We have a winner of the Story of Stuff audiobook's giveaway!

Last week we presented Annie Leonard's new audiobook The Story of Stuff . This great audiobook, released by Simon & Simon Audio, is as Juliet Schor described it: "an eye-opening, humorous, and highly readable account of how our seemingly innocuous lifestyles are part of a larger system of destruction and dysfunction."

We had a giveaway of a copy of this audiobook, courtesy of the publisher, Simon & Simon audio. We asked you to to retweet this post on twitter with the hashtag #storyofstuff, and we got 45 retweets (a new record for this blog!). And we have a winner.

The winner is Derrick Maines, aka @enviralmentalst .Congrats, Derrick! We hope you will enjoy this great audiobook. Thank you also for all the rest of the participants!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Green printing tip no. 38: Can Hip-Hop "GO GREEN"?

We are back today with a new tip on our weekly series of green printing tips, where we bring you information on green printing in collaboration with Greg Barber, an experienced eco-friendly printer.

Today we have a great column written by SpazeCraft, who is a pioneer of the Hip-Hop "education" movement, and is collaborating with Greg on an innovative project that combines the hip-hop tradition with green printing.

Can Hip-Hop "GO GREEN"?

Tip #38

YES, Absolutely!

Hip-Hop music at its core aggregates sounds from many sources to create its unique & ever-permeating music. In essence, it "recycles" sound from both popular & obscure past recordings, bringing new life to the sound bytes in a fresh, new context, composition & form. (it's no wonder it's thrived as a major international art platform through Dance, Music, Rap/Poetry, Visual Arts, Fashion, Philosophy & Education).

So how can the "Hip-Hop" make a difference? The basic steps still apply, don't litter & teach your kids not to, It always starts with the adults in society & educating the community is always a great start.

In the 1970's, Pioneering leaders of the Hip-Hop movement like "Afrika Bambaataa" & "DJ Kool Herc" brought the "GOOD" into the "HOOD", encouraging & inspiring creativity & non-violent expression to get away from the gang influences of the day. Environmental responsibility is an extension of that work. The idea of keeping ones neighbor-hood "clean" leads to keeping ones mind "clean" & works to project this concept further. Hip-hop music from the 1980's-mid' 90's are exemplary of this commitment. Lyrics were fun, educational, full of peace & community spirit, whilst still having the playful competition of skills building show through.

In the 90's, the norm for printed fliers for events were large, over-sized & glossy (& usually with the same exact information on both sides, littering the streets & the clubs). Now event producers are much more aware of their impact, and much promotion is done on the Internet to go viral & cut costs. With the advent of eco-friendly digital printing, we now have better choices for our printing & this also makes us more aware of "who" & "where" we market our performances & products.

As a promoter, If you have all your event information set on the front side of your flyer, why not donate the back of your flyer to a cause you support? or better yet, place information that can educate your reader in the process of promoting your events.

If you set the tone & be the example, others will follow.



Graffiti & Urban artists are always looking for the best ways to publish their works w/ the least impact to the environment.

Designer & hip-hop educator, SpazeCraft of Soh Nup Ink has created an eco-health project called "Hip-Hop(e) for Healing" that educates the masses on Health awareness, Disease prevention & Eco-impact using Hip-Hop Arts as the catalyst.

Soh Nup Ink partnered with Greg Barber to release a series of (business cards sized) eco-health tips that are simple, easy ways to make real impact in your own lives right now. Take these tips with you grocery shopping to make excellent choices in produce selection (especially when "Organic" is not an option).

SpazeCraft is a pioneer of the Hip-Hop "education" movement & is committed to bringing best practices in environmental advocacy & health awareness to the hip-hop community & linking the experts with the masses. for more information on how to become a Responsible Partner in your community: sohnup@gmail.com & for updates in the hip-hop & urban arts community go to: http://blog.sohnup.com


For additional information on eco-friendly paper options, please call Greg Barber at (973) 224-1132, or email greg@gregbarberco.com.

Also, if you have any questions you would like us to address in future tips please email us to info@ecolibris.net .

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.gregbarberco.com.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

Sushi? Tofu? Vegan? Dessert? You can choose - it's free!

This is not an invitation to give us a call the next time you go to a restaurant. This is a reminder of all the great books you can get for free on our green gift giveaway!

Yes, we have a book on sushi (Sustainable Sushi), another one on tofu (Tofu Cookery), Vegan (well, that's actually for your dog - The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book) and one on Desserts (Raw for Dessert). Not only that these are great and valuable books, but they're also printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper!

So what is this giveaway exactly? Well, for over two years Eco-Libris has been offering eco-conscious readers the opportunity to balance out their books by planting trees. At the same time our company has worked to promote sustainable reading, and reduce books' impact on the environment. Now we're combining the two, with a special giveaway that rewards customers with green gifts that promote green reading, from gift cards for Strand Bookstore and BookSwim to free "green" books, which participated in our green books campaign.

And how do you get a free book? It's very simple - if you balance out 50 books by planting 50 trees, you can choose one of these “green” books as a gift. Just choose a book from the list below and Email us its name after you complete the purchase on the take action page on our website, or enter it in the comments box during the payment process. If you want to, you can also give it to someone as a gift and we'll be happy to send it to them on your behalf!

Here are some more details on the "green" books you can choose from:

Raw for Dessert: Easy Delights for Everyone

Author: Jennifer Cornbleet

Now you can have your cake and eat it too! You can stay vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher, or just plain health-conscious and still eat delicious cakes, pies, compotes, crumbles, custards, sorbets, ice creams, cookies, and candies. All raw!

Here are Jennifer's favorite no-bake, no-guilt treats. You'll learn to avoid white sugar, white flour, dairy products, trans-fats, saturated fats, and processed foods. And you'll be able to make easy-to-follow recipes for a reasonable amount of money, in a reasonable amount of time.

Some of the delectable desserts perfect for every occasion are: Summer Berry Compote, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes, Crème Brulée, Lemon Tart, Pumpkin Pie, and Knockout Brownie Sundae. Gorgeous color photos provide all the inspiration you need.

Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time

Author: Casson Trenor

Sustainable Sushi answers the question on the minds of millions who enjoy eating fish: how can we indulge the desire to dine well while keeping our health and the health of the oceans in mind? With painstaking research found in no other book on the market to date, this pocket-size guide profiles dozens of the most common fish and shellfish one might encounter at a sushi bar, details where and how they are caught, whether or not they are safe, and how they figure in the current fishery crisis.

Written by a fishery and sustainability expert who was himself netted long ago by the allure of Japanese cuisine, Sustainable Sushi offers simple, clear explanations of such topics as mercury and PCB levels, overfishing, and species extinction. In a storm of seafood shortages and frightening statistics, Sustainable Sushi shows readers how to enjoy the sushi bar without guilt.

Greening Your Small Business: How to Improve Your Bottom Line, Grow Your Brand, Satisfy Your Customers - and Save the Planet

Author: Jennifer Kaplan

The ultimate resource for small business owners who want to go green without going broke. Greening Your Small Business is the definitive resource for those who want their small businesses to be cutting- edge, competitive, profitable, and eco-conscious. Filled with stories from small business owners of all stripes, Greening Your Small Business addresses every aspect of going green, from basics such as recycling, reducing waste, energy efficiency, and reducing the IT footprint, to more in-depth concerns such as green marketing and communications, green business travel, and green employee benefits.

For companies too small to hire consultants to draft and implement green policies and practices, this guide is designed for easy use, featuring:
• Simple ways to make the workplace greener
• Two plans of action for going green (divided into two levels)
• Definitions for green terminology and jargon

The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book, Cruelty-Free Recipes for Canine

Author: Michelle Rivera

The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book by animal rights advocate Michelle Rivera shows how your companion canine can become a satisfied omnivore. This compendium of nutritious, plant-based recipes provide the nutrients your dog needs in order to maintain good health as well as the flavors they love according to the enthusiastic response from pets being fed this diet.

Although vegans will now be able to extend their lifestyle to include what they feed their dogs, you needn't be a vegan or vegetarian to profit from this information. Most dog owners are concerned about the quality of ingredients in commercial dog food.

Sweet Utopia, Simply Stunning Vegan Desserts

Author: Sharon Valencik

Sweet Utopia shows how to create the luscious flavors and familiar textures of traditional desserts without the use of eggs or dairy. These easy-to-make, yet sensational, desserts are all lactose- and cholesterol-free and perfect for vegans, anyone allergic to dairy or eggs, those who need to watch their intake of saturated fat, and last, but not least, lovers of sweets everywhere.

These recipes cover a wide array of goodies including cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, and other treats and are accompanied by over 130 full-color photos that provide inspiration and anticipation.

Tofu Cookery (25th Anniversary Edition)

Author: Louise Hagler

TOFU COOKERY 25th Anniversary Edition celebrates a quarter of a century of helping people prepare delicious dishes featuring tofu. Since then, tofu has become a household word, the health benefits of soy have been validated by thousands of scientific studies, and a goldmine of soy products can be found in supermarkets nationwide.

The best tofu dishes, however, can still be made at home. Soy-foods pioneer Louise Hagler expertly shows how easy it is to add a little tofu to both your favorite comfort foods and gourmet fare. To reflect today's tastes and trends, new recipes were added and the original recipes revised to use less salt and smaller amounts of more healthful fats. The latest cooking methods preserve nutrients as well as flavor.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green book of the week: True Green Life In 100 Everyday Ways

Today we review a green book that was released this week and is full with great tips and beautiful photos from National Geographic!

Our book is:

True Green Life In 100 Everyday Ways

Authors: Kim Mckay and Jenny Bonnin

Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin are partners in the social marketing firm Momentum2, whose clients include National Geographic. Both authors are also key executives of Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World, the original inspiration for the True Green movement.

Publisher: National Geographic

Published on: March 2010

What this book is about? (from the publisher's website)

National Geographic’s very popular True Green series has always featured a winning blend of easy-to-follow advice, informative or surprising facts, and dynamic illustrations, integrated by a simple, clean design. Now, in our fifth title, we explore the truly Green life in 100 brand-new ways.

True Green Life is the natural next step for the growing community who embrace the savvy yet practical lifestyle known as True Green. This colorful, practical book presents scores of completely new tips for simply yet surely transforming everything from our vacations to our health to our celebrations. Ten chapters, liberally illustrated with 100 color photographs, present a wide cross-section of useful and uncomplicated ways not only to help the environment, but also to save money through smarter use of resources. Surprising facts, easy-to-understand advice, and a dynamic presentation follow the style of the previous True Green titles: friendly, familiar, and sure to be this season’s favorite among the many readers who already know and love these books.

What we think about it?

Firstly I want to talk about the photos in the book. Still it's a National Geographic book.. And you get to see it on each and every page! This book is beautifully designed by Marian Kyte and it's an aesthetic experience that appeals to the eye of the reader. It definitely gets you into the right mood of making your life greener, giving you the (true) sense that green is not only the right way, but it's also beautiful.

As you can understand from the book's name, it provides you with 100 simple tips and ideas on how to green up your life. It talks about food, clothing, leisure time, celebrations, health, travel and many other elements of our lives.

The tips try to stay very practical and easy. There are no big changes there, only small steps that make a difference and together create an impact. Some of the tips are more common like sending eco-friendly invites and cards or getting on your bike instead of your car at least once a week. Some are more challenging like arranging an eco-funeral or booking an eco-friendly vacation. But even these tasks are doable, and in any case even if you choose to implement only 10-15 tips, your footprint will be lighter.

I liked the emphasis the book has on outdoors - sometimes all you need to get green is to appreciate the natural world on your doorstep, explore your national parks and plant trees and plants around your house. It is really as simple as it can get and this book is a great reminder of these options we have to make our life greener and happier.

Lat but not least, I also want to mention that this book is printed on recycled paper and its production has been carbon offset by CO2 Australia.

Bottom Line: Useful and beautiful!

Disclosure: We received a copy of this book from the publisher.

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: Promoting sustainable reading!

The paperless office is here and it can save you tons of money (and trees) according to JP Morgan

With the growing efforts to approve the reform in health care, there's a also a growing emphasis on the budget potential savings in some of the experimental programs that the bill includes like electronic medical records, which for us of course means not only savings, but also less paper and less waste.

If there's anyone who is still questioning the fact that paperless office equals huge savings, they should take a look in the report released by JP Morgan, which suggests that a paperless office is entirely viable. It's even easier than you think they add, and last but not least, it will save you money. In other words: a green offer you can't refuse.

Now, this is not a theoretic report. J.P. Morgan launched in 2007 a Go Green Campaign and reached out to more than 25,000 clients, offering support and services to help them transition to a paperless environment. This effort, as the report explains, has has reduced more than 101 million documents since the campaign began, which is the equivalent of reducing three million pounds of paper usage, 50 million pounds of greenhouse gasses and preserving 33,000 trees!

The report gives some pretty good reasons that are pushing companies to embrace a paperless environment - economic pressures that get them to look for new ways to cut operational costs, growing transaction volume, risk of payments frauds and pressure from stakeholders to go green. As you can see these trends are quite relevant for almost every industry and every company that is using paper for its operational needs, and not just for treasury operations which the report is focusing on.

In the process of getting paperless companies will enjoy according to the report significant benefits, such as reduced transaction costs, lowered indirect business costs, increased efficiency and saved time, improved transparency and increased document security. And what about the savings in terms of $$? well, the report explains that on average filing and maintaining 500,000 pieces of paper costs firms an estimated $250,000 in workflow management, another $115,000 to research lost files, and about $150,000 in storage and disposal costs. Quick calculation shows you that cutting paper use by 500,000 sheets of paper can save a company $515,000 a year.

The alternative is electronic of course. Here's just one example of the many suggestions JP Morgan present:

Take paper out of the invoice delivery and receipt process by using an online bill presentment and payment solution like J.P. Morgan’s Pay ConnexionSM. Customers can phone in payments or use a convenient, customized Web portal to pay invoices and manage payment and account information online.

The report augers that a "zero-waste" environment, where treasury departments send and receive information electronically with no paper returned is feasible. I believe that it's feasible also in other departments that use paper and it's just a matter of identifying the right opportunities, just like in the case of the electronic medical records.

The incentives are already there, both economic and environmental - In 2007, U.S. companies spent about $8 billion on paper alone, not including costs for ink toner, or for running copiers, printers or fax machines. Xerox also estimates for every dollar spent on printing documents, companies incur another six dollars in handling and distribution. So you got here a total of potential savings of $56 billion. And the environmental impact? Well, on the same year (2007), U.S. companies printed 1.5 trillion pages, according to research firm IDC. That’s a 95,000-mile-high stack of paper, or the equivalent of 15 million to 20 million trees.

JP Morgan included in the report some interesting Eco Analysis Worksheets they developed that are aimed to help firms determine how much money they can save by moving to paper-free operations. We definitely recommend to take a look in them and see if you can figure out how much money you can save by getting your office or company paperless free. And don't forget of course the trees that you'll save (if you want to know how many, get in touch with us and we'll be happy to calculate it for you).

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

We have a winner on our giveaway of Fiona Robyn's new novel, Thaw!

Last week we presented Fiona Robyn's new novel, Thaw, and the unique offer of the author for readers to read it online for free. In celebration of the new novel we had a giveaway of a signed copy of Thaw, courtesy of the author, and we have a winner!

We asked you to share with us what do you think about enabling readers to read a book for free online? Will it benefit the authors eventually? We got very interesting replies referring to e-publishing and its potential. And our winner is Jeannette who wrote the following:

I think that opening up a novel for readers to read online is basically a good thing, in that yes, I think it will attract new readers, and some of them will buy the book and other books by the same author. I worry though, that if people don't have to pay for things, they may not value them as much, or the work that goes into creating them. Time will tell... All of this is changing rapidly with the development of ebooks. It's a very exciting time to be writing and publishing.

Congrats, Jeannette! You will receive a copy signed by the author and one tree will be planted for it as well! Thank you also to all the other participants. We also like to remind you that we have now another giveaway going on - this time it's the new audiobook 'Story of Stuff'. You can read more details here.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Happy green St. Patrick's Day!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, which I guess is the greenest holiday of all, except maybe Earth Day and Arbor Day...

Did you know that even though in the U.S it's customary to wear green on St. Patrick's Day, in Ireland the color was long considered to be unlucky? I read on National Geographic an interesting explanation of Bridget Haggerty, author of The Traditional Irish Wedding and the Irish Culture and Customs Web site, who said that Irish folklore holds that green is the favorite color of the Good People (the proper name for faeries). They are likely to steal people, especially children, who wear too much of the color.

Well, this is just folklore (in any case check out for the Good People :-), but this is definitely a green day, and it can be even greener than just wearing green and drinking a pint of Guinness out of a green glass.

How exactly? it can definitely start with your beer, as Colin Dunn explains on Planet Green, but doesn't have to stop there, and can continue to the party, the food and even the (green) clothes you're wearing as our friends at Celebrate Green recommend on their blog. And don't forget to check out the great advice of green LA girl on how to celebrate in green.

Have a great and green celebration!
Raz @ Eco-Libris