The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada adopted sustainability principles

Design is an important part in every work and especially in print productions. That's why I was happy to read good the news (on Environmental Leader) that the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) adopted sustainability principles.

The GDC's website brings the details:

Unanimously endorsed at the annual general meeting of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) held from 24-25 April 2009 in Winnipeg, the working definition states:

Sustainable communication design is the application of sustainability principles to communication design practice. Practitioners consider the full life cycle of products and services, and commit to strategies, processes and materials that value environmental, cultural, social and economic responsibility.

The definition is supported by a statement of values and principles to guide the GDC and its members’ actions. If you go over these principles, you see the full commitment of the Canadian designers to change. I'm especially happy to see that they refer to all major aspects of their work - environmental, social, economic and cultural. I believe that this comprehensive approach is the key to succeed when developing a sustainable strategy and therefore I think the GDC is in the right direction.

I hope the GDC will follow its promise to "collaborating with other design organizations worldwide to promote and develop best practices for sustainable communications design", so this great initiative won't be limited only to Canada, but will inspire graphic designers worldwide to commit to sustainability.

I also hope the U.S. will be next. Actually there's a good chance for the adoption of these principles here if your think of the fact that, as we reported last month, the graphic arts trade association - Printing Industries of America is providing now its members with a new tool for those who wants to go green: The Green Guide for Graphic Communications. If they already encourage their members to go green, wouldn't it be only natural to go one step forward and encourage members to adopt a comprehensive sustainable practices?

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

The Regulator Book Shop is calling America: shop local and save the planet

Local independent bookstores are an endless source of creativity - last Friday we learned about the Kindle-paper book battle brought to you by Green Apple Books and today we have another great video, this time from the Regulator Book Shop at Durham, NC.

The creative people of the Regulator Book Shop (and thanks to Bookstore People for the link) produced a great video showing you why you should keep it local America when it comes to books (hint: better for you, much better for the environment!). This is not only a well-made and educational video but also a funny one, so check it out!



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading!

You can still win a copy of "Easy to Be Green: Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth"

We just want to remind everyone that there's still time to participate in our giveaway of "Easy to Be Green: Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth".

How you can win a copy o this great children's book? just add a comment to the review post with an answer to this question: what's yours (or your kid's) favorite game?

Submissions are accepted until tomorrow, Monday, August 3, 12PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading

The Kindle-book battle: The Green Apple (funny!) version

Remember the imaginary battle David Pouge presented between the Kindle and paper books? Now the San Francisco bookstore, Green Apple Books, show their own version for this battle and it's even funnier!

The Green Apple presents 10 rounds between “The Book” and the Kindle in what they describe as a smack-down of the most literary sort (and thanks to Boing Boing for the link!).

They published already 3 rounds (every day there's a new video) on their blog. The first and the second episodes were funny but I found the third episode ("sharing") hilarious so here it is:



Kudos to Green Apple Books for this great video series! No matter if you agree with the results of their smack-down or not, I'm sure you'll agree that it's time for some more refreshing points of view, such the ones we have here, in this interesting and growing debate.

And don't forget to check Green Apple's blog for the next seven rounds!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading

Pakistan set a new world record in tree planting!

An interesting report from Pakistan: A new world record (well, it's the Guinness World Record) in tree planting was set on July 15 in the southern province of Sindh: 541, 176 trees were planted in one day.

The planting was made by 300 volunteers, and as BBC News reported they planted mangrove saplings in the 750 acres of the Indus river delta region.

The previous record was set in India just last month when 447,874 saplings were planted in Assam state. Mangroves grow in delta regions where the fresh waters of the river mix with sea water.

This is good news and we're happy to hear about this initiative and hope it's not the last one of its kind in Pakistan, but there's of course the question how many trees will actually reach maturity and it looks like there's a good chance survival rate will be relatively poor - experts say the new saplings will have difficulty surviving because of diminishing river water in the region.

We'll keep our fingers crossed for these young trees!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green publishing

And we have a winner on the giveaway of "The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget"

Our last giveaway on the green book review week was of Josh Dorfman's book "The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget".

We asked you to share with us your tips on going green and saving money, just like the ones you can find in this great book. We got great replies with a variety of suggestions from using cloth diapers to buying beer at the local brewery in returnable bottles.

And we have a winner! The winner is the reader sweetbunnabunny, who wrote the following:

We recently went from a two-income household to a one-income household... it was a difficult adjustment! While revamping our budget, I knew I wasn't willing to sacrifice healthy, organic food in order to save money. Now, I make everything I possibly can from scratch. Plus, I'm growing more veggies and herbs in my backyard, and frequenting the local farmer's market more often. Now we eat better than we ever have for very little money!

Congrats to the winner, who will receive a copy of the book. We will also plant one tree for it! Thanks also to all the participants.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green reading!

Green printing tip #8: Does it cost a lot more to print my book on recycled paper?

We're happy to bring you today another valuable tip on our weekly series of green printing tips, where we bring you in collaboration with Greg Barber, an experienced eco-friendly printer.

Today Greg is discussing one of the most important questions that is relevant to a growing number of self-publishers and small publishers that print relatively small print runs and wonder about the cost of going green and using recycled paper.

Does it cost a lot more to print my book on recycled paper?

Tip #8

To answer this question, I decided to show a couple printed quotes for books we printed on 100% PCW (Post Consumer Waste) recycled paper. Then I compared those quotes to printing on non recycled paper.

Example #1: 220 page book (soft cover)

QTY: 100 or 500 books
Pages: 220 pages plus cover
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Stock: 70# in 100% PCW text, and 100# in 100% PCW for the cover
Print: 1/1 black for the text and 4 color cover
Bind: Perfect Bound
Cover: Soft Cover

Price:

QTY: 100 (100% PCW)
Price: $7.50 per book, or $750 total.

QTY: 100 (non recycled paper)
Price: $725 ................... $25 less.

QTY: 500 (100% PCW)
Price: $6.90 per book or $3450.00 total.

QTY: 500 (non recycled paper)
rice: $3300.00........................ $150 less.

Example # 2: 48 Page book

QTY: 100, 1000, 5000 books

Page size: 6 x 9

Pages: 48 plus cover

Print: 4/4 for both text and cover.

Bind: Perfect Bind

Stock: 70# text and 100# cover in 100% PCW Recycled

Price:

Using 100% PCW:

100 books was $11.00 per book or $1100.00
1000 books was $7.00 each or $7000.00
5000 books was $2.50 each or $12,500.00

Using non-recycled paper:

100 books .......... $10 less or $1090
1000 books ..........$100 less or $6900.00
5000 books ..........$500 less or $12,000.00

Bottom Line: The paper is not a factor on most books where the quantities are under 5000 books.

And we shouldn't forget the 100% post-consumer paper saves water, energy, pollution, landfill problems, incinerator problems, and avoids Dioxins from being created, that can poison us all.

If you have any further questions following our tips, or you have a specific question you want us to address, please email us to info@ecolibris.net .

More green printing tips:

Green Printing Tip #7 - What is the best alternative if you can't afford to buy Seed paper?

Green Printing Tip #6 - Is Spot Color printing environmentally friendly?

Green Printing Tip #5 - How to avoid being greenwashed when buying printing services?

Green Printing Tip #4 - What does FSC Certified mean? Is it enough?

Green Printing Tip #3 - How you make sure everyone knows you're using green printing practices

Green Printing Tip #2 - How you can make money while printing on 100% recycled paper

Green Printing Tip #1 - Go for a digital job

You can also find further valuable information on Greg Barber Company's website - http://www.gregbarberco.com.

All the tips are archived and saved on http://www.ecolibris.net/greentips.asp (part of our green printing tools & resources page).

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing