Our joint campaign with Barefoot Books 'Buy a Book, Plant a tree' continues for one more month!

We are happy to update you that our collaboration with Barefoot Books in the joint campaign 'Buy a book, plant a tree' continues for another month!

As we updated you last month, Barefoot Books released on April a great children's book entitled 'Earth Tales', and we're planting a tree for every copy sold in April. And now it continues to May - a tree will be planted for every copy sold this month.

Earth Tales is a very unique book. In this beautiful anthology of folktales, young readers learn how different cultures around the world live in harmony with the rhythms and patterns of nature. Discover how to tread lightly on our precious Earth by following the easy eco-tips and trying out some of the fun and creative activities that accompany each story. This is the perfect gift for any earth-conscious child! You can find our review of the book at http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2009/04/mondays-green-books-series-part-2-earth.html

The book is available for sale at http://www.barefoot-books.com/us/site/pages/productone.php?pid=2432

And last but not least - we want again to thank Substance, a design agency based in Manchester, England with an interest in environmental issues, which created the beautiful poster you see above in celebration of our partnership with Barefoot Books.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Our Facebook campaign is ending today and we're 5 members short of our 1000 members goal!

Today is the last day to our April green campaign on our Facebook group and we're almost meeting our goal of having 1,000 members by the end of April!

Right now we have 995 members and a little bit more than 10 hours until the end of the day (EST), so we can definitely do it!!

Here's what we had so far this month:

- We added so far 414 new members to the group (We started with 581 members on April 1)
- We're planting a new tree for each new member until we reach the 1000th member, so we're having so far 414 new trees that will be planted with our planting partners on behalf of the new members.
- We had giveaways of 26 books of authors and publishers we work with , including Green Beginning by Avrim and Vicki Topel, Sammy and Sue Go Green Too! by Suzanne Corso, Little Green Books (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing), The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales by Dawn Casey and Gardening Eden by Michael Abbaté

So we're now on the last day and we hope to finish this green celebration with at least 5 more new members and 5 new trees that will be planted on their behalf.

And in celebration of the successful ending of this campaign, we're giving away today a very special gift - a new book by author Fiona Robyn that is only due to be published (by Snowbooks) on August 2009!

The author, who is collaborating with Eco-Libris, donated one copy of "The Blue Handbag", which will also be signed by her!

Here are some more details on the book:

After forty years of happy marriage, Leonard thought he knew his wife Rose as well as he knew himself. It's only after her sudden death that he finds her old handbag, which contains a mystery he can't ignore. Accompanied by Lily, his wife's childhood friend, Leonard becomes a reluctant detective as his whole life starts to unravel... 'The Blue Handbag' is steeped in a quiet poetry which reminds us to take pleasure from the ordinary details of life - reading stories to our children, sharing silence with our friend over a beer, enjoying the plants Leonard tends for a living - and never to take anything for granted.

You can read more about it at www.fionarobyn.com/thebluehandbag.htm.

Thanks again to all the participants in our campaign and all of our supporters and fans that helped us running this campaign.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Kudos to Philly! The city plans to become the greenest city in the U.S. by 2015

Philadelphia is the nearest big city to Newark, DE where Eco-Libris is headquartered and we love this great city. We're also a proud member of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN).

All of this introduction is just to explain why we're so happy to hear today that Philly is aspiring to become greenest city in the U.S. by 2015.

Yep, it's true. Mayor Michael Nutter announced today the plan in a speech at the Franklin Institute. The plan entitled 'GreenWorks Philadelphia' is a comprehensive plan to make Philadelphia the greenest city in the United States by 2015. It includes more than 150 initiatives and sets goals in five areas — energy, environment, equity, economy and engagement — all designed to help create jobs in the emerging green economy and reduce the city’s environmental footprint.

"We've put out a plan that is aggressive, achievable and measurable," said Nutter. "The green economy is a pathway to the future. We [Philadelphia] were known for innovation many years ago and now we are reinventing ourselves."

According to the Environmental Leader, key target goals of Greenworks Philadelphia include:

• Decrease city government energy consumption by 30 percent
• Reduce energy consumption in buildings citywide by 10 percent
• Retrofit 15 percent of housing with insulation, air sealing, and cool roofs
• Purchase and generate 20 percent of electricity from alternative energy sources
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent
• Improve air quality toward attainment of federal standards
• Divert 70 percent of solid waste from landfill
• Manage storm water to meet federal standards
• Provide park and recreation resources within 10 minutes of 75 percent of residents
• Offer local food within 10 minutes of 75 percent of residents
• Boost tree coverage toward 30 percent in all neighborhoods in 2025
• Reduce vehicle miles traveled by 10 percent
• Increase the “State of Good Repair” of city infrastructure
• Double the number of low- and high-skill green jobs to 28,8000

This is great news and we are positive that with the leadership of Mark Alan Hughes who runs the Mayor's Office of Sustainability (MOS) and is the person responsible to the implementation of this plan, GreenWorks Philadelphia will not only meet its goals but will also inspire other cities to follow suit.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Aaspirations Publishing believes recession is the time to expand and opens an office in India

Eco-Libris is a proud partner of Aaspirations Publishing, a green publisher of Toronto, Canada that is opening now a second office in India!

We're collaborating with Aaspriations Publishing to plant a tree is for every copy of their new titles, which will also carry our logo ‘One tree planted for every book’. We have planted so far trees for great books such as "The Micro Meanies" by Lynda Anderson and "Where the Buttercups Grow" by Shelley Meyer.

Aaspirations Publishing is reporting that a close association is planned between the two offices to nurture and bring talent to the forefront and enable increasing book sales in both countries through co-publishing deals.

The first three books to be launched in India will be The Micro Meanies by Lynda Anderson and Melanie Bennett and The Haven Spear by Nick Mucci.

Both the books are part of a brand, with multi-title series and the possibilities for merchandising and more. 'I see a closer connection between books and movies, merchandising and music, and between different countries as talent abounds and gets an outlet to expand,' says publisher Anjali Sondhi.

More details on Aaspirations Publishing and their books is available at http://www.aaspirationspublishing.com

This is great news and we wish Aaspirations Publishing a great success with their move!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Monday's green books series: The Legend of Honey Hollow (and a giveaway!)

I love bears. Polar, Panda, Brown - you name it. Therefore I was immediately was fond of our books this week - a children's book that takes place in a little bears' heaven and where the main characters are bears (and very funny ones!).

Our book this week is:

The Legend of Honey Hollow

We mentioned it firstly last month when we announced on a collaboration with the author who plant a tree for every book sold on her signing events and provides buyers of the book with our sticker (made of recycled paper), saying: "One tree planted for this book".

Author: Jeanne McNaney
Jeanne McNaney lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, with her husband, Joseph, and their three children. In addition to her passion for raising awareness about the environment and the plight of endangered species, she is dedicated to causes that enhance the lives of children and their families throughout the world.

Illustrator: David Cochard
David Cochard has been a freelance illustrator since 1996. He currently resides in Argentina with his wife, Sandrine, where he runs his own illustration company, Ilustra World, and pursues his other passions-traveling and studying science and ecology.

Publisher: Ovation Books/Joey Publishing

Published on: January 2009

Reading level: ages 4-8

What this book is about? Honey Hollow is not a place known to humans, but it is well-known to the bears of the world. Bears travel to this beautiful forest sanctuary to escape habitat destruction and global warming. The magical paradise has now been discovered by man. When the trees are cut down by developers, can the bears and the children of the loggers join together to save Honey Hollow for the future?

Why you should get it? This is a very moving story for kids and what I mostly liked about it is that although it's a story for children, it keeps a very realistic ton and is not afraid to present environmental issues in a very frank way. It gets children to face critical issues such deforestation and the impact of human beings on the nature in general and animals specifically.

Nevertheless, it's also a fun story with funny characters that make you laugh and also get you to identify with them from the first page and follow them breathless in their adventures. The author found a great balance between the various elements and the result is a book that teaches kids a valuable lesson about humans-nature relationship and the importance of community, gets them to appreciate wildlife and the environment and at the same time tells them a great children's story.

The author, Jeanne McNaney, said that she hopes the book will bring environmental awareness to a younger generation. I believe this unique story, with its bear characters, the beautiful illustrations and the optimistic message that we can still change things and make them better is doing a great job in increasing the awareness of youngsters and educating them to do the right thing.

And last but not least, the book is printed on environmentally-friendly paper and a percentage of all profits from the sales will go to organizations that support wildlife conservation and endangered species preservation.

What others think about the book?
“This book is just adorable, and it has real meaning.” – Billy Powell | Lynyrd Skynyrd

“It's a big hit in our house. My girls request it all the time. The story weaves in useful topics of environmental consciousness and social responsibility, which are nice teaching opportunities. The global cast of characters also led to some fun discussion. It reminds me of one of my favorite books from growing up: "If Everybody Did", by Jo Ann Stover, which was a pioneering effort in kids literature.“ – John Cassidy | Creative Dir., Comedy Central

You can get more information about the book on its website - http://www.honeyhollowbears.com/

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

We're giving away one copy of the book, courtesy of the author, Jeanne McNaney, 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: what is the best way to teach children to appreciate wildlife? Submissions are accepted until Sunday, May 3, 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 our website's green resources section.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

A new book in Swedish about social entrepreneurship is going green with Eco-Libris!

We're happy to announce on a new collaboration with the Swedish publisher, Bookhouse Publishing, to plant trees for their new book with the great title “Making money and saving the world” (or in Swedish - "Tjäna pengar och rädda världen") by Erika Augustinsson and Maja Brisvall.

The new book deals with social entrepreneurship and presents examples, mainly Swedish, but also from other countries (Grameen Bank for example), and discusses the future of this form of business and it’s role in today’s economy.

It joins two other wonderful books we worked with Bookhouse Publishing on to plant trees for the printed copies - the Swedish edition of "'Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism'" by Prof. Muhammad Yunus and the Swedish edition of "Getting to Scale" by Jill Bamburg.

More than 1,000 trees will be planted with Eco-Libris in Malawi, Africa by our planting partner, RIPPLE Africa, on behalf of BookHouse Publishing to balance out this edition. Inside the book you can find Eco-Libris' logo ('one tree planted for this book') with details on our vision and operations.

The book is in Swedish, so if you're speaking (and reading) the language you can check Bookhouse publishing's website for further details at www.bookhouse.se/main/index.asp. The rest of us will wait impatiently to the English translation :)

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Looking for an affordable and unique green birthday gift?

What's the connection between William Shakespeare, actor Tom Welling, action movie star Jet Lee and the comedian Carol Burnett?

They were all born on April 26! If you're also celebrating your birthday today - happy birthday to you too!

We love birthdays and therefore we're happy to remind you of the option to celebrate a birthday of friends, family members, colleagues and anyone you care about with Eco-Libris!

Eco-Libris is offering you now to plant trees to balance out the books of your loved ones who celebrate their birthday. Not only that new trees will be planted to balance out their books, but they will also receive our stickers with a beautiful birthday card made of recycled paper. And we also try to keep it affordable - the added charge for the birthday card is only $1.5.

All you need to do is to choose how many of the birthday person's books you want to balance out on our special birthday gift page, change the shipping address on the payment page to the address of the gift receiver and we will take care of the rest!

This is also a great green add-on if you're buying a book as a gift for the birthday person, especially if you're buying her or him a green book.

The birthday cards we send are made by Doodle Greetings (see picture above of one of their cards). Not only these cards come with a beautiful design, but they are also eco-friendly - printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper and are made chlorine-free and acid free. Sounds like a good fit with Eco-Libris stickers!

And of course, if it's your birthday and you want to give yourself a green present - get yourself a nice green book and plant a tree for it with us!

Happy Birthday,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!