The BookCrossing adventures of Michelle Slatalla

Michelle Slatalla is one of my favorite writers at the New York Times and it's always a delight to read her column Cyberfamilias every other Thursday (Fashion & Style section).

Last week I was in Chicago, so I missed her column, but I looked for it today on the NYT website and was very happy to find another great Cyberfamilias story, this time on her BookCrossing adventures.

I wrote few months ago about BookCrossing and recommended this great free book club. Michelle Slatalla also got into it and tries to see how it actually works - who will take the books she releases to the wild and where she can hunt some books.

One thing I learned from the article was that I can find on YouTube some videos documenting book releasing into the wild around the world. Here's one example to what you can see there:




So check out 'Love That Book? Then Set It Free' and don't forget to experiment some book swapping of your own.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

What's your favorite 2007 green search?

2007 is almost gone and everywhere you look there's another summary of the year. An interesting one comes from Yahoo! (and thank you to Environmental Leader for the link) - list of the top ten green search terms.

Yahoo! writes on their summary that "2007 may go down as the year people stopped talking about the climate crisis and actually did something about it." I am not sure I totally agree with it, as I believe we saw this year a lot of green buzz and not enough green action. In any case, there was definitely a huge increase in the awareness to green issues and therefore it's interesting to see what people are most interested at. So, here's Yahoo! list:

1. Recycling

2. Global Warming

3. Freecycle

4. Earth

5. Pollution

6. Al Gore

7. Environmental Protection Agency

8. Live Earth

9. Hybrid Cars

10. Solar Energy

Well, it's definitely an interesting list, showing that there is a thirst for information on personal actions (hybrid cars, recycling, solar energy) as well as on general topics (global warming, pollution, earth). I'm just wondering if the huge interest in Freecycle is due to its green elements (decreasing consumption of new stuff), or just because it's a cool and beneficial service, or maybe it's both..

For statistics fans, Yahoo! reports that "in terms of sheer search volume, residents of the Big Apple proved the most interested in global warming, edging out the environmentally conscious San Francisco Bay Area. When it came to hybrid cars, Los Angeles posted the most searches. Whether that's out of concern for the planet or frustration over gas prices and gridlock, we can't really say. "

I hope 2008 will be a year with the same green buzz and enthusiasm, but also with much more green action.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!

Want to turn your parents green?

If the answer is Yes, here's the book you need: 'How to Turn Your Parents Green', written by James Russell and illustrated by Øivind Hovland.

I read about this book today at Treehugger.com and liked it immediately. The premise for the book, as the publisher, Tangent Books, explains on its website, is that grown-ups (the Groans) are responsible for causing global warming, but it’s you (the kids) who will have to deal with the consequences.

The kids are given a mission to educate their parents about recycling, saving energy and other green issues, and listen to this - if the parents don’t comply, they are fined and when they realise the error of their ways, they sign up to the Glorious Green Charter.

How To Turn Your Parents Green sounds like a great combination of fun and education for kids, showing them how they can make a difference in the fight against Ghastly Global Warming by being an Eco-Warrior rather than an Eco-Worrier. The book also contains 10 outstanding illustrations by Bristol-based artist Øivind Hovland.

The author, James Russel, employs a style reminiscent of the Horrible Histories books and Roald Dahl short stories. Here’s an example from Tangent Books' website of James’ style:

Meet the Groans. They may grumble about the traffic and gripe about heating bills, but grown-ups have got us into this mess and they are too busy goggling at the TV and booking exotic holidays to sort it out.

Only you can make those Groans behave because only you can make their lives a misery if they don’t. We’ll help you draw up a Glorious Green Charter for them to sign, and show you how to punish them – oh yes – if they refuse to change their Grumbelicious ways.

So don’t be an Eco-Worrier, be an Eco-Warrior. And turn your parents Green.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: great green gift for the holidays!

The pope calls on Christmas Mass to protect the environment

Today is Christmas, and I was happy to read on the New York Times ('Pope Makes Appeal to Protect the Environment') that Pope Benedict XVI talked on the midnight Christmas Mass about the environment and expressed his concerns of the way we're treating the planet.

Ian Fisher of the NYT reports that "Benedict referred to one early father of the church, Gregory of Nyssa, a bishop in what is now Turkey. “What would he say if he could see the state of the world today, through the abuse of energy and its selfish and reckless exploitation?” the pope asked."

It's not the first time the pope expresses his concerns over the environment and actually he is speaking more and more about the need to go green and use our natural resources more sustainably. I hope the pope will continue in his efforts to bring more attention to green issues, as he's definitely a powerful agent of change that can lead many people to go green.

Happy green holidays,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!

A Hot Planet Needs Cool Kids - Holiday green gift guide for book lovers: part 10

Christmas is almost here and we have time for one more great recommendation before the holiday. I'm happy to present you with part 10 of Eco-Libris blog's holiday green gift guide, the guide that will help you find the best green books to give as gifts this holiday season.

Today I have the pleasure to bring you a recommendation of Maureen O’Connor of The Alternative Consumer on a great new book for kids.

Native New Yorker, Maureen O’Connor is the founder and publisher of http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/, a blog for busy folks looking to cultivate a greener lifestyle.

Maureen's recommendation for this holiday's gift is:

A Hot Planet Needs Cool Kids

Author: Julie Hall (Author), Sarah Lane (Illustrator)

Publisher: Green Goat Books

Published in: 2007

What it is about: This “kid’s book” is unusual in that it is designed as a hands-on climate change guide for parents and teachers, as well as readers 9 and up.

Written by Julie Hall, cofounder of ProgressiveKid, and author of numerous science and social studies curriculum books for children, and skillfully illustrated by Sarah Lane, this soft-cover breaks down the facts into easily digestible bites, featuring: Hot Facts, Cool Facts, Eco Heroes and Action Plans to help heal the planet. Kids will appreciate the bold graphic layout and high-impact imagery on each info-packed page.

From defining climate change, to providing a clear understanding of what causes it and how it affects life on Earth, the underlying premise of the book is to demonstrate not only why we need to protect our environment, but also how. There are many valuable lessons to be learned from this book, along with encouraging words to instill change and a sense of hope for the future.

Why it's a great gift: A Hot Planet Needs Cool Kids is a great way to empower parents, teachers and kids to engage in creative thinking, act on principles and realize progressive values.

Thank you Maureen for a great recommendation!

And just a reminder, here are the other recommendations we had so far on our guide:

Part 1 - The Man who Planted Trees by Jean Giono
Part 2 - Home Work : Handbuilt Shelter by Lloyd Kahn
Part 3 - The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
Part 4 - The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Part 5 - Deep Economy by Bill McKibben
Part 6 - The Armchair Environmentalist by Karen Christensen
Part 7 - Worldchanging - A user's guide for the 21st century by Alex Steffen (Editor), Al Gore (Foreword), Bruce Sterling (Introduction)
Part 8 - How to live off-grid by Nick Rosen
Part 9 - How to live a low-carbon life by Chris Godball

The whole guide can be found here - http://www.ecolibris.net/holiday_guide.asp.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!

Now you can find on our website two special offers for the holidays - holiday greeting cards and holiday certificate gifts.

Varmints: 'ecological doom' for children

I learned today from smartplanet.com on a new interesting book for kids - 'Varmints', written by Helen Ward and illustrated by Bafta-winning animator Marc Craste.

Matthew Sparkes reports that "Varmints introduces the idea of pollution and environmental issues in a tale of 'ecological doom'. The story revolves around creatures called Varmints, which are described as small, soulful creatures that look on as nature is tarnished by industrial progress, and all peace and quiet is lost -- something which we can all relate to."

The story is combined with beautiful illustrations of Marc Craste to make the imagination and the heart soar. Write Away wrote that "'Varmints' is Craste's first picture book, which has many of the design qualities that made his black and white film 'Jo Jo in the Stars' so remarkable, but with a subtle colour palette."

Eco-doom for children? definitely sounds an interesting combo, and the artwork looks amazing, so you're welcome to check it out.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!

Kudos to Recycline!

Good news to green biz - Recycline, an eco-friendly consumer-products company based in Waltham, Mass., is the grand prize winner of Forbes.com's 'Boost Your Business' contest. The big prize: $100,000.

Recycline was among the nearly 1,000 U.S. small growing businesses that entered the contest when it launched earlier in March 2007. In the first phase of the contest, co-sponsored by HP, small business owners submitted 500-word business plans; 20 semi-finalists survived.

In the second round, Forbes.com readers had the opportunity to review these plans and vote for their top five. Later on, the five finalists who made it to the final stage came to New York to give live presentations to an expert panel of judges. Their presentations were posted on Forbes.com for further readers voting. The final decision on the winner was made based on the judges evaluations and the readers' votes.

I saw Eric Hudson's (founder and president of Recycline) presentation and read their biz plan summary, and I think this is a great company with a great concept and products. It makes personal-care products from recycled plastic, partly from yogurt cups that Stonyfield Farm sends to Recycline.

The company’s products include toothbrushes, razors and tableware sold under the Preserve brand. All of their product handles and packaging may be recycled and customers can use postage-paid envelope to return their used Preserve products to Recycline.

Preserve’s three core product lines are available at nearly 7,000 retailers nationwide, including all Whole Foods Market, Wal-Mart and Trader Joe’s stores, select Target locations and grocery retailers including Stop & Shop, Shaw's and Hannaford Brothers.

So Kudos to Recycline and Eric Hudson! They made us all very proud.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!