Om Baby, Child of the Universe is going green with Eco-Libris!

We're happy to announce on a new collaboration with author Schamet Horsfield on her book "Om Baby, Child of the Universe". This is the first book in the forthcoming Om Baby children's book series and it will be released on Earth Day next week! One tree will be planted with Eco-Libris for every printed copy!

It is a beautiful book full of colorful illustrations that are about love, peace, and happiness.The book's text emphasizes the importance of family, friends, and community. Children and adults alike will love Om Baby's colors, imaginative characters and settings, and the feelings the book evokes within them.

Om Baby is a superhero for the planet, for love, and for global peace. Om Baby reminds us of the most important things in life: truth, love, friendship, family, community, and the potential for greatness within us all. Om Baby provokes thought and stimulates the imagination. Om Baby invites meaningful conversations that will last throughout childhood and beyond. This is a book that will be read again and again as a valuable part of any child's development and education about caring for our environment and our fellow humans.

Author Schamet Horsfield has gone to great lengths to make Om Baby, Child of the Universe as green as possible, using soy-based inks and recycled paper. In addition, Horsfield is partnering with Eco Libris to plant a tree for each copy sold!

You can learn more about the book and the author on her website - www.ombabyworld.com. If you want to meet Schamet Horsfield, there are already few reading events scheduled for next week:

April 20th and 22nd (Earth Day), 11:00 am
Kids Quest Children's Museum

4091 Factoria Boulevard Southeast

Bellevue, WA 98006

April 21, 12:30-2:00 pm

Seattle Holistic Center

Good Shepherd Center

4649 Sunnyside Ave. N, Room 302

Seattle, WA 98103

These are events for children and adults. Schamet will be reading Om Baby at story time followed by book signing.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading

Green printing tip no. 41: Special tip for Earth Day!

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 Greg is talking about Earth Day in a special tip for the upcoming 40th anniversary of Earth Day next week.

What is the advice from Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day to us today?

Tip #41

What Does Denis Hayes, the FOUNDER of Earth Day advise us to do now to keep their mission going? It is time to review where we stand, heading into Earth Day.

Last night I attended a screening of Earth Days, a movie coming out shortly, that is a review of "40 Years of Going Green"



The filmmaker is Robert Stone and the ORIGINAL Earth Day coordinator, Denis Hayes, were at the screening and we got to hear from them after this absolutely, terrific movie.

I was like a kid, and asked for Denis to autograph my invitation. That is the one and only autograph I have ever gotten in my life tme. I told him that I started my Environmental Printing businss at the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day. So his dream became my reality in forming my business.

It was funny how they said there were no Twitter, Linkedin or Facebook to help spread the word on the first Earth Day.

They went on TV, they got magazines to feature them, they worked around the clock to make it happen, and it was a bi-partisan effort in our government to support this hugely, successful 1st Earth Day.

THEIR ADVICE:

Their panel told us we need to energize ourselves, and keep their vision going. We need to encourage our friends to be environmental, and to not forget how our rivers and streams were so polluted, and how the smog in California was so bad, events got canciled. Just don't get lazy and complacent. Push for a better planet.

Don't put all our baskets in Climate Change. We need to control our population, and we need to
save our natural resources, and conserve our energy, etc. It was also funny to hear that President Nixon should be known as one of the most environmental Presidents.

The USEPA and many first environmental laws came because he pushed for them.

So, here we are 40 years later, and we all need to to our part to protect OUR environment.

You can choose to print on 100% Post-Consumer recycled paper.

You can choose to use 100% Processed Chlorine Free paper.

You can choose to be FSC.

You can choose to use a Green E Energy Printer and Paper Mill.

You can choose to call me.

Happy Earth Day!

For additional information, please visit www.gregbarberco.com and www.ecofriendlyprinter.com. You can email Greg at greg@gregbarberco.com.

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.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

The reissued novel The Birth Machine by Elizabeth Baines is going green with Eco-Libris!

We're happy to announce on a new collaboration with author Elizabeth Baines on her novel "The Birth Machine". This is Elizabeth Baines' first novel, which will be reissued by Salt Publishing on October 2010. One tree will be planted with Eco-Libris for every printed copy!

This is the second book of Elizabeth Baines we're greening up. The first one is "Too Many Magpies", which was described as 'Moving and compelling' by Sarah Salway. One tree is planted for each printed copy of this novel as well.

Here are some details on "The Birth Machine":

As Zelda labours in childbirth, she sinks into a surreal world where the past blends with the present, and facts become merged with fairytale and myth. The long-awaited reissue of the groundbreaking eighties novel which exposed a woman’s experience of hi-tech childbirth and tells a gripping story of a long-ago murder and present-day betrayals.

"The Birth Machine" was also adapted by Elizabeth Baines and broadcast as a play for Radio 4

Already it got some great reviews:

‘A gripping story, a pithy book’ – Katy Campbell

‘An increasingly powerful narrative … its presentation of the world of childhood contrasts nicely with sharp satire’ – Laura Marcus, Times Literary Supplement

‘Elizabeth Baines has a wry humour and satirical edge’ – Martin Nicholls, City Life

‘This powerful book leaves you with a sense of disquiet, anger and frustration’ – Jessica Corner, Everywoman.

About the author: Elizabeth Baines was born in South Wales and lives in Manchester. Salt previously published two acclaimed books by Elizabeth, her collection of short stories, Balancing on the Edge of the World (2007) and her novel Too Many Magpies (2009). Elizabeth is a prizewinning radio playwright and she has also written short plays for stage. She is also a performer and has been a teacher.

We'll keep you posted of course once the book is released.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

It's time to clean your body on our green gift giveaway!

We're happy to update you that we're adding another great green book to our green gift giveaway:

Clean Body: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing Yourself

You can get a free copy of Clean Body by Michael DeJong when you balance out 50 books by planting 50 trees with Eco-Libris. You can also choose one of the other five books we offer as a free gift: Raw for Dessert, Greening Your Small Business, The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book, Sweet Utopia and Sustainable Sushi.

All of these books are printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper and readers can choose from this list the book they would like to receive as a gift from us.

So what's Sustainable Sushi about? (from the publisher's website)
Clean Zen, clean green! Clean Body follows the successful Clean: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing, by cleaning guru Michael DeJong. As with the first book, this is not merely about washing away the dirt: it embodies a mindset, a philosophy, an alternative to mass consumerism.

DeJong draws from Eastern belief systems - especially the element theory in Chinese medicine and Asian cooking - and harmoniously balances five pure essentials in his recipes, using baking soda, lemon, olive oil, salt, and white vinegar as the basis for his all-natural concoctions.

Including special, separate sections for men and women, Clean Body has ideas for everything from facial exfoliants and natural aftershave to moisturizers and creams for itchy skin, discolored knees, and smooth feet. EVERY part of the body, from head to toe, is covered.

You can read more about it on Pajama Mommy's review of this book, which was part of our green books campaign.

More details about our green gift giveaway and the other gifts we give to readers who balance out 25 books or more (gift cards for Strand Bookstore and BookSwim!) can be found on the campaign's page at http://www.ecolibris.net/gifts.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

New video from RIPPLE Africa: Deforestation, bush burning and Forest Conservation in Malawi

Our planting partner RIPPLE Africa is working in Malawi, Africa and is doing an amazing job there. They've just published a new video, showing the effects of deforestation and bush burning, and also illustrates the woodland conservation program that RIPPLE Africa has initiated.

This film shows both sides of reality in Malawi - deforestation and frustration on one side and reforestation and hope on the other side, which we're proud to support. You can read more about RIPPLE Africa on their website - www.rippleafrica.org and learn on our work with them on the last assessment we published last year.




Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

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

This week (April 11-17) we're celebrating the National Library Week, an annual celebration of the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians.

I wrote here many times how much love libraries and definitely a big part of it is due to the fact that my mother is a librarian. I interviewed her two years ago in celebration of this occasion, and I thought it would be appropriate to repost it in honor of this week and all of the librarians around the globe, including my mother who is doing it with a lot of love for the last 29 years!

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

29 Years [updated to 2010, r.g.]

How much have libraries changed during these 29 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 29 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.

And one last recommendation - check out the the most amazing libraries in America on Huffington Post. It's indeed amazing!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

RecycleBank's 10 Ways to Reduce Waste, Save Energy and Protect the Earth

Earth Day is just a week away and in honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, our friends at RecycleBank has put together 40 simple yet effective ways to reduce waste, save energy, trees, and other resources, and help fight pollution and curb climate change all Earth Month long.

Below are the first ten tips. Each week during Earth Month, RecycleBank will post ten new tips online.

1. You'll be more likely to recycle consistently if you set up a recycling area in your kitchen or utility room. Post a list nearby of the items that are accepted for recycling in your local community.

2.Reuse or recycle as many of your empty health and beauty product containers as you can. If you can’t reuse them at home, containers such as your empty vitamin or supplement bottles can be recycled with your home recycling. Other cosmetic and toiletry tubes, bottles, and jars (from any brand) can be taken back to retail stores including Origins and MAC.

3. Choose toilet paper made from 100% recycled fibers. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, if every household in the U.S. replaced one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled ones, we'd save 423,900 trees.

4. When decorating your home, choose items made from reclaimed materials - for example, a recycled glass vase from RecycleBank rewards partner Uncommon Goods, a rug made from old cotton t-shirts, or a basket made from telephone wire. It saves resources and extends the useful life of the materials.

5. Find out how to recycle items that you can't place in your curbside bin like batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and plastic bags. When in doubt, call your local solid waste management agency or go to earth911.org.

6. Leave grass clippings on the lawn after you mow rather than bagging and throwing them away. This saves energy and landfill space and the grass will decompose and return nutrients to the soil.

7. Got an old fur coat or hat in the attic that you inherited and never wear? Donate it to the Humane Society of the United States' Coats for Cubs program so wildlife rehabilitators can reuse it as bedding for injured or orphaned wildlife.

8. After birthday and holiday celebrations, save gift bags and boxes, ribbons, and tissue paper to reuse.

9. Recycle plastic packing peanuts by saving them for the next time you send a package, taking them to any UPS Store location, or calling the Plastic Loose Fill Council's 24-hour Peanut hotline (800-828-2214) to find other drop-off sites near you.

10. Invest in a set of rechargeable batteries and a charger for powering your digital camera, portable music player, remote control, and other gadgets. You'll reduce waste, save resources like steel, and save money in the long run.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!