The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 4: McArthur and Co.

One week to the Green Books Campaign and we continue to present some of the publishers that participate in the campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is McArthur & Co..

McArthur & Company is a Canadian-owned and operated publisher and distributor of quality Canadian and international fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, based in Toronto. Founded in 1998, the company has had 70 bestsellers, 25 of them #1 bestsellers. Our authors have been shortlisted for 21 Canadian awards and have won 7 of them, including the Governor General's Award for Fiction in 2009 for Kate Pullinger's The Mistress of Nothing.

McArthur and Co. is participating in the campaign with the following books (all printed on FSC-certified paper):

1. The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger will be reviewed on Elizabeth Baines

2. Sounding Line by Anne DeGrace will be reviewed at CHOCOLATE REALITY

3. The Find by Kathy Page will be reviewed on she reads and reads

4. Beauty: Pure + Simple by Kristen Ma will be reviewed on Aisle B

5. Worldshift 2012: Making Green Business, New Politics, and Higher Consciousness Work Together by Dr. Ervin Laszlo will be reviewed on The Ontario Ecotourism Society.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
As a Canadian publisher, it's very important for us to protect Canada's forest resources. By selecting paper that's been certified by FSC, we are reducing the negative effect our industry has on ancient forests, and ensuring that our paper comes from responsibly managed forests and recycled sources.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
McArthur & Company strives to print as many of our books as possible on eco-friendly paper. We always consider eco-friendly paper for any book we print.

Are there other ways you're going green?
We try to reduce the amount of paper we print in our office, whether it's emails or manuscripts. Many of us have ereaders that allow us to read manuscripts. Our editorial team is moving toward more on-screen editing and proofreading. This significantly reduces the number of times a book is printed throughout the production process.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
In-store, look for an FSC logo on the book or for a statement about the publishers' paper policy, usually found on the back cover of a book or on the copyright page. Online, chapters.indigo.ca displays an FSC logo for books that have been certified.

Thank you McArthur & Co. for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 3: Loving Healing Press

We're continuing today to present you with some of the publishers that participate in the Green Books Campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is Loving Healing Press.

About the publisher: Since 2005, Loving Healing Press has been redefining what is possible for healing mind and spirit. Our books provide breakthrough results in personal growth, transformation, self-help, disabilities, and trauma recovery.

Our product line includes books by social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals who have demonstrated outstanding achievements with their methods.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
We believe that taking responsibility for the products they produce is the best thing businesses can do to help create a greener planet. In any manufacturing process, for example publishing, the key place to start monitoring is your source of raw materials. Are the raw materials harvested in sustainable ways? Do they use post-consumer waste? Is there a clear trail of accountability and certification? These are three questions that responsible consumers can ask of any 21st century enterprise, regardless of the company's stated or unstated ecological goals.

From my own personal view, I really abhor waste of the Earth's natural resources so as a publisher I make sure "Do you have eco-friendly paper" is the first question we ask to printers who bid our projects. Paper is one of the few resources which can be produced in easily sustainable ways so we owe it to our readers to make sure that we've done the best we can to produce an eco-friendly product - starting with the raw materials!

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
Since 2008, we have shifted 100% of our publishing output to use eco-friendly paper. That is specifically, paper that is high in post-consumer waste, using materials harvested from sustainable forestry, and that has a clear chain of accountability.

Are there other ways you're going green?
Paper is only the first step to publishing in a green way. Specifically, we leverage Print-On-Demand technology to make sure we never overproduce and waste raw materials. Also, the POD technology insures that books most often go from the factory to the bookstore without a long, useless detour to faraway warehouses. Additionally, POD means that books will arrive in pristine condition and won't suffer damage from a long shelf-life from typical warehouse storage problems like humidity, water damage, and pests.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Well, my authors may not like this because there are no royalties, but you always have the option of "re-use". In terms of books, this means purchasing a used copy instead of a new copy. A used book which no one wants is simply a wasted resource and re-use is an order of magnitude less impactful on the environment than recycling so give that book to a friend when you're done with it!

If you can't find a used copy, go local! Ask your local bookseller a couple miles down the road if they have the book before clicking your mouse and having a book sent 2,500 miles to your doorstep. It's a challenge to buy local, but you can do it if you try.

Loving Healing Press is participating in the campaign (under 3 imprints: Marvelous Spirit Press, Modern History Press and Loving Healing Press) with the following books:

1. AD/HD SUCCESS!: Solutions for Boosting Self-Esteem / The Diary Method for Ages 7-17 by Kelin Bellak-Adams will be reviewed on Books and Needlepoint

2. Alphabet Meditations for Teachers: Everday Wisdom for Educators by Nancy Oelklaus will be reviewed on Dolce Bellezza

3. Authors Access: 30 Success Secrets for Authors and Publishers by Watson, Tichelaar, and Volkman will be reviewed on JPB Lighting

4. Because all is not lost: Verse on Grief by Sweta Vikram will be reviewed on Kelly [Former] France Blog

5. Billy Had To Move: A Foster Care Story by Teresa Coyne will be reviewed on Write for a Reader

6. Confessions of a Trauma Junkie: My Life as a Nurse Paramedic by Sherry Jones Mayo will be reviewed on Minding Spot

7. Ferdinand Uses The Potty: An Empowering Toilet Training Tale by Jason Tcuker will be reviewed by Leslie Loves Veggies

8. Got An Angry kid?: Parenting Spike, A Seriously Difficult Child by Andrew Gibson will be reviewed on Confessions of an Overworked Mom

9. How to Unbreak Your Health, 2nd Ed: The Complete Guide to Complementary & Alternative Therapies by Alan Smith will be reviewed on Amused By Books

10. Mental Illness and Your Town: 37 Ways for Communities to Help and Heal by Larry Hayes will be reviewed on AndiLit.com

11. Mindfulness and The Art of Choice, 2nd Edition: Transform Your Life by Karen Sherman will be reviewed on Joy and Wonder

12. More Than A Memory: Reflections of Viet Nam by Victor Volkman will be reviewed on Violet Cursh

13. Surviving a House Full of Whispers by Sharon Wallace will be reviewed on Go Green Nation

14. Tales of Addiction and Inspiration for Recovery: Twenty True Stories from the Soul by Barbara Sinor will be reviewed on P.S. I Love Books

15. Taming Marital Arguments: Breaking Out of the T.R.A.P. by Robert Rugel will be reviewed on Book Nook Club.

16. The "Oh, MY" in Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy: How to Prepare Your Child for Surgery by Laurie Zelnger will be reviewed on A Sea of Books

17. The Blue Fairy and other tales of transcendence by Ernest Dempsey will be reviewed on Hawaii Book Blog

18. The Evolutionary Glitch: Rise Above the Root of Your Problems by Albert Garoli will be reviewed on Island Girl Reads

19. The Sitting Swing: Finding the Wisdom to Know the Difference by Irene Watson will be reviewed on RYCJs (OEBooks) Reviews

20. The True Nature of Tarot: Your Path to Personal Empowerment by Diane Wing will be reviewed on Readaholic

21. Turtle Dolphin Dreams: a metaphysical tale by Marian Volkman will be reviewed on The 24/7 Mom

Thank you Loving Healing Press for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny is going green with Eco-Libris!

We're happy to announce on a new collaboration with Brittney Cassity, the author of the new children's book 'Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny'. For every purchase of 'Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny', a new tree will planted with Eco-Libris and the buyer will receive together with this great book, our "One tree planted for this book" sticker!

So what this book with the very interesting title is about? Here's the description from the author's website:

While recovering from the Green Goo Germ, Dr. Wai Smart — assumed name for our fourth grade Future Man of Science — discovers a completely new life form has made it’s lair under his dresser. Once the initial shock of a speaking, sock stealing ball of fuzz wears off, our hero pulls out his super secret journal and sets aside his science fair project on toe jam to study his new roommate. It doesn’t take long to realize that all is not as it first appeared. Can Dr. Wai Smart keep his discovery a secret or will he have to die of embarrassment?

The book is for kids ages 8-12. You can purchase a copy of Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny at http://www.brittneycassity.com/store/page4.html.

About the author:
Three seasons out of the year Brittney Cassity can be found in the tree house turned studio out in her front yard. (Properly repurposed the very second her boys outgrew it!) Winter drives her back into her office in the family's log home, but either location gives plenty of room for her imagination to wander across the virtual pages of her laptop or wash in watercolors over a new illustration.

With a background in commercial art and a love for stories that warm the heart and bring a giggle, Brittney self-published her first children's book Fiddlebug in November of 2008 and her middle grade chapter book Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny in October of 2010. Brittney lives in West Virginia with her husband, and two teenaged sons. When she's not writing, she can usually be found trying to help her boys decipher homeschooling assignments or cooking. Want to know more? Follow Brittney's blog On My Way To It at http://bcassity.blogspot.com/

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 2: Scholastic

We're continuing today to present you with some of the publishers that participate in the Green Books Campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is Scholastic.

Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books and a leader in educational technology and related services and children’s media. Scholastic is participating in the campaign with Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen (Printed on 100% recovered fiber of which 50% is post-consumer waste). The book will be reviewed on OurWhiskeyLullaby.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
As a publisher of children’s books, we believe it is our responsibly to the children to ensure that the virgin paper fiber used in our books is sustainably harvested and does not come from areas of social conflict. We also believe that by using recycled paper we are keeping paper out of landfills and helping to reduce the green house gas emissions which result from land-filled paper. Our practices reinforce Scholastic’s commitment to educate and care for children and ensure a safe environment where they can grow and learn.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
We have a strong environmental paper procurement policy (http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/paperprocurement.htm) which includes the following 2012 goals:

- 30% of our publication paper to be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certified. We are currently at 17.3%

- 25% of our fiber to be recovered (75% of that to be PCW). We are currently at 19.8%

- Balance of fiber to be free of unacceptable sources of fiber as described by the FSC controlled wood standard

Are there other ways you're going green?
We have reduced our packaging. We have reduced our direct mail book club kit mailings and we use recycled copy paper and have an in house recycling programs

Scholastic also tells our environmental story through the books we publish. Award-winning titles like The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming (winner, 2008 Green Earth Award), You Can Save the Planet: 50 Ways You Can Make a Difference, The Magic School Bus and the Climate Change, and a series based on the BBC’s Planet Earth television program demonstrate Scholastic’s commitment to educating kids about the environment

We also involve kids in a philanthropic approach to acting green. Working with the Rainforest Alliance’s Adopt-A-Rainforest program, Scholastic Book Clubs asked kids in classrooms around the country to read 100 books in order to preserve 100 acres of rainforest. There is now a protected area in Ecuador known as the Scholastic Book Clubs ClassroomsCare Reserve.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Do your research and purchase books from companies that have a strong environmental procurement policy.

Thank you Scholastic for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The Last Original Idea is joining the "100 Trees Project" of Infinity Publishing and Eco-Libris

Last June we told you about our new collaboration with Infinity Publishing, a leading self-publishing company. Infinity launched with Eco-Libris the "100 Trees Project,"a new program to promote environmental sustainability among its authors.

Through the program, authors that publish with Infinity will be able to plant 100 trees for the title they publish. These authors will also have the option to add a special "100 trees planted for this book" logo to their book's design, as a way to showcase their commitment to environmental sustainability.

Today we're happy to update you about one of the latest books that joined the program - The Last Original Idea by Alan K'necht and Geri Rockstein. 100 trees will be planted for this book with Eco-Libris and you can also find our logo on the back cover of the book (see photo below).

What's this book about? Here's a description from its website:

The Last Original Idea – A Cynics View of Internet Marketing is a light hearted look at the state of Internet marketing today and traces back each of the elements to its historical roots, clearly demonstrating that companies who understood the mistakes of the past were able to be profitable in the present. Others are a mere memory, lost in cyber-space.

"Wisdom is about context. The Last Original Idea is a chronicle of communication and commerce as seen through the lens of the Internet. It is a must-have reference book for marketing people - if only to get a handle on all of those allusions you've heard, but can't quite place. This book puts the whole Internet phenomenon into perspective, takes the Gee-Whiz right out of it and leaves you with a view point tempered by time and seasoned with history. Just the thing for those who are rightfully fearful of repeating history." - Jim Sterne, Founder of the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit and the Web Analytics Association

About the authors: The Last Original Idea is the brain child of Alan K'necht who co-wrote it with Geri Rockstein. So after years of ideas floating through his head, K'necht with the help of Rockstein put his ideas to paper. The end product is this entertaining book.

"The Last Original Idea" as of October 16, 2010 is available (softcover) only from Buy Books On The Web. The authors anticipate it being available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobel by November 5, 2010. The ebook version should be available for most popular ereaders before the end of November.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 1: FIELL Publishing

As promised yesterday, we're starting today to present you with some of the publishers that participate in the Green Books Campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner. Our first guest is FIELL Publishing from the UK.

First, let's get to know the publisher a little bit better:

FIELL publishes beautiful, unique, authoritatively written, high-quality illustrated books that embrace the most interesting, important and pertinent subjects within an enticing rage of disciplines - art, architecture, design, digital culture, ethical, fashion, lifestyle, natural history, photography and popular culture.

Peter and Charlotte Fiell have worked in illustrated book publishing for 20 years, and recently founded FIELL with the aim of making content-rich books that inform, entertain and entrance. Books that inspire and help those who aspire to lead better lives, to understand other cultures, to understand themselves, to contribute more to the world.

FIELL is participating in the campaign with the following books:

The Little Book of Shocking Global Facts’ by Barnbrook (in addition to being printed on FSC approved paper, 1% of the profit from this book is being donated to the Rainforest Alliance). The book will be reviewed on Green Design & Other Ideas.


The Little Book of Shocking Food Facts by Craig Holden Feinberg & Dale Petersen (printed on FSC-certified paper). The book will be reviewed on Victoria Klein's blog.




The Little Book of Shocking Eco Facts by Barnbrook, Mark Crundwell & Cameron Dunn (printed on FSC-certified paper). The book will be reviewed on Business Women Blogging, with opinions.


And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
We at FIELL are very conscious of eco-friendly and sustainable design – Peter and Charlotte have been writing about sustainable design for years, and now with their own publishing house they aim to highlight and support environmentally friendly and ethical design, and one of the best ways for us to do that is for us to use high quality, eco-friendly paper and processes – it isn’t just important to use eco-friendly paper, what you print onto it is just as important.

We want our books to be something to buy to keep, not to just throw away because it’s only relevant for five minutes, or because it doesn’t feel special or considered. Our series of ‘Little Books of Shocking Facts’ have been real eye-openers for us, and we hope for our readers too – it is about time that we considered our use of materials more seriously and it’s time we take responsibility for what we produce and how we produce it.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
We use paper from sustainable sources in all our publications. Many people think of the future as being in digital books, because of the issue of the sustainability of printed mediums – one way of keeping printed books alive is to make sure that when readers are buying them they can reassure themselves that they are making an environmentally friendly choice, and we know that we are doing our best to make publishing a sustainable industry – we also see a future of an emphasis on these digital book platforms, and during the production and editing of our books we are constantly thinking of their transferability to digital formats.

Are there other ways you're going green?
The whole concept of something being ‘well-designed’ is that you only have to buy it once. In drawing people’s attention to these designs, to true masterpieces of design, architecture, fashion, and photography, we are encouraging people to think before they buy. It’s what Dieter Rams said: Less but better. We’ve drawn a lot of attention to this idea with our book ‘Tools for Living’, which is a book of ultimate products for the home; the ultimate potato peeler, the ultimate clock, the ultimate set of knives. The idea that you can buy one of these items once and it will last you a lifetime not just because it looks good but because it really works: that drives us.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
If you really want to make a difference in the way that you buy books, or products of any kind, is to ask yourself, is it necessary? Is this the best book I can buy on this subject? Again it’s the idea of buying once and buying the best.

Thank you FIELL for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Which publishers participate in the Green Books Campaign?

The Green Books Campaign includes not just 200 bloggers who will review 200 books printed on eco-friendly paper, but also the publishers that publish these books.

56 publishers from the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K. are participating in the Green Books Campaign. This group of publishers is very diversified and includes both small and large publishers, but there's one thing that is in common for all of them - they print books on environmental-friendly paper, such as recycled paper or FSC-certified paper.

In the next two weeks we'll highlight some of these publishers and their efforts to go green and print their books in an eco-friendly manner. In the meantime, here's the full list (in an alphabetic order) of all the participating publishers with links to their websites:

ABRAMS

Allworth Press

Barefoot Books

Channel View Publications Ltd / Multilingual Matters

Cleis Press and Viva Editions

Constable & Robinson

DK Publishing

DunDurn

Easton Studio Press

ECW Press

Ester Republic Press

Fiell Publishing

Firefly Books

Five Mile Press

free spirit publishing

Fremantle Press

Ghigo Press

Gibbs-Smith

Goose Lane Editions

Guernica Editions

Harvard Business Press

Holiday House

HOPS Press

House of Anansi Press

Island Press

Key Porter Books

Lantern Books

Leap Books

Lost Horse Press

Loving Healing Press

Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books

McArthur Co.

McClelland & Stewart

McGraw-Hill

New Society Publishers

NeWest Press

Nolo

North Atlantic Books

Om Baby World

Penguin Group

Picador

Profile Books

Ronsdale Press

Scholastic

Second Story Press

Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

Sterling Publishing

Texas A&M University Press

Tightrope Books

University of Alberta Press

University of Arizona Press

Wayne State University Press

Whit Press

Wings Press

WSU Press

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!