Sammy and Sue Go Green Too!" is collaborating with Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris on the cover of Awareness Magazine

New collaboration with the authors of "Green Beginnings"

April 2009
Raincoast Books and Eco-Libris are collaborating in a green campaign "Buy a book, Plant a tree"

Eco-Libris is taking part in a green reading event of the Chicago Bulls in a local school

A green campaign on Facebook

May 2009
A joint campaign with Barefoot Books in celebration of their new book 'Earth Tales'

Partnering with Pilcrow Lit Fest in Chicago

Participating in BookExpo America

June 2009
In collaboration with Greg Barber, we start a new series on our blog of weekly green printing tips

New collaboration with Kathleen Wilson, the author of the new book 'Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita'

Bambeco, an online retailer of eco-friendly and stylish products for the home, is collaborating now with Eco-Libris

And what's next? we already work on new programs that we believe will assist us in achieving our goals - greening up the book industry and making reading more sustainable.We'll have more details soon so stay tuned!

We would also like to take this opportunity and thank everyone involved in our efforts - from the dedicated eco-conscious readers that balance out their books with us, through our business partners that take action to support the environment all the way to our wonderful planting partners that are doing such a great job in planting the trees in developing countries.

Thank you all!

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

*photo is courtesy of RIPPLE Africa from the 2008/9 planting season - Makuzi Afforestation club

Green printing tip #5: How to avoid being greenwashed when buying printing services?

We have another great tip for you on our weekly series of green printing tips, where we bring you in collaboration with Greg Barber, an experienced eco-friendly printer.

Today Greg is providing very useful advice how customers can and should avoid one of the biggest hurdles they're facing while going green - greenwashing.

How can I avoid being green washed in being a green buyer of printing?

Tip #5

This is easier said than done. Buying printing takes a lot of education on the terminology. I suggest that you know the basic terminology. I have three examples of potential Green Washing.

Example 1 - Recycled paper is paper that has a minimum of 30% post-consumer content. 100% recycled paper is based on the post-consumer content of paper. So, when a printer says they are using 100% recycled paper, I ask how much post-consumer is in the paper.This is a potential green washing. To make a big deal about 100% recycled paper when in fact the paper is maybe 30% recycled.

Example 2 - Chlorine Free paper that is bleached with hydrogen peroxide or oxygen is considered Process Chlorine Free (PCF). Paper that was bleached with Chlorine Dioxide is considered Elementally Chlorine Free (ECF). Processed Chlorine Free is chlorine free. Elemental Chlorine Free is really not chlorine free and can cause Dioxins. if a printer says the paper is chlorine free, you need to ask is it Processed Chlorine Free. This is a potential for green washing - making an ECF bleached paper sound like it is chlorine free.

Example 3 - FSC and Soy inks for printing sounds good, but ask how much post-consumer waste does the paper have, and what is the name of the paper. A 14 PT coated paper that is advertised a lot on many printer websites, is probably not even a recycled paper, and certainly not chlorine free. You need to be 100% post-consumer to be processed chlorine free. If the 14 PT is even recycled, it is ECF, or Elementally Chlorine Free, and does contain chlorine dioxide, and can cause dioxins.

The biggest Green Washing: Making a non recycled paper sound terrific, by attaching the FSC emblem and the Soy ink emblem to the advertising.I have always said that when stating FSC paper, include the other emblems. 100% post-consumer recycled, 100% processed chlorine free, Green E, etc.FSC is only one small element in determining the paper is environmental. The other emblems mean more.

If you have any further questions following our tips, or you have a specific question you want us to address, please email us to info@ecolibris.net .

More links:

Green Printing Tip #4 - What does FSC Certified mean? Is it enough?

Green Printing Tip #3 - How you make sure everyone knows you're using green printing practices

Green Printing Tip #2 - How you can make money while printing on 100% recycled paper

Green Printing Tip #1 - Go for a digital job

You can also find further valuable information on Greg Barber Company's website - http://www.gregbarberco.com.

All the tips are archived and saved on http://www.ecolibris.net/greentips.asp (part of our green printing tools & resources page).

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