The Green Festival in Seattle

If you're in Seattle today, don't miss the Green Festival there. Seattle became this year the fourth city in the festival circuit and today is the second (and last) day of the event.

Green Festival, a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America, is the largest green living event in the U.S. What I like about the festival is that it is also a great opportunity to see and explore so much of the green world, which is concentrated like a green capsule for two days under one roof.

According to its press release, Seattle’s Green Festival is expecting attendance of 30,000 visitors and will 300 local and national green businesses, and dozens of community and non-profit groups. There will be also a local focus to this festival, which was designed with the help of The Seattle Host Committee of nearly 200 community leaders.

The Green Festival is not only a great place to explore the green market, but also to learn. There are many great speakers, such as Summer Rayne Oakes ('Green Gone Wild' at room 3, 1:00 p.m.), Cecile Andrews ('The Slow Life Movement: Living Happier with a Smaller Footprint', room 1, 3:00 p.m.), Richard Heinberg ('Peak Everything: Treating Our Collective Hydrocarbon Addiction', room 1, 4:00 p.m) and many others.

So, here are the details:

Hours: 11AM - 6PM

Address: Washington State Convention & Trade Center 800 Convention Place Seattle, WA

Price: $15 (see more info on pricing at http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/991/438/)

How to get there: http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/blogcategory/144/392/

So go and enjoy the festival, and don't forget to check the booth of our friends at Kedzie Press,which are actually based in Seattle.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

How green is the book publishing industry? An interview with Tyson Miller, Director of the Green Press Initiative

After I wrote here about the publication of the of 'Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry', and reviewed some of the most important findings, it's time of the third (and last) part of our coverage of the report.

Today I am very excited to bring you an interview I conducted with Tyson Miller, the Founder and Director of the Green Press Initiative (GPI). The Green Press Initiative, together with the The Book Industry Study Group (BISG), initiated and prepared this impressive report that presents and analyzes the book industry's ecological footprint.

Not only that Tyson Miller is one of the people who led the work on the report, but he is also one of the most knowledgeable people about the issues brought up in the report. In the last seven years he directs the Green Press Initiative (which he also founded) – a program which is catalyzing environmentally responsible book publishing in the U.S. He initiated the Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper Use, which more than 150 publishers have signed so far, and is also involved in the efforts of big publishers, such as Simon & Schuster and Scholastic, to develop green policies.

Therefore, I was very happy for the opportunity to have this interview with Mr. Miller, shedding more light on the report and its implications. I hope you'll enjoy it as well!

Can you tell us about the work on the report - how many people were involved, who led it, how much time it took, etc. ?

It took about 9 months and was led primarily by BISG, GPI and our research partner, the Borealis Centre for Environment and Trade Research. We also were very fortunate to have a generous group of report sponsors and a diverse committee of industry stakeholders to help guide the process.

Over 1,000 constituents involved in all segments of the book industry were invited to take part in the survey that was the base for the report. Eventually 104 responded. Were you satisfied with this response rate?

I would have been happier with better participation...but it was the first effort and we were asking for a lot in terms of the time commitment to answer all of the questions. I'm confident that future studies will have a higher participation rate. Nevertheless, the data gathered accurately reflects trends and for publishers, at least, we had 45% of market share responding.

How difficult was the calculation of the book industry's carbon footprint?

Quite a challenge, but our findings were in line with the findings of several large publishers that have done their own carbon audits. I was surprised to see that the CO2 equivalent emissions connected to paper represented over 70% of the industry's emissions. I figured transportation would have had more of an impact.

You report that the average use of PCW recycled paper is 5% - what do you see as the main obstacle that currently stops publishers from using more PCW recycled paper?

We had to use the 5% figure as an estimate for the printing and writing sector. The actual trend for recycled fiber at the mill level was over 13% and had jumped sixfold from just 2.5% a few years prior. But since we only had 17% of mills reporting, we couldn't use the figure. My guestimation is that the industry is likely at about 15% recycled fiber. Either way, the biggest hurdle is cost and with increasing demand and a lack of corresponding infrastructure development, costs could rise.

How many of the trees cut down for the production of books are grown in tree plantations? what can done to stop the conversion of rich ecosystems into tree plantations?

Most of the world’s paper supply, about 71 percent, is not made from timber harvested at tree farms but from forest-harvested timber, from regions with ecologically valuable, biologically diverse habitat. (Toward a Sustainable Paper Cycle: An Independent Study on the Sustainability of the Pulp and Paper Industry, 1996)

Do you think that the effort to go green in the industry should be solely voluntary, or it might be that we need legislation to move faster, for example, a legislation that will tax paper sourced from non-sustainable sources?

I think that market transformations are inherently voluntary initiatives and are moving along at a pace quite quickly without legislation. Legislation could be useful for big-picture objectives like carbon-reduction emission reduction targets across all sectors.

What is the reason that e-books weren't part of the report and is there any plan to further explore the environmental impacts of e-books in the next reports?

In order to address e-books effectively, I'd need to look at a lifecycle comparison that analyzes the impacts of e-readers vs. paper as a medium. I do hope that we can explore much more in-depth in future iterations.

How's the U.S. book industry doing in comparison with the European book industry?

I haven't seen a benchmarking analysis from Europe...but I'd say we're on par or ahead.

What's the most important lesson we can learn from the report?

Likely that the emissions associated with paper constitutes approximately 70% of the industry's carbon footprint and also that the industry is really meaning making meaningful progress - a sixfold increase in recycled fiber at the mill level over the past fours years. I also found it telling that such a significant portion of surveyed companies had environmental policies that are completed or intended.

This report will definitely become an important benchmark in the industry. When we can expect the next report?

Hopefully we can track a reduced number of metrics annually.

What's next? are there any planned actions on an industry scale?

More of the same - we'll keep plugging away and supporting the leaders and those that aren't quite ready to lead.

I read in the report that there's a Book Industry Environmental Council in development - can you tell us more about it?

We felt that it would be great to have industry leaders helping to inform important priorities such as the development of a standardized tracking mechanism for monitoring environmental indicators and progress, determining parameters and protocols for reducing the industry's carbon footprint, guiding future revisions to the Treatise, and developing standards for an on-product environmental label.

Thank you Tyson for the interview! The report can be ordered on GPI and BISG websites. The summary of the findings is also available for view.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

Raincoast Books is partnering with Eco-Libris in a new campaign: 'Buy a book, Plant a tree'

Big news from Canada! We've got a new partnership going on with Raincoast Books, a leading Canadian publisher and distributor, in a joint environmental campaign: 'Buy a Book, Plant a Tree'. Here are the details:

Raincoast Books, which is best known in green circles as the Canadian publisher of the green editions of the latest Harry Potter books, has signed up 80 Canadian retailers who will be selling a wide range of environmentally themed books through April 2008. These books come with Eco-Libris stickers stating that one tree will be planted for each one of them.

Participating independent bookstores, located from cost-to-coast, have purchased over 4,500 books with the Eco-Libris sticker, and hence over 4,500 trees will be planted on behalf of Canadian readers with our planting partners in Central America and Africa.

This campaign is part of Raincoast's ongoing efforts to go green. They have already taken significant steps - In 2004, they won an Ethics in Action Award for being the first publisher to use 100% Ancient Forest Friendly, 100% Post-Consumer paper in the creation of the Canadian editions of Harry Potter. Also, over 95% of the text-based books Raincoast published were printed on ancient forest friendly paper.

We are very glad to be part of this campaign, especially since the Eco-Libris stickers are being used on the covers of great books about the environment, sustainability and living a greener life, such as: Organic Baby by Kimberly Rider, Dry Spring by Chris Wood, Off the Grid Homes by Lori Ryker, and dozens of other green books.

You can find the full list of the books and bookstores that participate in the campaign right here http://raincoast.com/green/.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

Condoms will help to conserve trees in the Brazilian Rain Forest

Good news from Brazil - the Brazilian government inaugurated a condom factory that will help both poor Brazilian rubber tappers to make a living and to preserve the Amazon rain forest. Sounds like a win-win deal to me!

And it's getting even better - Associated Press reported (and thanks to Grist for the update) that "the plant in the northwestern town of Xapuri will produce 100 million condoms a year, which the government will distribute for free as part of its massive anti-AIDS program, Brazil's Health Ministry said in a statement."

According to the article, the latex for the condoms will be drawn from towering jungle trees in the sprawling Chico Mendes forest reserve by small time rubber tappers who protect their trees and thus the rain forest to ensure their livelihood.

The idea is very simple - to make it more worthwhile to conserve the trees than to cut them down by making the live trees a source of income. It is also very helpful that the income will be generated by locals (according to the Health Ministry the factory will benefit at least 500 families of rubber tappers and will provide about 150 jobs for the town of 15,000), who have now better incentive to protect the trees.

I believe that this step is connected to the Brazilian government's new measures to protect the Amazon rain forest, following the data on growing deforestation, which I reported on three months ago. In any case, I'm very happy to hear about this news and I hope to see more initiatives like this that will help both the rain forest and the local communities.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

National Library Week: An interview with a librarian (and my mother)

Next Sunday (April 13) begins the National Library Week, a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries. As the ALA site says "it is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support."

I love libraries and I thought that in celebration of the National Libary Week it would be great to interview a librarian for this blog. I didn't think twice and called my mom. Yep, my mother, Nava Godelnik, is a librarian in Israel for the last 27 years. Luckily, she agreed to answer my questions :-)

Hi mom - how many years do you work as a librarian?

27 Years

How much have libraries changed during these 27 years? when did you enjoy it more - now or back then?

The work of a librarian today is more technocratic because of the greater availability of information and also because computers takes a bigger part of the librarian's work. Personally, I enjoyed more the kind of work we did back then in the old days..

What do you think is the most important part in the work of librarians?

Good contact with the people who come to the library, which I think encourages reading, knowledge - you have to stay up to date with the latest books, and of course to read, read and read.

What do you like most and what do you like less in your work?

like to read books and recommend those that I liked. I don't like to lending DVDs and see that they get more and more popular at the expense of books.

What's more fun - working with grown ups or children?

Both - with the nice ones in both groups :-)

Do children really read more because of the Harry Potter series?

I don't feel that the series made a significant change. It also looks to me that kids are much less enthusiastic about the last book comparing with the first one.

How libraries fit in the 21st century digital world?

We will see more computerization of libraries that will influence many processes - registration, ordering books, the online connection between libraries that allows to 'import' a book from another library when you don't have it in your own, etc. We already see more and more libraries with their own websites and online catalogs, which for example enable readers to check out at home what new books arrived to the library.

When you look 27 years backwards, if you could have choose again what would you like to do back then, would it be to work as a librarian?

Probably yes.

And finally, what do you think of Eco-Libris?

I think it's a great combination between the world of books and ecology, which emphasize the value of conservation of trees, which are disappearing from our globe at an alarming rate.

Thanks mom! and greetings to all the librarians that will celebrate the National Library Week next week (April 13-19). For more information on this week, please check ALA website (and especially this fact sheet).

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant trees with Eco-Libris!

Green Options - ReadyMade Magazine Goes Digital In Green Issue

As part of Eco-Libris' ongoing content partnership with Green Options Media, we bring you today a post that was originally published by Kelli Best-Oliver on April 2nd on Sustainblog. Today's post is exploring the opportunities in digital versions of magazines following the new digital version of ReadyMade.

In my quest to live a greener life, my Achilles' heel is my obsession with print media. We subscribe to our city's daily newspaper, we get the Sunday Times delivered, and I get approximately eight monthly or bimonthly magazines right in my mailbox. There are also three or four magazines I buy off the newsstand on a fairly regular basis. I love the varying lengths of stories, which perfectly cater to my dynamic attention span. I love letters to the editor and dog-earing pages with things I want to explore further. I love finding a new issue in my mailbox after a particularly long day. I even love the ads.

While cleaning my home recently, I realized just how much paper this leads to each month, and my green guilt set in. Unfortunately, I really, really love both magazines and the daily newspaper. It's something I am reluctant to give up. Fortunately, there may be a solution that seems almost plausible to a printaholic like me. ReadyMade, a design/home solutions magazine for the DIY set with a sustainable sensibility, is now providing readers with a digital version of its print form. You can see every page, just as it appears in print, in its entirety, starting with the current issue #34, their green design issue.

Monday's green books series: The Green Parent

Today on our Monday's green books series, I'm reviewing a book that may look like it is aimed only at parents who are green or want to go green, but actually is relevant to all the parents who care about the quality of life of their children, both now and in the future. In other words, it's a book that will be of interest to (almost) every parent out there.

Our book for today is:

The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Earth-Friendly Living

Author: Jenn Savedge

Jennifer Savedge's articles have appeared in ePregnancy, iParenting.com, Carolina Parent, Healthy Living, as well as children's publications such as Appleseeds, Cobblestone, and Odyssey. Jenn lives with her husband and two daughters in Luray, VA. 'The Green Parent' is her first book.

Publisher: Kedzie Press

Published in: April 2008

What it is about:
'The Green Parent' is an extensive guide for parents who would like to green up their family's life style and teach their children about living green. 'The Green Parent' covers a variety of subjects that have environmental impacts - energy, water, garbage, pets, transportation, work, shopping and many more.

Each chapter is dedicated to a different subject and includes useful tips (how to make your own cleaning agents from natural ingredients), recommendations how to use your money wisely while going green (buy ENERGY STAR appliances), suggestions how to get your kids involved in the process of greening up (light patrol to help you remember to turn off the lights), information on relevant issues such as green labels and interview with green parents. Both parents and kids will learn ways to make the biggest impact, save the most money, and discover how making even the smallest of changes can make a big difference.

Why you should get it:

It sometimes not easy find the right ways to go green. It might be even harder as a parent. 'The Green Parent' is definitely a good guide to make this green journey easier.

One of the things I liked mostly about the book are the interviews, as Savedge conducted interviews with some very interesting green parents who talk about their personal experiences with their children. You can find in the book interviews with Kathleen Ridihalgh, who write the blog 'Great Green Tips', Leslie Garret, a journalist and author ('The Virtuous Consumer'), Corey Colwell-Lipson, founder of the organization 'Green Halloween', Bill McKibben, Colin Beaven ('No Man Impact') and others.

I'm not a parent yet, so I cannot relate yet to many of the parents-children issues that are brought up in the book, but I'm going to be a father very soon, so I am starting my journey into green parenthood. For me, one of the book's main strengths is that it shows new parents that being a green parent is not only for rich people with spare time. Many times it's just the opposite - buying less, buying used items, generating less waste, saving energy and water, recycling - all of these practices will save your family money and can be done even by parents with the busiest schedule. And the book is full of examples how to do it and great resources to receive further information.

And maybe most important part - the book tries to help parents with the million dollar question - how you promote environmental stewardship that does not sound like "eco-naggin" in the ears of the children? from the stories of the green parents in the interviews and tips of fun activities that will make green more understandable and attractive for kids to great suggestions on how to incorporate green into the kids' daily activities (how to make their lunch waste-free).

Last word - this book is my fave also because not only that it's printed on 100% PCW recycled paper (processed chlorine free, FSC-certified and manufactured using biogas), but it is also the first book to be published under the Kedzie Press' Million Tree-A-Thon initiative: for each book sold, Kedzie Press will plant one tree, in collaboration with Eco-Libris, with the goal of planting one million trees by December 2009. So we're very proud to plant a tree for each copy of 'The Green Parent' and to have our logo on the cover of the book.

What others say about it:
“In The Green Parent, author Jenn Savedge guides us through how to live "green" and pass that love and respect for the earth on to our children…Savedge writes with an infectious optimism that motivates us to change our ways and change the world in the process.” Leslie Garrett, journalist and author of The Virtuous Consumer, mother of three

"A great resource for updated details on green living - especially useful for parents who no longer have the time to stay in the loop on best practices." Sara Prout, Development Officer, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, mother of three

“This thoughtful must-have book for parents reminds us of the old Native American saying: We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children." Doug Farr, Author of Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature

“The Green Parent is a fabulous read for parents who are trying to improve the health of the children, household, communities and planet!” Lee Welles, author of the Gaia Girls Book Series.

Want to learn more about the book? check out Jenn Savedge's blog: http://thegreenparent.blogspot.com/ and also watch her on NBC 4, Virginia: http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=235603.

And if you're looking for other interesting green books, you are invited to check out our green books page on our website's green resources section.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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