Green Articles

Eco-Libris is happy to offer you a collection of links to articles published mainly on newspapers, but also on websites and blogs, that cover issues related to sustainable reading. You will find here articles written on broad range of subjects, such as: publishers' green policies, deforestation, green books, reforestation, environmental impacts of paper, e-books, book swapping, independent bookstores, recycled paper, FSC-certified paper, reading and more.

The links are brought to you in a chronological order. We hope you will find them useful!

No-frills publishing on the rise, guardian.co.uk, Guy Dammann and agencies, April 4, 2008 - HarperCollins Publishers is forming a new publishing group, under the leadership of Robert S. Miller, which will plans to implement innovative concepts, including shift of the burden of risk towards the bookseller by offering titles on a no-returns basis.

Merrill Lynch: Turning Trees into Money, Environmental Capital, WSJ.com, Dana Mattioli, March 11, 2008 - Merrill Lynch announced on new investment of $9 million to finance a project to protect 750,000 hectares of forest in Indonesia. The investment in forest conservation is expected to generate $432 million in carbon financing over the next 30 years.

Toward a Greener Future, Publishers Weekly, Jim Milliot, March 10, 2008 - An analysis of the the benchmarking study 'Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts:Findings from the U.S. Book Industry'.

Report: Book publishing industry getting greener, CNN.com, Associated Press, March 10, 2008 - 'Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts:Findings from the U.S. Book Industry', a detailed report that present and analyze the book publishing's ecological footprint is being released.

Selling books by the chapter, Springwise, Murtaza Ali Patel, February 15, 2008 - A new innovation from Random House that can save some paper-made books: selling books by the chapter. The first book to be offered by them is 'Made to Stick', written by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.

HarperCollins Will Post Free Books on the Web, New York Times, Motoko Rich, February 11, 2008 - HarperCollins Publishers will be offering on their website free electronic editions of some of its books on its website, including books of Paulo Coelho, Neil Gaiman and Erin Hunter.

Rain Forests Fall at 'Alarming' Rate, ABC News, Edwards Harris - Associated Press, February 3, 2008 - a gloomy reminder of the state of rain forests around the world, which continues to get worse.

Brazil to Increase Monitors in Rain Forest as Illegal Clearing Spreads, Washington Post, Marco Sibaja - Associated Press, January 25, 2008 - the Brazilian government announced that it would send additional federal police and environmental agents to the Amazon following an announcement that illegal clearing of the rain forest had jumped dramatically last year.

Harry Potter author snubs Finnish printing paper, Yahoo! News, January 23, 2008 - J.K. Rowling has blocked the Finnish version of the last Harry Potter from being printed on local paper because it lacks the FSC certification.

Scholastic Embraces FSC-Certified Paper, GreenBiz.com, January 10, 2008 - Scholastic, the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books, announced on its new green policy that is meant to "further strengthening its sustainable paper procurement practices".

Prince Charles to work with Norway to save forests, Reuters, December 27, 2007 - Prince Charles offered to Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, to work together on saving forests in developing countries.

Love That Book? Then Set It Free, New York Times, Michelle Slatallad, December 20, 2007 - Michelle Slatallad writes on her column 'Cyberfamilias' about her BookCrossing adventures.

World Bank Launches Forest Carbon Fund, Planet Ark, Reuters, December 12, 2007 - news from Bali, Indonesia: The World Bank launched plans for a US$300 million fund to fend off global warming by preserving forests in developing countries.

Publishers aim for greener future, Guardian Unlimited, Richard Lea, November 27, 2007 - UK books trade has taken a step towards a greener future, setting a target of a 10% reduction in carbon footprint from 2006 levels by 2015.

Online library gives readers access to 1.5 million books, PhysOrg.com, November 27, 2007 - The Million Book Project has just has completed the digitization of more than 1.5 million books, which are now available online.

Amazon debuts Kindle e-book reader, CNET News.com, Caroline McCarthy, November 19, 2007 - Amazon finally unveils its new wireless reading device - Amazon Kindle

In the Valley of the Literate, New York Times, Roger Mummert, November 16, 2007 - the story of Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, which is a paradise for every avid reader - plenty of independent bookstores, many literature events every day and even loads of authors that live next by.

Simon & Schuster Getting Greener, SFGate.com, Associated Press, November 8, 2007 - Simon & Schuster announced on a new environmental initiative and paper policy that will dramatically increase the amount of recycled fiber in the paper used to manufacture its books.

MySpace and HarperCollins collaborating on environmental book, BostonHerald.com, Associated Press, October 24, 2007 - MySpace is collaborating with a children’s imprint of HarperCollins on an environmental handbook coming out April 22, Earth Day.

Clear the Bookshelf and Fill It Up Again, All Online, New York Times, Joanne Kaufman, October 15, 2007 - everything you wanted to know about BookMooch.

Books for Free?, Brave New World, Martyn Daniels, September 14, 2007 - an interesting business model allows book readers to get their books for free by allowing sponsors to plant advertisings in the pages.

Envisioning the Next Chapter for Electronic Books, New York Times, Brad Stone, September 5, 2007 - are we on the verge of a significant breakthrough in electronic books?

On the Outdoor Book Tour, the Word Is Spreading, New York Times, Nina Bernstein, September 1, 2007 - the NYT brings us a great piece about one of the summer's greatest pleasures - outdoor reading.

Harry Potter's eco-pages magic to earth-friendly ears, Financial Post, CanWest News Service, Mary Lamey, July 18, 2007 - the seventh book in the Harry Potter series is said to be the greenest book in publishing history.

What's So Bad About Deforestation?, Planet Ark, Reuters, July 5, 2007 - some explanations of the environmental impacts associated with deforestation.

A matter of life and death, guardian.co.uk - Environment, Wangari Maathai, November 13, 2006 - Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and the 2004 Nobel peace prize laureate, explains the importance of the Billion Tree Campaign, which is aimed to plant a billion trees.

The Hidden Life of Paper and Its Impact on the Environment, New York Times, Louise Story, October 25, 2006 - a couple of large publishers are starting to think about their own impact on the environment.

Saving the Planet, One Book at a Time, New York Times, Rachel Domadio, July 9, 2006 - on efforts to green up the production of books, from Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth (the book)and Random House new policy to the Green Press Initiative's treatise.

Random Goes Green, Publishers Weekly, Rachel Deahl, May 17, 2006 - Random House is significantly increasing its reliance on recycled paper. It plans to incrementally raise the amount of recycled paper it uses over a four-year period to 30% by 2010.

Page of Enlightenment, Grist, September 12, 2005 - Nicole Rycroft, campaigns director for Markets Initiative, answers Grist's questions. You can also check her replies to readers' questions ('Tree Enterprise').