Earth Day 2011 - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 17

We continue with our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.

So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day 2011page.

Reason no. 17:
Cynics call books dead trees. Planting a tree for every book brings the book back to life, several times over. It closes the loop of the publishing cycle by replenishing its principal resource. Optimists say, "Books can be live trees." - Peter Korchnak, Founder and CEO, GoodBookery and co-editor of The Portland Bottom Line: Practices for Your Small Business from America's Hotbed of Sustainability

Thank you Peter for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your books!

We want to mention again the great prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, Menu Dating by Tristan Coopersmith and The Healthy Home by Dave Wentz and Dr. Myron Wentz. You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.

Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the book Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects by Ann Budd.

Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects by Ann Budd - Detailing a wide range of perspectives and approaches to environmental issues, this unique crafting manual offers ideas for knitting conscientiously. Leading figures of the industry, from designers to yarn company executives, share their methods for integrating green principles into their work and lives—selecting organic products, facilitating an alternative to chemical detergent, recycling old projects, reducing disposable plastic bags, and creating pieces that provide warmth and save on energy.

Inventive and timely, this practical guidebook explains answers to important questions such as What makes a yarn organic? and Are natural dyes safer than chemical dyes? Providing 22 clever designs for earth-friendly garments, accessories, gifts, and home furnishings, craft enthusiasts of all skill levels will enjoy projects that balance the altruism of saving the planet with the joyful benefits of their favorite hobby.

We still have some spots available so please send us your reply to info@ecolibris.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Stakeholders Unite! Tell Borders to stop the $8.3 million executive bonus plan!

I was happy to see yesterday that I'm not the only one who think that Borders' plan to hand out $8.3 million in bonuses is outrageous. It looks like Borders is taking care of its executives and forgetting that it also has stakeholders that are no less important to its future recovery.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

If you're OK with the bonuses that's fine, but if you think that this is wrongdoing, it's time to voice your concerns and tell Borders - Stop the bonuses! If many readers, authors and publishers will do it, Borders hopefully won't be able to ignore it and will have to rethink about it. And if Borders won't think it needs to take into consideration its shareholders, maybe the Honorable Martin Glenn who will review the bonus proposal will take it consideration.

Just as a reminder what we're protesting about:

Borders is seeking to hand out $8.3 million in executive bonuses, including nearly $1.7 million to President Mike Edwards. As the Wall Street Journal mentioned these bonuses are tied "to an "aggressive" time frame for exiting Chapter 11. The bonuses won't be paid if Borders liquidates"

Who will get them?

According to the WSJ "Seventeen top executives are covered by the largest program, which could add as much as $7.1 million to the pay packets of leaders who stick with the company in bankruptcy.Court papers say 70% of the group have been with the company less than 18 months, and many joined Borders less than a year ago.A second $1.2 million bonus program covers 25 "director-level" managers "critical to the debtors' reorganization and to ongoing business," court papers say."

Why we think it's wrong?

1. Morality: There's something immoral in rewarding executives if they manage to pull the company out of bankruptcy, when these are the same people that had a significant part in getting the company there in the first place. If you want to learn more on how Borders got into bankruptcy just read the excellent piece, 'Why is Barnes and Noble performing well as a business while Borders has filed for bankruptcy?' by Mark Evans, former Borders merchandising strategy & analytics director.

2. Fairness: Does it look fair to you that "For Borders' five highest-level executives, the bonuses would mean extra pay of between 90% and 150% of their base salaries, depending on how quickly the company exits bankruptcy or is sold as a going concern" (WSJ), while hundreds of employees of Borders lost their jobs in the last couple of months, many of them after many years of dedicated work for the company?

3. Stakeholders come second - The bonus plan has a clear message: Borders' executives are more important than its stakeholders, including the publishers that Borders owe so much money. Here's just a reminder of the debt we talk about - Penguin Group (USA) - $41.1 million
Hachette - $36.9 million, Simon & Schuster - $33.8 million, Random House- $33.5 million,
HarperCollins - $25.8 million.

4. Business as usual thinking - Instead of giving an example in tough times and providing customers, employees, publishers and other stakeholders with the confidence that Borders is doing business differently this bonus plan is an evidence that it's business as usual at Borders. Yes, I know there were no such incentives in 2010 and that Borders didn’t allow pay raises for the last four years, but hey, aren't you in debt of $1.29 billion? Is this the way you want to recover and compete on readers?

What you can do to tell Borders to stop its plans to pay these bonuses?

1. Share the story (check also here and here) with your friends.

2. Tweet about it with the hashtag #stopthebonuses

3. Call the Borders Customer Care Center at 800.770.7811 and raise your concerns over Borders' bonus plan.

4. Call (877-906-7675) or email (Bordersinfo@gcginc.com) the Garden City Group, Inc., the Noticing and Claims Agent in this case and raise your concerns over the bonus plan.

You can find more information and updates on the future of Borders after bankruptcy at www.ecolibris.net/borders.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Earth Day Campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 16

We continue with our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.

So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day 2011page.

Reason no. 16:

I strive to personally live by this old fashioned rule: When I bring a new item into my home, I try to donate a gently used item to someone in need. The same principle can be applied to books. Every time you bring a new book into your home, make sure to donate dollars so a new tree may be planted to replace the tree that was used to manufacture the pages of the book. Easy! -Laura Theodore, The Jazzy Vegetarian and author of the book "Vegetarian Cooking for Every Day"

Thank you Laura for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your books!

We want to mention again the great prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, Menu Dating by Tristan Coopersmith and The Healthy Home by Dave Wentz and Dr. Myron Wentz. You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.


Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the book Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg.

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg - Our relationship with the ocean is undergoing a profound transformation. Whereas just three decades ago nearly everything we ate from the sea was wild, rampant overfishing combined with an unprecedented bio-tech revolution has brought us to a point where wild and farmed fish occupy equal parts of a complex and confusing marketplace. We stand at the edge of a cataclysm; there is a distinct possibility that our children's children will never eat a wild fish that has swum freely in the sea.

In Four Fish, award-winning writer and lifelong fisherman Paul Greenberg takes us on a culinary journey, exploring the history of the fish that dominate our menus---salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna-and examining where each stands at this critical moment in time. He visits Norwegian mega farms that use genetic techniques once pioneered on sheep to grow millions of pounds of salmon a year. He travels to the ancestral river of the Yupik Eskimos to see the only Fair Trade certified fishing company in the world. He investigates the way PCBs and mercury find their way into seafood; discovers how Mediterranean sea bass went global; Challenges the author of Cod to taste the difference between a farmed and a wild cod; and almost sinks to the bottom of the South Pacific while searching for an alternative to endangered bluefin tuna.

Fish, Greenberg reveals, are the last truly wild food - for now. By examining the forces that get fish to our dinner tables, he shows how we can start to heal the oceans and fight for a world where healthy and sustainable seafood is the rule rather than the exception.

We still have some spots available so please send us your reply to info@ecolibris.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Doesn't it make you mad to hear that Borders wants to pay $8.3 million in bonuses to the same executives that got it into trouble?

I know it makes me mad.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Borders "is seeking bankruptcy court approval to hand out as much as $8.3 million in executive bonuses, including nearly $1.7 million to President Mike Edwards."

Who will get the bonuses? "A number of key members of the management team have been put in place or in their positions within the last year. This management team has been fully focused on repositioning Borders to have the potential to be successful for the long term," said company spokeswoman Mary Davis.

According to the WSJ "Seventeen top executives are covered by the largest program, which could add as much as $7.1 million to the pay packets of leaders who stick with the company in bankruptcy. Court papers say 70% of the group have been with the company less than 18 months, and many joined Borders less than a year ago. A second $1.2 million bonus program covers 25 "director-level" managers "critical to the debtors' reorganization and to ongoing business," court papers say"

Makes sense? Not to me. Why should the same executives who brought Borders to bankruptcy get rewarded? I understand that the executives play an important role in the recovery of Borders, but didn't they also play an important role in its failure?

What's the incentive to succeed when you get your bonus anyway? And does it seem appropriate to these executives to receive these bonuses while more than 200 stores are closed and so many employees at Borders are losing now their jobs?

On UPI.com, Industry analysts Michael Norris is quoted saying that "retaining key staff members was an important goal. Concerning bonus pay, "If it keeps their best people from heading to the exits, a retention bonus is a great idea," Norris said."

Well, I have to say to Norris that if these are the best people Borders have they're in trouble. And second, maybe these executives will stay, but what about all the customers that won't think it's such a great idea and will prefer to buy in bookstores where fairness and sensibility play a greater role??

What do you think? I'll be happy to hear your thoughts.

You can find more news and updates on the future of Borders following their bankruptcy at www.ecolibris.net/borders.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Earth Day 2011 - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 15

We continue with our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.

So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day 2011page.

Reason no. 15:

plant a tree for a book for the obvious reason of using paper but also because a book can be like a seed that sprouts an idea and who knows how big it will eventually get if left to flourish. I still want you to buy a book. - Karen

Thank you Karen for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your book!

Karen, just like all the other readers whose replies we'll publish, is winning one of the great prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like The Last Original Idea by Alan K'necht and Geri Rockstein, Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, and The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard. You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.

Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the book The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard.

The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard - Americans have way too much Stuff , and way too much of it is toxic. Thats the message Annie Leonard has been spreading ever since her college days, and most recently in her short Internet film The Story of Stuff, which has been viewed by over 12 million people. But the film is only the tip of the iceberg.

This astonishing, inspiring book takes her message to an even higher level. In it she outlines the perils of overconsumption as she traces products back to their sources, through their life spans, and forward into their disposal. The Story of Stuff works on all levels as it brings together information on the environment, the economy, and cultures around the world.

With her trademark compassion, curiosity, and playfulness, Leonard gives firsthand accounts of sneaking into dumps and factories around the world; chronicles the lives of Haitian textile workers and Congolese kids working in deadly mines; shows how our health and well-being are compromised by neurotoxins in our pillows and lead in our childrens lunch boxes; and most important, tells us that this is not the way things have to be. She presents concrete steps for taking action that point the way toward saving our health, our communities, and the planet.

From high school kids to their parents in the suburbs, from government officials to people working in corporations, schools, and churches, The Story of Stuff is a life-changing book. Like Rachel Carsons Silent Spring, it will transform the way you think and act.

We still have some spots available so please send us your reply to info@ecolibris.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 14

We continue with our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.
So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day campaign's page.

Reason no. 14:

Plant a tree for a book so that future generations of creative writers will have something in which to marvel.- Lauren

Thank you Lauren for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your book!

Lauren, just like all the other readers whose replies we'll publish, is winning one of the great prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like The Last Original Idea by Alan K'necht and Geri Rockstein, Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, and The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard. You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.

Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the book The Last Original Idea by Alan K'necht and Geri Rockstein.

The Last Original Idea: A Cynic's View of Internet Marketing by Alan K'necht and Geri Rockstein - 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.

We still have some spots available so please send us your reply to info@ecolibris.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Earth Day 2011 campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 13

We continue with our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.

So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day campaign's page.

Reason no. 13:

Planting trees for books is important because reading near trees gives you fresh air and fresh ideas. - Nancy

Thank you Nancy for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your book!

Nancy, just like all the other readers whose replies we'll publish, is winning one of the great prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like The Last Original Idea by Alan K'necht and Geri Rockstein, Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, and The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard. You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.

Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the book Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf.

Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf - Have you ever stayed up all night scraping lead paint off the walls (and then realized you've actually made the problem worse)? Googled every toy in the house to make sure they didn't contain high levels of cadmium or lead? Searched every product in the cabinet for the mere mention of a paraben? As a new mother, Paige Wolf has been committed to living an eco-friendly and healthy lifestyle. But with the flood of constantly changing information, it's become an increasingly difficult task. In addition to the age-old daunting task of raising happy, healthy babies, mothers are constantly bombarded with new and contradictory research concerning environmental toxins, long-term product effects, and the far-reaching impact of every product we purchase and decision we make.

Spit That Out! answers the questions posed by mothers on the verge of a "green mom nervous breakdown" and turns to experts to present facts, debunk myths, and help parents stay on a reasonable and responsible course without losing their minds. Whether they are cloth-diapering, holistic mamas or moms who still can't give up their designer duds, all modern mothers can relate to the desperation of wanting to do the best for their children - and feeling hopelessly overwhelmed in the process. Spit That Out! feeds an audience of mothers hungry for commiseration, direction, and relief.

, we still have some spots available so please send us your reply it to info@ecolibris.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!