A new report is saying printing continues to go green, but do its findings support this claim?

New report has been released with an interesting title - Printing Continues to Go Green. But looking at some of the report's findings makes you wonder if this is really so.

This 68-page report, according to the publisher WhatTheyThink, "provides an overview of the state of green printing initiatives in the U.S. commercial printing industry. The report, an update to a special primer report first published in April 2008, provides the results of a June 2009 survey of commercial printing establishments conducted by WhatTheyThink’s Economics and Research Center".

So far so good, but let's look at couple of the findings the publisher highlights on its website:

— in a June 2009 survey conducted by WhatTheyThink’s Economics and Research Center, the top green practice that U.S. commercial printers say they have currently implemented is “identify itself in marketing and sales materials and promotions as an environmentally sensitive business,” cited by 33% of all respondents, up from the 26% who said this in a March 2008 survey;

— 43% of all responding companies said that sustainable printing initiatives are “critically important to only a select few customers,” up from 41% in March 2008;

— 26% of all respondents say they plan to implement some form of certification from an environmentally sustainable printing authority, up from 20% in April 2008;

Now, I have to say first I didn't read the report and I only refer to the information available on the publisher's website, but if these findings are in anyway indication of the other findings of the report then I'm not sure how one can see here any move of the printing industry in the direction of sustainability.

Actually, all three findings are showing the opposite. The first finding shows that most common green practice is to identify to yourself as one in marketing materials. This sounds a little troubling - wouldn't you expect it to be greater usage of FSC or recycled paper?

The second finding shows that more printers say that green printing is important only to a few customers. This is not encouraging as well.

And the last finding here show that more printers plan to implement some kind of "green" certification - but how many actually do it and not just plan to do so? I think the number of printers who already have these certifications can be a better indicator of the state of green printing.

So I'm not sure if these kind of findings justify the title of the report. I only hope the report itself include much more supporting material. In any case, it doesn't mean we don't think the printing industry is going green - we see this trend in the interviews we conduct with printers, conversations with businesses, feedbacks to our green printing tips series and news we read about almost every week.

If you have any feedback please feel free to add your comment. We'll be happy to hear your thoughts!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

Can you trust the world's largest library? On Google and the privacy of your reading habits

NPR's Morning Edition had this interesting story about the fight over readers privacy in the upcoming world's largest (virtual) library - Google's library.

Google has been working for a while on scanning millions of library books and putting them online. And they are expected to have a lot of information on users' reading habits, just like the information they already know now about your Internet activity.

"They know which books you search for," says Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF) to NPR. "They know which books you browse through; they know how long you spend on each page."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, think books should be different and our reading habits should be much more protected than what Google is currently offering. EEF also started a campaign ('Don't Let Google Close the Book on Reader Privacy') calling Google to "build in privacy protections to its Google Book Search, and ensure that reading in the future is as safe and private in the digital world as it is in the analog."

And their timing couldn't be better actually because as NPR reports many of those scanned books are not yet readable, because of a copyright lawsuit filed by authors and publishers, which has been tentatively settled, but is waiting for a judge approval of the deal (expected this fall) to make millions more books will be available to browse through and read. EEF and and the ACLU of Northern California know they have the best leverage now as long as the settlement is currently under court review and want to take a full advantage of it.

What do you think? it's true we already know from the experience with Amazon's Kindle that reading will never be the same in the virtual world and that a lot of information about our reading preferences will be exposed in the minute we're entering this world. But it seems that with Google's library it would be much more extensive.

Do you think it's acceptable? can We trust Google or like the campaign is requesting, Google should pledge never to turn over readers' information unless presented with a warrant? I'll be happy to hear your thoughts here!

You can read NPR's story at http://alturl.com/4ehp

EEF's call for action can be found at http://alturl.com/xk8m

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading!

Pee in the shower! Save the Atlantic rainforest!

And how can anyone say No to such a funny ad?



This ad is part of a new campaign created by Brazilian environmental group SOS Mata Atlantica, using humor to persuade people to reduce flushes.

SOS Mata Atlantica is a Brazilian non-profit private organization, with no political or religious affiliations, which works for the protection of the Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlantica), one of the richest sets of ecosystems in terms of biodiversity, and also considered one of the most threatened with extinction on the planet.

The group says if a household avoids one flush a day, it can save up to 4,380 liters (1,157 gallons) of water annually. SOS spokeswoman Adriana Kfouri told AP that the ad is "a way to be playful about a serious subject."

This is definitely a great ad and I'm only wondering how much it can help the Mata Atlantica, but I guess any step, no matter how small it is, can be helpful!

The organization website in English - http://www.sosma.org.br/english.html

The campaign's website - http://www.xixinobanho.org.br/

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading!

New tree planting world record!

The race is on! Only last month we reported here that Pakistan is holding the tree planting Guinness World Record. Well, not anymore. The new record holder is India!

Treehugger reported that volunteers in Dungarpur, India attempted on Wednesday to plant 600,000 trees in 24 hours. The last record from last month was was 541,176 trees planted in one day.

UNEP, which highlights this initiative with regards to its (seven) billion tree campaign, adds on its website the following details:

The volunteers will be planting Mango, Neem, Teak and Jatropha trees; all indigenous species that will eventually provide food, medicinal value and timber to the community.

Once planted, the trees will be 'adopted' by local villagers to ensure that they are watered and maintained. The after-care will be supervised by the Indian Forestry Service. The trees will also be registered under UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign, and will go a long way to helping it meet its target of 7 billion trees planted by December 2009.

Well, now we have to wait and see how much time the current record will hold. In any event, we hope it will be broken many more times, as no matter who holds it, we all profit from this race!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading!

John Sanderson on the idea of carbon neutral paper and other green paper issues

Can a sheet of paper be carbon neutral? what does it actually mean? and what is more eco-friendly - internet publishing or printed paper?

John Sanderson, former environmental activist and now UPM's (one of the world's leading forest industry groups) global head of environmental market support is answering these interesting questions and others in an interview with Mark Rushton, Editor, Pulp & Paper International Magazine.

I like Sanderson's approach especially when it comes to defining the relationship between online publishing and paper printing and I believe the way he describes them as complimentary to each other will become more and more common in the near future.

You can read the full interview HERE.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

Global Sky, a leading Philippines-based call center is partnering with Eco-Libris!

We're happy to announce on a new collaboration and a very unique one - we're partnering with Global Sky, a 300-seat Philippines based call center to plant 1 tree for every call center seat filled over the next year. Global Sky is expecting to plant more than 1,000 trees by the end of 2010.

Global Sky is not part of the book industry, but it is a growing company with many business customers (including Fortune 500 companies) who are using many tons of paper on regular basis. Hence our partnership is aimed no just at planting trees, which is an important act of its own, but also to inspire and influence Global Sky's customers to reduce their paper consumption and adopt greener practices when it comes to paper products.

And there's more. The initiative with Eco-Libris is a continuation of Global Sky's green initiative which features a 10% price discount for all clients who are undertaking similar environmentally focused efforts.

Here's a little more information about our new partner: Global Sky, Inc. is an award winning U.S. owned and managed high quality call center provider with 300 seats based in the Philippines. A Microsoft Approved Vendor and the Winner of 2 "Best of 118 Tracker" Awards, Global Sky counts among its clients Fortune 500 companies as well as progressive entrepreneurs and global executives.

For more information on Global Sky, please visit their website at www.global-sky.com. You can also read the press release on the collaboration here.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

Green printing tip #10: Are you buying environmentally sound business cards?

Time goes so fast. It looks like we started this series of weekly green printing tips yesterday, but actually we're on the tenth week with tip number 10!

And this is also an opportunity to give our partner in this series, Greg Barber a big kudos for his endless efforts to bring you every week another great tip on green printing!

Today Greg is answering a question that is relevant for everyone and relates to a little piece of paper we all use - a business card.

Are you buying environmentally sound business cards?

Tip #10

That seems like a crazy question to many people who think they are printing environmentally. Now, take your business cards and check them out.

To be environmental, you should be using paper that is high in Post-Consumer Waste. 100% PCW is the best.

You should be using paper that is Processed Chlorine Free. Only 100% PCW paper can be 100% PCF.

The inks should be 100% non toxic toner for digital runs, and soy or vegetable based inks for offset runs. I would like you to use an environmental printing plant. FSC certified is preferable. You could ask if the printing plant is Green E certified. Do they use renewable energy, like Wind Power, or BioGas? Ask the plant to tell you the name of the paper. Not all papers are equal, environmentally.

Need to check with me? Call me at 973 224 1132. If I am busy, you can leave a message. I check emails 24/7.

Now, if you are afraid of the price, don't worry. We have a summer special through the end of September. Here are the details:

QTY: 500
Price: $45
Stock: 100% PCW
Bleaching: 100% Processed Chlorine Free
Green E: Yes
Inks: 100% non toxic toner
Paper name: Options PC 100, or Environment PC 100.
Timing: 7 days after approved files.

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 .

Links to the last three green printing tips:

Green Printing Tip #9 - What to look for when selecting a green printing vendor?

Green Printing Tip #8 - Does it cost more to print my book on recycled paper?

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

You can find links to all the tips we published so far on our green printing tips page, which is part of our green printing tools & resources.

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

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing