Updates and pictures from AIR's tree planting operations in Guatemala

We just got an update from our planting partner AIR on their work in Guatemala that we wanted to share with you.

The director of AIR, Dr. Anne Hallum and a group of volunteers managed to plant over 1,500 in just 3 weeks of work in Guatemala. Not only that, but they also built four of the fuel-efficient stoves, which conserve a ton of firewood a year, each. AIR has built so far around 750 such stoves - so they preserve existing trees, while planting!

But that's not all - The more impressive figure is that the AIR staff in Guatemala planted over 207,000 trees this year with a survival rate in the 90% range!

Kudos to AIR for the great job they do in Guatemala. Their commitment to the environment and the local communities is incredible and we're very proud to collaborate with them and be part of their efforts to make a difference to the people of Guatemala.

If you want to read more about their work, you can visit their website and also read the first year's assessment of our collaboration. In couple of months we'll publish the second year's assessment with updates on our joint work with AIR on 2008-2009.

We're also happy to show you some of the pictures we got from AIR taken on the last visit of Dr. Hallum and the volunteers in Guatemala.

Dr. Anne Hallum, her daughter Rachel and Dona Elena and her granddaughter at the tree Eco-Libris nursery in Itzapa.... still growing strong with a new crop of seedlings!

Rachel Hallum and helper planting Aliso trees to fertilize family crop, in El Tablon.

Volunteers and AIR staff planting trees on Comalapa mountain side he's converting back to forest.

Don Enrique, with AIR staffer, Luis Iquique in the foreground, showing the group the reforested mountain slopes of trees from the Eco-Libris tree nursery in Caliaj (In the background you can seem remnants of a mudslide from a deforested slope. Don Enrique has planted all the way down the steep slope, to prevent such mudslides).


Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Green book review (and giveaway): Living Green: The Missing Manual

Did you ever feel like you could use a good manual that will guide you on how to live green? If you do, today this missing manual is right here on our weekly series of green books reviews.

Our book this week is:

Living Green: The Missing Manual

Author: Nancy Conner

Nancy Conner holds a Ph.D. from Brown University and is the author of numerous books, including QuickBase: The Missing Manual and Google Apps: The Missing Manual. She lives in Ithaca, NY, recently named one of the greenest U.S. cities, where she shops for organic produce at the local farmers market and browses second-hand stores. Each day, she commutes up the stairs to her home office, where she works as an author, editor, and distance educator. Read Nancy's Living Green blog at www.missingmanuals.com. You can also find her on twitter.

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Published on: August 2009

What this book is about? (from the publisher's website)
Taking care of the earth is more important than ever, but the problems we're facing can seem overwhelming. Living Green: The Missing Manual helps make earth-friendly decisions more manageable by narrowing them down to a few simple choices. This all-in-one resource is packed with practical advice on ways you can help the environment by making simple changes in your home routine, work habits, and the way you shop and get around town. You don't have to embark on a radical new lifestyle to make a difference. Living Green: The Missing Manual shows you how small changes can have a big impact. With this book, you will:

• Learn how to make your home energy efficient and free of toxic chemicals
• Discover how to reduce waste, repurpose and recycle, and do more with less
• Build and remodel earth-friendly homes with new techniques and materials
• Learn tips for buying organic food and what it takes to grow your own
• Get helpful information on fuel-efficient cars, including hybrid and electric models
• Make your workplace greener and more cost-effective -- from changes at your desk to suggestions for company-wide policies
• Explore how to choose renewable energies, such as wind and solar power

The book also provides you with ways to connect with like-minded people and offers a survey of exciting new green technologies. Learn how you can help the planet with Living Green: The Missing Manual.

What we think about it?

At the beginning of the book the author explains what you can expect to find in it and how it fits in your green reality:

Ever since Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring sounded the alarm about the effects of pesticides on the environment, countless books have been published that show how human behavior is taking a toll on the planet. Taken together, they present a convincing argument. But even if you want to start living a healthier, more environmentally responsible lifestyle, where do you begin?

That's where Living Green: The Missing Manual comes in. Although this book gives you plenty of reasons to think about your impact on the planet, its real focus is practical suggestions for making your impact a positive one. These pages are packed with tips, ideas, and instructions for greening in all areas of your life: at home, on the road, at work, at the grocery store, and beyond.

This description is very correct. The book, like a manual, is very practical, covering many green issues, but unlike manuals it also takes the time to explain you the "why" and not only the "how".

The book is filled with tips, some of them may look a bit more obvious like "Label your recycling bins so there's no confusion about what goes there", but many are very valuable - for example: "if you ship a lot of items, don't buy foam packing peanuts. Instead , try Puffy Stuff (http://pufftystufftn.com), an all-natural, plant-based packaging material that's 100% biodegradable".

The fact that the book is covering many green issues is its main strength and weakness at the same time. It's great to have so many issues covered in one book, including your home, energy, food, shopping, transportation, workplace and so on. It really covers almost every main activity that we can think of in green terms. It will provide you with the good information and tips, but at the same time it won't be as thorough as guides that are only focused on one issue like renewable energy at home or food.

Last but not least, kudos to publisher, O'Reilly Media, on printing the book on Rolland Enviro 100 Book, which contains 100% post consumer fibers and is manufactured in Canada by Cascades using biogas energy, and also for making it available online through the O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf. You can check it out there and although you might find it's less convenient to scroll the book online, it will be much easier to use all the great links the book includes.

Bottom line: Just like the book is saying - if you're looking for a manual that will help you to know where and how to begin your green journey, you will definitely find this book very useful.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!

We're giving away our review copy of the book, courtesy of the publisher, and of course a tree will be planted for the copy!

How you can win? Please add a comment below with an answer the following question: How did your green journey begin? What was the first green step you took? Submissions are accepted until Monday, September 21, 12PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

If you're looking for other interesting green-themed books, you are invited to check out our green books page on Eco-Libris website's green resources section.


Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

Vote for BookSwim on Forbes.com's startup competition!

Forbes.com is running the second round of the 2009 Boost Your Business competition. On the line: $50,000 in cash, and $50,000 in advertising on Forbes.com. 20 semi-finalists remain and among them are our partners and friends at BookSwim.

BookSwim rents books like Netflix rents movies, with the convenience of free home delivery and best-sellers guaranteed in stock. As you may remember we collaborate with them in their special offering of gift cards - a tree will be planted with Eco-Libris in honor of every gift purchased.

You can read more about BookSwim on Forbes.com, where you can find their 500-word write-up and watch their 30-second "elevator pitch" video. You can also read what they intend to do with the prize once they get it.

BookSwim is a great green business and we warmly recommend to vote for them!

The vote itself is very simple and can be made at http://boost09.perfectprize.com/voting/. Please don't forget to confirm the link that gets sent to your email otherwise your vote won't count. Make sure you uncheck any boxes so you don't get spam.

VOTING ENDS SEPT 30!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!

Don't miss GreenFest Philly this Sunday in Philadelphia

We love Philadelphia and we're proud members of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN). Philly plans to become the greenest city in the U.S. by 2015. In the meantime it will host this upcoming Sunday a great green event we want to recommend on - GreenFest Philly.

Sunday is expected to be a (mostly) sunny day and if you're around Philly you shouldn't miss this great event with 200+ exhibitors, a green film festival, kids activities, eco-exchange fashion show and much more! Or in the organizers' words: "Party like there IS a Tomorrow!".

Here's some more information about the GreenFest Philly from their website:

GreenFest Philly is a one-day street fair FREE to the public that takes place in Philadelphia every September. Last year, over 200 exhibitors and 25,000 people attended the area's largest environmental event. Various features included vegetarian food, sneaker recycling, live music & entertainment, kids activities, bicycle valet, yoga, local produce, green contests, composting and recycling, Eco Exchange Fashion Show & Clothing Swap, Food Symposium and Green Film Festival.

The theme of this year's event is sustainable FOOD.

Highlighting everything from ORGANIC to BUYING LOCALLY to having a vegetarian or PASTURE-RAISED AND GRASS-FED diet, this year's event will allow us to educate others on the importance of supporting our local farmers' markets as well as how to make more conscious decisions at the grocery store. Come and try some of the eco-friendly foods available and learn about the impact our food choices have on the environment. Find out how easy it is for you to grow your own food - even if you are living in a studio apartment in Center City! Come and learn the truth about food from the green leaders in the Organic Food Industry at our Food Symposium.

Where: 2nd & South Streets, Philadelphia, PA

When: Sunday, Spet. 13, 2009, 11am - 6pm

Website: http://www.greenfestphilly.org/

From our experience this is a great event and it's a lot fun. Green fun. e'll be there and we hope to see you too!

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!

More on FSC on Green Talk Radio

I love the Green Talk Radio with Sean Daily. He always brings interesting people of the green world to his show and it's a great way to get to know these people and the issues they're involved with better.

Today I want to recommend to listen to his conversation with Katie Miller, Communications Director for the Forest Stewardship Council.

It's an interesting talk and if you want to learn more about the FSC certification I'm sure you'll find this talk valuable.

Here's a link to the podcast (thanks to Sustainablog for the link): http://sustainablog.org/2009/09/01/green-talk-radio-sustainable-forestry-management-with-the-fsc/

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!

Green printing tip no. 14: Can Directories be Green?

This week our series of green printing tips is getting back to its original spot which is Tuesday. Yes, every Tuesday we bring you a new green printing tip in collaboration with Greg Barber, an experienced eco-friendly printer.

Today we are talking about an interesting question that concerns something many of us automatically considered as junk mail, but at the same time is an important commercial tool.

Can Directories be Green?

Tip #14

Can your directories be considered green? That's a tough question especially when so many directories, such as phonebooks, are considered junk mail (did you know every year in the US, households receive 540 million unsolicited phonebooks creating an additional 650,000 tons of trash?).

But the answer is Yes. It can be and we'll provide you some ground rules to follow to keep your directory green, with a specific example from Avi Publishing, publishers of "Our Green Book", a directory of local green businesses and green organizations.

Rule no. 1: provide your directories only to people who want them
One of the main problems with directories is that they're unsolicited advertising brought to your door, with no easy way to decline. You want to make it green - give it only to people who are actually interested in getting them.

"Our Green Book" is an example how you can do it - this directory is handed out at Whole Foods and Green Apple Cleaners to people who want them. That's it.

Rule no. 2: Use recycled and FSC-certified paper
Many directories are printed on non recycled stocks, which enhance their environmental impact. You should make sure you choose eco-friendly paper that will minimize your footprint. Avi Publishing for example, chose a recycled coated grade that is FSC certified, and contains PCW content. Also, the inks used for the directory's printing are vegetable based, and there are no chemicals used in setting up the press for printing.

Rule no. 3: Print close to distribution points
"Our Green Book" is printed at the Quad plants closest to the distribution points, so their Carbon Footprint is minimized. The Chicago and NY editions are printed in NY, and the San Francisco and Los Angeles editions are printed in Reno, Neveda.

Rule no. 4: Optimize the directory's size
You should optimize the directory's size to prevent unnecessary waste. The size of "Our Green Book" was chosen to yield little paper waste. It is a digest size.

Rule no. 5: Provide an online option
There are people and businesses who might be interested in your directory, but still prefer an online version of printed one, and you should be able to provide them with this option. Here's one example from Avi Publishing and another one from the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN), which are making their members directory (which includes Eco-Libris who are a member) available online.

So the answer to the question is Yes. Just follow these rules.

If you have any questions about "Our Green Book" , please contact Greg at greg@ecofriendlyprinter.com
.

Also, 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 .

Links to the last three green printing tips:

Green Printing Tip #13- Are you looking for back to school environmental ideas?

Green Printing Tip #12 - How to preapre files for your next green digital run?

Green Printing Tip #11 - What are your green options when it comes to promotional items?

You can find links to all the tips we published so far on our green printing tips page, which is part of our green printing tools & resources.

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

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing

We have a winner on the "Sleeping Naked Is Green" giveaway!

We had a giveaway of one copy of "Sleeping Naked Is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days" by Vanessa Farquharson following our review of this great book.

We asked you to share with us the most meaningful step you took so far to green up your lifestyle. We got very interesting replies and we have a winner!

Our winner is the reader marybelle who shared with us the following step she took:

I try to follow the 100 mile rule. If it is not grown or produced within 100 miles of where you live - don't buy it. It is not easy but by being creative & saying we don't really need it we manage rather well. It helps that we live near the market gardens though.

Congrats Marybelle! You won a copy of "Sleeping Naked Is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days". We'll also plant a tree for this book and you will get with the book our "One tree planted for this book" sticker.

Thanks also to all the participants in the giveaway. Please keep follow after our blog - we have a new giveaway almost every week!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!