Ecolibris
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Thursday, August 2, 2007: Small steps, big
strides
Yesterday the New York Times revealed that Michael Bloomberg,
the mayor of New York City, is driven 22 blocks by SUV to
catch the subway to City Hall. Still, I think the fact he's
taking the subway at all is an important example to the people
of New York, and though it might be done better, he should
be praised (or at least a hug here and there) for his consistent
effort. I wish other mayors will follow him.
At the same day, I saw an ad on the Times of PlanYC, Bloomberg's
environmental vision and plan for New York's near future.
The plan includes targets such as reducing the carbon emissions
of the city in 30% by 2030.
The ad I saw was part of a marketing campaign that calls New
Yorkers to take an active part in this plan. On their website,
it's written that Mayor Bloomberg cannot reach the target
of reducing emissions without the New Yorkers, and calls them
to make a difference.
There's a list on this page of ten easy tips how to do it.
It also emphasize that some of these tips will not only save
emissions, but will save you money. For example, tip no. 4:
unplug chargers and appliances when not in use.
My favorite is tip no. 10: switch to paperless bank statements
and online bill paying. It's a fairly east step and saves
many trees and toxic air pollutants! According to the site,
if every home in the US viewed and paid bills electronically,
the country would save 18.5 million trees and avoid 2.2 billion
tons of toxic air pollutants.
The spirit of NYC is definitely the spirit of Eco-Libris -
people have the power to make a difference, and the steps
they take accumulate and make an impact. Like they say on
the GreenYC page: "Each New Yorkers small steps, put
together, will add up to big strides".
Here's one of the campaign's videos. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh4fVjw-os0
Raz
Thursday, August 2, 2007: Discovery Communications
buys TreeHugger.com
The big news these days are about the acquisition of Dow Jones
by Rupert Murdoch, but the green world has big acquisition
news of its own. Environmental Leader reported yesterday that
Discovery Communications acquired TreeHugger.com, maybe the
most influential and significant green website.
According to the article, TreeHugger will become part of
Discovery's Planet Green, a multiplatform initiative that
will launch a 24/7 eco-lifestyle TV network on 2008.
It was quite obvious that the influential TreeHugger will
be a target to acquisition by one of the media moguls that
try to increase their presence in the growing green media.
I am sure Discovery will benefit from this deal and the only
question left open is if TreeHugger will remain independent
and innovative - two things that assisted him in leading the
green blogosphere until now.
Oh, and by the way, TreeHugger reported this week for the
first time on Eco-Libris. We were very excited about it. Still,
it's the most popular green website with 1.4 million unique
monthly visitors. So, is it just a coincidence that both events
happened at the same week? ;-)
Good luck to all the good people of TreeHugger in their new
home!
Raz
Wednesday, July 25, 2007: reading
and planting in the UK
We read an interesting story on http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk/
about a program that encourages children in the UK to go the
libraries and read books through the summer holidays.
The program is running this summer for the ninth time and
is aimed at 4-11 year olds kids all over the UK. According
to the article "Children are challenged to read six or
more books, spurred on by a range of free incentives and activities."
Not only that, but the program is also a call to action for
children to make a positive difference to the environment,
and trees are been planted for every book the children read,
via a partnership with the Woodland Trust's Tree for All campaign.
What a great program - gives children incentives to read,
gives them the opportunity to take the books from the library,
and also gives them an important lesson on the need to go
green by planting trees for the books they read.
Now, with Jamie Oliver taking care of their healthy school
dinners and programs like this, it seems that children in
the UK are greener and healthier than ever.
The whole story, written by Mark Hilditch, can be found at:http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1549009.mostviewed.young_readers_can_earn_new_trees.php
Raz
Saturday, July 14, 2007: Bid with your
lid for SH
We got exciting news from one of our planting partners, Sustainable
Harvest International (SHI) - they have been selected to benefit
from Stonyfield Farm’s ‘Bid With Your Lid’
program!
I am sure you all know Stonyfield Farm and their great organic
dairy products, including their very tasty yogurts. The company,
through its Profits for the Planet program, donates 10% of
their profits to efforts that help protect and restore the
earth.
Their annual 'Bid with Your Lid' program gives each one of
us a chance to help direct a portion of these donations. They
will give a total of $100,000 to three organizations that
help the earth. Each organization will receive $20,000 plus
a percentage of $40,000, based on your voting.
SHI is one of these 3 organizations, and we call everyone
to cast their vote for SHI. You can do it online or by mail
and receive great prizes on the way, like chocolate, tea,
tote bags and of course yogurt!
We are very proud that one of our planting partners is participating
in this program, and we send our greetings to Florence Reed,
SHI founder, and all the people at SHI. They'll sure get our
vote and hopefully yours as well. Voting begins July 1, 2007
and ends October 15, 2007.
Here's the link to receive more details on the program and
how to vote and receive prizes: http://www.stonyfield.com/SpecialOffers/bidwithyourlid/index.cfm
and here's a link to SHI website, where you can learn more
about it: http://www.sustainableharvest.org
Raz
Monday, July 2, 2007: Live Earth ConcertsI
The date: 7-7-07
The place: 7 continents
The event: Live Earth is a 24-hour concert series that aims
to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.
Well, we're not sure if one more concert can help, but it
sure can't hurt that more people will hear and learn about
climate change and what can and should be done about it.
Expected audience: 2 Billion (live and online)
Number of artists: 100 +
The most interesting band: Nunatak - the band that will play
in Antarctica. This band, playing indie-rock music, includes
5 staff members of the Rothera Research Station in Antarctica.
Since no other band can get to Antarctica due to the weather
conditions in July there, these guys actually are the most
valuable band in the whole event - without them, the organizers
wouldn't be able to keep their promise and have it on all
of the continents. Nunatak will play in front of the other
17 people that are stationed there, in a temperature that
is expected to be around -15 degrees Fahrenheit (-26 degrees
Celsius). No wonder that on the station's website they call
it: the coolest gig in the world :-)
Eco-Libris favorite performers (in brackets, the concert's
location): Beastie Boys, Genesis, Spinal Tap, Red Hot Chili
Peppers (Wembley Stadium, UK), Roger Waters (Giants Stadium,
US), UB40 (Coca Cola Dome, South Africa), Snoop Dog (HSH Nordbank
Arena, Germany) and of course Nunatak (Rothera Research Station,
Antarctica).
Where to hear it online: the concerts will be streamed live
on July 7 by MSN at www.LiveEarth.MSN.com.
You can find more information on the event's website.
Have fun on 7/7 and don't forget the cause - bringing more
awareness to the climate change crisis.
Raz
Sunday, June 24, 2007: The most unique
(and veggie) orchestra in the world
They might not be vegetarians, but they sure know how to play
the vegetables.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the one and only: The
Vienna Vegetable Orchestra.
Link: http://www.gemueseorchester.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=
You can find more information on the orchestra at their website:
http://www.gemueseorchester.org/
enjoy,
Raz
Thursday, June 21, 2007: so, what’s
the deal with paper?
We got few requests to give more information about the environmental
impacts of the paper used by the book publishing industry.
We are happy to receive such requests because we believe this
info is something that every book lover should get acquainted
with.
In our blog, we’ll try to give you the full picture
of what’s going on out there with the production of
paper. We promise to bring you each week one new fact about
paper and the way its production affects the world we’re
living in.
One of the best information sources for this issue is Green
Press Initiative, a non-profit program, which its mission
is to work with publishers, industry stakeholders and authors
to create paper-use transformations that will conserve natural
resources and preserve endangered forests. These people are
doing a great job and are a significant force in the effort
to move the book publishing industry towards sustainability.
At the Book Expo America 2007, a major event of the book
publishing industry that took place in NYC at the beginning
of June, Green Press Initiative participated in a panel on
the environmental impacts of book publishing (isn't the panel
itself a sign of change? I believe it is..). This interesting
panel included also 3 publishers (Random House, Chronicle
Books and Powell’s Books). All four delivered presentations
that are available on Green Press Initiative’s website.
The presentation given by Green Press Initiative (the first
one on this page) is a great introduction to anyone who is
interested in the environmental impacts of paper. Think of
it as Paper 101. But if it’s not enough for you, don’t
worry, it’s just the beginning. In the next couple of
weeks, I will write more thoroughly on many of the issues
brought up in the presentation.
And as promised, to the fact of the week:
Fact 1: Canada’s Boreal Forest stores more carbon than
any other forest. It is estimated that 2.5 million acres of
forest are cut there each year, and 65% of the trees cut down
are harvested specifically to make paper – much of it
consumed by publishers (news, book, magazine, catalog) in
the US. Source: Green Press Initiative
Raz
Sunday, June 17, 2007: small changes
have the power to make a BIG impact
Link to video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUcZwsg1C4M&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fecolibris%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F
Friday, June 15, 2007: why did your parents named you Eco-Libris?
This week we launched Eco-Libris, a great new green venture
(if you haven't had the chance yet, you are welcome to check
it out - http://www.ecolibris.net/). I feel like a proud father
that his new baby was just born and he's sending pictures
to everyone (links in this case :-). So, I believe that as
a good father, my first task is to explain the name - why
Eco-Libris and what does it mean?
Well, the name is inspired from ex-libris (in Latin: ‘from
the books of..’) is a decorative label or print people
used to paste on their books for the purpose of identifying
the books' owner. In general, it was a more decorative and
aesthetic way to make sure everyone will know this book is
yours than just writing your name inside it. We see Eco-Libris
as the new, green version of ex-libris.
In our vision people will balance out their books by planting
trees and will indicate their commitment to sustainability
by putting our sticker on these books.
As the ex-libris was an elegant way to show the identity
of the book owner and her (or his) appreciation of the book,
we hope to see Eco-Libris stickers become the new way book
owners present their identity, saying: hey, i love this book,
but i also care about the environment. i am trying to live
more sustainably. That’s who i am!
btw, the credit for creating the name goes to Oren Entin,
one of the most creative people on our team.
enjoy,
Raz
Friday, June 15, 2007: starting NOW
Hi, my name is Raz and I am one of the co-founders of Eco-Libris.
I am very excited to write the first post on our blog.
Although I have written dozens of articles on green business
for Israel's second-largest newspaper web edition (sorry,
they are only in Hebrew...), this is my first time here at
the blogosphere. So, I have some catching up to do, but I’ll
do my best to keep it interesting and with a good sense of
humor (hopefully), in the spirit of my favorite green news
website - Grist.
So, welcome to the blog of Eco-Libris, a green venture of
a dedicated team who wants to do good and do well at the same
time. Check out our team page to see who we are - http://www.ecolibris.net/team.asp.
Behind the smiling faces, there is a bunch of excellent people
(I’m not kiddin’, you can check it with our mothers),
who have diversified backgrounds and share the same belief:
we need to green up our lifestyle and make it much more sustainable.
And as you may know already we decided to begin with books,
by aiming to plant a tree for every book read.
This blog is the place where we’ll tell you more about
what we’re doing and what’s going on in general
in the fast growing green market. Here, you’ll receive
the hottest news on Eco-Libris, interesting stories from the
green world in general and the junction of sustainability
and book publishing industry in particular. Not only that,
but we also plan to cover trends and issues related to your
everyday life, from green sex and eco-fashion to where you
can find cheap compact fluorescent bulbs. We also promise
to bring you links to cool sites and videos related to eco-friendly
issues that we always pick up as we surf the web.
So stay tuned, you won’t regret it ;-)
Humbly yours,
Raz
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