You can still win a copy of "Easy to Be Green: Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth"

We just want to remind everyone that there's still time to participate in our giveaway of "Easy to Be Green: Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth".

How you can win a copy o this great children's book? just add a comment to the review post with an answer to this question: what's yours (or your kid's) favorite game?

Submissions are accepted until tomorrow, Monday, August 3, 12PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading

The Kindle-book battle: The Green Apple (funny!) version

Remember the imaginary battle David Pouge presented between the Kindle and paper books? Now the San Francisco bookstore, Green Apple Books, show their own version for this battle and it's even funnier!

The Green Apple presents 10 rounds between “The Book” and the Kindle in what they describe as a smack-down of the most literary sort (and thanks to Boing Boing for the link!).

They published already 3 rounds (every day there's a new video) on their blog. The first and the second episodes were funny but I found the third episode ("sharing") hilarious so here it is:



Kudos to Green Apple Books for this great video series! No matter if you agree with the results of their smack-down or not, I'm sure you'll agree that it's time for some more refreshing points of view, such the ones we have here, in this interesting and growing debate.

And don't forget to check Green Apple's blog for the next seven rounds!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading

Pakistan set a new world record in tree planting!

An interesting report from Pakistan: A new world record (well, it's the Guinness World Record) in tree planting was set on July 15 in the southern province of Sindh: 541, 176 trees were planted in one day.

The planting was made by 300 volunteers, and as BBC News reported they planted mangrove saplings in the 750 acres of the Indus river delta region.

The previous record was set in India just last month when 447,874 saplings were planted in Assam state. Mangroves grow in delta regions where the fresh waters of the river mix with sea water.

This is good news and we're happy to hear about this initiative and hope it's not the last one of its kind in Pakistan, but there's of course the question how many trees will actually reach maturity and it looks like there's a good chance survival rate will be relatively poor - experts say the new saplings will have difficulty surviving because of diminishing river water in the region.

We'll keep our fingers crossed for these young trees!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green publishing

And we have a winner on the giveaway of "The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget"

Our last giveaway on the green book review week was of Josh Dorfman's book "The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget".

We asked you to share with us your tips on going green and saving money, just like the ones you can find in this great book. We got great replies with a variety of suggestions from using cloth diapers to buying beer at the local brewery in returnable bottles.

And we have a winner! The winner is the reader sweetbunnabunny, who wrote the following:

We recently went from a two-income household to a one-income household... it was a difficult adjustment! While revamping our budget, I knew I wasn't willing to sacrifice healthy, organic food in order to save money. Now, I make everything I possibly can from scratch. Plus, I'm growing more veggies and herbs in my backyard, and frequenting the local farmer's market more often. Now we eat better than we ever have for very little money!

Congrats to the winner, who will receive a copy of the book. We will also plant one tree for it! Thanks also to all the participants.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading!

Green printing tip #8: Does it cost a lot more to print my book on recycled paper?

We're happy to bring you today another valuable tip 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 discussing one of the most important questions that is relevant to a growing number of self-publishers and small publishers that print relatively small print runs and wonder about the cost of going green and using recycled paper.

Does it cost a lot more to print my book on recycled paper?

Tip #8

To answer this question, I decided to show a couple printed quotes for books we printed on 100% PCW (Post Consumer Waste) recycled paper. Then I compared those quotes to printing on non recycled paper.

Example #1: 220 page book (soft cover)

QTY: 100 or 500 books
Pages: 220 pages plus cover
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Stock: 70# in 100% PCW text, and 100# in 100% PCW for the cover
Print: 1/1 black for the text and 4 color cover
Bind: Perfect Bound
Cover: Soft Cover

Price:

QTY: 100 (100% PCW)
Price: $7.50 per book, or $750 total.

QTY: 100 (non recycled paper)
Price: $725 ................... $25 less.

QTY: 500 (100% PCW)
Price: $6.90 per book or $3450.00 total.

QTY: 500 (non recycled paper)
rice: $3300.00........................ $150 less.

Example # 2: 48 Page book

QTY: 100, 1000, 5000 books

Page size: 6 x 9

Pages: 48 plus cover

Print: 4/4 for both text and cover.

Bind: Perfect Bind

Stock: 70# text and 100# cover in 100% PCW Recycled

Price:

Using 100% PCW:

100 books was $11.00 per book or $1100.00
1000 books was $7.00 each or $7000.00
5000 books was $2.50 each or $12,500.00

Using non-recycled paper:

100 books .......... $10 less or $1090
1000 books ..........$100 less or $6900.00
5000 books ..........$500 less or $12,000.00

Bottom Line: The paper is not a factor on most books where the quantities are under 5000 books.

And we shouldn't forget the 100% post-consumer paper saves water, energy, pollution, landfill problems, incinerator problems, and avoids Dioxins from being created, that can poison us all.

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 green printing tips:

Green Printing Tip #7 - What is the best alternative if you can't afford to buy Seed paper?

Green Printing Tip #6 - Is Spot Color printing environmentally friendly?

Green Printing Tip #5 - How to avoid being greenwashed when buying printing services?

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

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing

Monday's green books series - Easy to Be Green: Simple Activities You Can Do to Save the Earth

Today our book on our Monday's green books series is both coloring and activity book for kids, showing them not only how easy it is to go green, but also that it can be really fun!

Our book today is:

Easy to Be Green: Simple Activities You Can Do to Save the Earth

Author: Ellie O'Ryan

Illustrator: Ivanke & Lola

Reading level: 4-8

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Published on: January 2009

What this book is about? (from the the publisher's website)

Everyone's talking about the environment these days, especially kids. But what can kids do? A lot! This book is filled with cool coloring pages, Earth-saving tips, fun facts, and easy activities kids can do to help the environment. It's just what kids need to be green all by themselves!

This coloring and activity book is printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper with soy-ink. The paper is FSC certified.

What we think about it?
This is another book of the Little Green Books series of Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, so I figured out it would be an interesting book. I also thought it would be a fun read for kids as this is both a coloring and activity book. For my surprise I found a book that is not only interesting and fun, but also very educational.

Seriously. I review many children's books and this book has the depth and the clarity you can't find in many other children's books about green issues. Actually I'm quite certain parents will also be able to learn from it a thing or two about climate change, carbon footprint, animals in danger and so on.

Besides the great info, the book offers eco-friendly tips, games (recycle maze), educational activities (it even shows you how to write a letter to an elected official!) and cool coloring pages.

And of course we should add that this book is green not only in its content but also in the way it's printed - it's is printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled FSC-certified paper with soy-ink.

Bottom Line: As we mentioned with other Little Green Books reviewed here, We are collaborating with Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, so I might not be objective. Still this book is educational, fun and green and I think it would be a great gift to kids on this reading level (4-8)!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

We're giving away one copy of the book, courtesy of the publisher, and of course a tree will be planted for the copy!

How you can win? please add a comment below with an answer to this question: what's yours (or your kid's) favorite game? Submissions are accepted until Monday, August 3, 12PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

If you're looking for other interesting green-themed books, you are invited to check out our green books page on our website's green resources section.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading

From Read to Green - win a green book on a joint raffle of neighBORROW and Eco-Libris!

Last May we announced on our partnership with neighBORROW, a community-based website which provides members of local networks access to a collective online catalog of the items they each own individually. neighBORROW is making it easy and worthwhile for people to borrow things they need to use but don't need to own, including books of course.

Today we're happy to update you on a new raffle we're launching together that is part of an initiative entitled 'From Read to Green'.

This initiative aims to raise the consciousness of the waste (inefficiency) as well as the opportunity associated with books that sit around in people's homes after they have been read and to promote and encourage active book sharing and greening as a means to environmental, economic, and social advancement.

In this raffle neighBORROW members that balance out their books by planting trees with Eco-Libris can win great green books that were given by publishers and authors we work with.

The prizes in the raffle include:
Two packages of the 7 books released so far on the Little Green Books SeriesThis prize is a package including the 7 books released so far on the Little Green Books series, gift of the publisher, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. Little Green Books cover a variety of subjects, teaching children about the dangers of global warming, the benefits of recycling, what they can do to help endangered animals, and much more.

What sets these books apart from other "green" books is that in addition to the themes, the manufacturing of these books is also environmentally friendly. The books are printed on recycled materials with vegetable or soy inks. You can read about the Green Little Books at http://www.simonlittlegreen.com.

20 Easy Ways to Help Save the Earth by Coach Pedro and Susan Adam-Rita (1 copy)
20 Easy Ways to Help Save the Earth is a book full of great ideas to put into practice that will help you change little things and have a great impact. The main reason for this book is to educate, inspire, and empower children to protect the environment.Written and illustrated in a fun way, Ways to Save the Earth is a book for the whole family to enjoy and share important ideas. We all share this EARTH, so let us take good care of it.

This book is bi-lingual, written both in English and Spanish. You can read more about Coach Pedro and this book at THEIR WEBSITE.

Catch the Wind by Anne Johnson (2 copies)
Catch the Wind takes readers on a journey that will teach them about wind energy and the importance of making environmentally responsible choices. It was developed with input from educators and experts from within the wind industry. Children can follow Nels, an inquisitive boy, as he visits a wind farm with his father to discover the power of the wind.

Diagrams of wind turbines and their components as well as key terms, defined in a glossary, make up the educational content of Catch the Wind. While exploring topics such as renewable energy, the history of wind power, and the steps to building a wind farm, Catch the Wind also raises awareness of wind power as a viable source of clean, renewable energy. More details about the book can be found at THEIR WEBSITE.

Rumer & Qix: The Race to Terra Incognita" by Kathleen Wilson (one copy)
The story follows a 16-year-old apprentice reporter, Rumer, and her sidekick, Qix, who become obsessed with reports by credible witnesses of bizarre nature sightings coming through the indie news feeds. Rumer & Qix have a creeping feeling that things are terribly amiss on their seemingly perfect planet because by the 31st century there are no more natural plants or animals, they've all been replaced by perfect, synthetic replicas by the mega-conglomerates that manufacture 'Syncov'.

The mysterious nature sightings are simply dismissed as lunacy by everyone but Rumer, who soon finds herself enlisted by MoNa (Mother Nature) to help fight an epic battle with Dr. BigCo (head of the mega-congloms) to turn things around on the planet before its too late ... You can read more about the book at THEIR WEBSITE.

Where the Buttercups Grow by Shelley Meyer (one copy)
What happens when a mother-daughter team combine the beauty of buttercups, the power of storytelling and a great respect of nature to create a wonderful book with amazing art? In a beautiful field, the buttercups grow, but when two children have no respect for nature, garbage begins to pile up high.

Are the days of the buttercups over, or will help come to rescue the buttercups from a fate more deadly than illness? See the difference that children can make when they set their mind to it and decide to take care of Mother Earth. Beautifully written by Shelley Meyer and vividly illustrated by her daughter Tessa Meyer, this inspiring and powerful story will find a spot on every child's list of favourites, especially when they can carry the story forward in their own lives and plant their very own buttercups. This wonderful title is doubly special because for every book 1 tree has been planted. More details on the book can be found at THEIR WEBSITE.

Pagans on the Wildside: Campfire Cooking edited by Edain Duguay (one copy)
This eBook, edited by Edain Duguay, is the first eBook of the 'Pagans on the Wildside' series. This informative and interesting eBook contains recipes for cooking breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks with a campfire. Also included is a short campfire story by renowned Bard John David 'Hobbes' Hickey and a Campfire Handfasting, with a menu and recipes.

Within this unique eBook there are also tips and personal experiences, which show the inventiveness and humour of their Pagan and Heathen contributors. You can read more about it at THEIR WEBSITE.

How do you participate in the raffle? it's very simple:
1. Join neighBORROW (http://neighborrow.com/signup.php)
2. Add books to your neighBORROW list of items you would like to lend or donate
3. Go to Eco-Libris website (http://www.ecolibris.net) and balance out books by planting trees on Eco-Libris website (1 Book = 1 Tree = $1).
4. Add on the comments box in the PayPal payment page (the purchase on Eco-Libris website is made via PayPal) the magic word "neigh*borrow." Or you can send an email to info@ecolibris.net following the purchase with "neigh*borrow in the subject.

That's it! You're in! Each purchase, no matter how many books you balance out (the minimum on the website is 5 books), will receive one entry to the random drawing scheduled for September 1st. (we reserve the right to extend the drawing until December 31st, 2009).

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading!