Is REDD going bad? Is it going to enable conversion of natural forests into industrial plantations?

Last month we had a 3-part series on the potential and risks of forest-based carbon credits following the growing discussion about the Deforestation and Degradation in developing countries (REDD) mechanism. Now it looks like the risks part should to be updated.

Bloomberg reported about a proposal that was made during the climate talks in Bangkok last month didn’t include wording to protect natural forests from being used to cultivate managed woodlands. In other words, carbon credits will be given also to those who wish to convert large-scale natural forests into industrial plantations.

According to Mongabay.com, the provision, which included safeguards against the conversion of natural forests to forest plantations, was removed the negotiating text during the final session at climate talks in Bangkok. The European Union, backed by Democratic Republic of the Congo and other Congo Basin countries, blocked reinstatement of the conversion safeguard, despite strong requests to do so from Brazil, India, Mexico, Switzerland, Norway, and more than a dozen other countries.

Environmentalists say that without the provision, forestry companies could receive REDD payments for logging tropical forests and replacing them with single-species plantations, which are biologically impoverished and store less carbon relative to natural forests.

Some observers described this move as a tactic one and were quite sure this provision, which included "the words “against the conversion of natural forests to forest plantations,” will be added eventually to whatever proposal will hopefully will be approved in Copenhagen next month.

In the meantime, the talks which ended Barcelona didn't provide any encouraging signs about it as REDD-Monitor reports today. It quotes Roman Czebiniak, political advisor on climate change and forests for Greenpeace International, who told SolveClimate that “Right now, we have a pretty worthless safeguard and no rules to implement it, at a time when we need strong safeguards and strong rules are needed.”

Zebiniak remains optimistic that safeguards and monitoring could still be inserted into a REDD agreement, even after Copenhagen, and we also keep our fingers crossed that this mechanism, which as we reported last month has a promising potential, won't becme worthless because of political agendas and lack of will to make sure it will benefit the environment and not just couple of big forestry companies.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

We have a winner on the "Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in France" giveaway

We had a giveaway following our review of "Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in France" by Dorian Yates, and we have a winner!

We asked you to share with us a green experience you had in one of your last trips to another country. The winner, Penny, wrote us the following:

I was in southern Spain in May. My favourite week was spent in Granada where I rented a small apartment and did my own shopping and meal preparation. I found a small deli that had a range of local, organic foods and local wine. They were great.

I also use public transit wherever I travel - from Spain to France to Nicaragua. I'll admit it was more of an adventure in Nicaragua where bus drivers were hustling for business on the sidewalk near the bus station.

Congrats Penny! You will receive a copy of this great book and a tree will also be planted on your behalf (we just need your mailing address so we can send you the book).

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

4 days left to the Green Books campaign: update on some cool prizes for the participating blogs!

4 days left to our Green Books campaign and we're getting very excited as the clock is ticking towards next Tuesday, November 10.

What will happen then? well, exactly on 1pm EST over 100 bloggers will take a stand to support books printed in an eco-friendly manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of more than 100 such books! You can see the full list of participating books on the Green Books campaign's page.

We have great blogs participating in the campaign (list of the blogs is available on the campaign's page as well). As a small token of appreciation to their work on the campaign we will give couple of great prizes to the bloggers who will have the greatest number of comments and tweets on their "green" book review.

The first prize is very very cool - a signed copy of Al Gore's new Audiobook "OUR CHOICE: A Plan To Solve the Climate Crisis", courtesy of our friends at Simon & Schuster Audio. They are also contributing four more copies as prizes.

One more prize is coming from our friends at BookSwim, the Netflix for books, who are giving a great prize - a 3-month membership at BookSwim!

We'll be here with couple of more updates until Tuesday, and of course on Tuesday you'll be able to find here a full list of links to all the "green" books reviews.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Green printing tip no. 22: What does I-Tone mean?

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

Today Greg is continuing a 4-part series that will focus on paper and paper companies.

What does I-Tone mean?

Tip #22

This is the second part of a 4-part series I run on paper. Last week I featured two of the major mills and the variety of "green" options they offer. Today, I will talk about I-Tone.

So what is I-Tone? The I-Tone finish is a clear finish, added to the paper, that allows for better print results. I-Tone papers guarantee exceptionally consistent HP electronic transfer and adhesion resulting in better performance, higher productivity, and ultimately
lower prices.

I-Tone papers are manufactured with Wind Power, and the grades I promote are the 100% post-consumer or recycled I-Tone selections.

Mohawk, which I mentioned last week, was named an HP INDIGO PREFERRED PARTNER by Hewlett Packard, for the I-Tone surface treatment that offers optimized performance in 4 color printing, and for the way heavy solids look, when printed on the I-Tone selection papers.

As I mentioned last week, this new technology comes in Options PC 100. Options PC 100 is 100% post-consumer waste recycled, and 100% processed chlorine free. Like most Mohawk papers, Options is manufactured using Wind energy, and is an FSC certified paper.

Mohawk has an I-Tone Selections swatch book. I use it to remind me which grades from Mohawk can be printed on our Indigo presses. Here are the names of those papers, found in their swatch book:

Mohawk Options, Mohawk Superfine, Strathmore Script Pinstripe, Beckett Expressions, Beckett Cambric, Mohawk Via Linen, Mohawk Via Felt and Mohawk Via Satin.

This is a good cross section of their papers. They have smooth, vellum, and textured papers, and we have state of the art printing , when using their I-Tone lines.

These papers are moderately priced, but the true savings is in the printing. We have no minimums, when printing digitally. We can print a 4 color brochure for under $500, that would cost over $1000 on a conventional 4-6 color press.

The key with the I-Tone finish is you can't tell the difference between digital and offset. My own Landfill Brochure has fooled the best print critics. We chose Options PC 100 and our 28 page brochure looks like we printed on a huge 6 color press. No glare or unwanted shine, that you see in most digital printing.

If you have any further questions about today's tip or you would like a swatch book, please email me at greg@ecofriendlyprinter.com

Also, if you have any questions you would like us to address in future tips please email us to info@ecolibris.net .

Latest tips:

Green Printing Tip #21 - What new developments have surfaced in Green papers?

Green Printing Tip #20 - How to create a green packaging job?

Green Printing Tip #19 - How can graphic designers make a difference and green up your printing jobs?

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!

6 days left to the Green Books campaign: who are the publishers that take part in it?

The countdown continues with 6 days left to our green books campaign: 1 Day, 100 bloggers, 100 green books, 100 reviews.

If you didn't hear about it yet, here's a reminder: On Tuesday, November 10, 2009, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time over 100 bloggers will take a stand to support books printed in an eco-friendly manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of more than 100 such books. Organized by Eco-Libris, this campaign is aiming to promote “green” books by reviewing more than 100 books printed on recycled paper or FSC-certified paper. A full list of the books that will be reviewed on the campaign and the blogs reviewing them is available on the campaign's web page.

Today we want to highlight all the publishers who are participating in the campaign - 39 publishers from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. are taking part in this campaign, providing participating bloggers with their latest books printed on recycled paper and FSC certified paper for review.

We believe it's time to show our appreciation to these publishers who do take a stand and make efforts to print books responsibly. We hope that the campaign will bring more exposure to these efforts as well as further recognition and appreciation of readers for the publishers' commitment to the environment and to green publishing. We also hope it will encourage other publishers to follow suit.

Here is the list of participating publishers and links to their websites. In brackets is the number of their books to be reviewed in the campaign.

Bella Flowers Books (1)

Betterway Home (1)

Bloomsbury Children's Books (6)

Book Publishing Co. (5)

Chelsea Green (4)

Chronicle Books (2)

CommonAct Press (1)

Cormorant Books (2)

D&M Publishers (13)

DS Publications (1)

Emergency Press (1)

Free Spirit Publishing (3)

Fulcrum Publishing (3)

Goose Lane Editions (4)

Green Sugar Press (1)

HarperOne (3)

HeyDay Books (2)

Holiday House (1)

Inkwater Press (1)

Insomniac Press (1)

Island Press (5)

Lantern Books (3)

Lollypop Publishing (3)

Loving Healing Press (3)

Modern History Press (2)

New Village Press (2)

NeWest Press (7)

Nomad Press (4)

North Atlantic Books (6)

Prentice Hall Press (1)

Ronsdale Press (7)

Rough Guides (1)

Simon and Schuster Children's Books (5)

Sterling Publishing (2)

Stewart, Tabori & Chang (1)

The Green Year (1)

University of Alberta Press (2)

Wiley (1)

W.W. Norton & Co. (1)

I would also like to take this opportunity and thank Susan Newman who designed the campaign's new beautiful logo you see at the top of this post. Thanks!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Al Gore's new Audiobook, OUR CHOICE, read by John Slattery and Cynthia Nixon is released today!

Almost 3.5 years after "An Inconvenient Truth" was published, Al Gore is back with a new book - "OUR CHOICE: A Plan To Solve the Climate Crisis", which is being released today. A book by Al Gore is always exciting news, but it's get even better - it is also available as an audiobook, read by no other than John Slattery and Cynthia Nixon.

The audiobook is released today by Simon & Schuster Audio who provided us an excerpt of the book, just to give you a taste what it all about:

Our Choice Audio Trailer - Al Gore

Here's more about "OUR CHOICE" from Al Gore's introduction to the book:

It is now abundantly clear that we have at our fingertips all of the tools we need to solve the climate crisis. The only missing ingredient is collective will.

Properly understood, the climate crisis is an unparalleled opportunity to finally and effectively address many persistent causes of suffering and misery that have long been neglected, and to transform the prospects of future generations, giving them a chance to live healthier, more prosperous lives as they continue their pursuit of happiness.

Our Choice gathers in one place all of the most effective solutions that are available now and that, together, will solve this crisis. It is meant to depoliticize the issue as much as possible and inspire readers to take action -- not only on an individual basis, but as participants in the political processes by which every country, and the world as a whole, makes the choice that now confronts us.

There is an old African proverb that says, "If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together." We have to go far, quickly.

We can solve the climate crisis. It will be hard, to be sure, but if we can make the choice to solve it, I have no doubt whatsoever that we can and will succeed.

It sounds like a great book and I warmly recommend to get the audiobook - not only that you'll be saving paper, but you'll have it read by John Slattery and Cynthia Nixon, which is a great added value to the interesting content the book has to offer.

"An Inconvenient Truth" made a difference in the way the world is understanding and dealing with global warming and contributed greatly to the progress we have seen in the last couple of years. We can only wonder what impact this book will have.

Here's more about OUR CHOICE - this time it's Al Gore talking on his audiobook (from S&S website):



Last but not least, we want to thank Simon & Schuster Audio for their support of our Green Books campaign. They have contributed five copies of the Al Gore's audiobook as prizes for the participating bloggers, including one signed copy!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

You can still win a copy of "Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in France"

We remind you that we have an ongoing giveaway of a great book - Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in France.

This book is a great guide for those who wish to travel to France and want to have fun and enjoy the trip while keeping their footprint as low as possible. We announced on a giveaway of one copy following our review of the book last week and it's ending tomorrow.

So how you can win? Please add a comment on the book's review post and share with us a green experience you had in one of your last trips to another country.

Submissions are accepted until Tuesday, November 3, 12PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!