Earthy It Up, Fools!
Who says you have to wait until Earth Day to do this sort of thing? Earth Day’s almost my birthday anyway. Eat it, Earth!
Author Melanie Hope Greenberg sent me this l’il ole query the other day, and I thought maybe you, oh beautiful inky black Internet void, might be able to spit up some answers to her question. Take a gander and if you happen to know the answer, pitch it someone’s way.
Kathy Krull and I did a book called IT’S MY EARTH TOO/ Doubleday YR 1992. It was one of the first environmentally friendly books out there that set a standard for fine art printing. The back of the book states "This book has been manufactured in an environmentally friendly manner. The text and illustrations are printed on recycled paper with soy-bean oil inks, there is no dust jacket, and water-soluble glues have been used in the binding".
With the glut of "green" books about to hit the market in 2009 I still find it necessary that our industry uphold the highest standards of "going green". We had to fight for the right to go green back in 1991! Our book, sadly out of print, was 17 years ahead of its time and is still relevant today. We wonder if our green process ever caught on, and if not, we sincerely hope the industry is catching up.
Since I have no idea, you might know, are these "new green books" being produced in an authentic green way? We now know it is certainly possible. If not, how can we ask for authentic "green" books to hopefully avoid embarrassing an industry who in hindsight did not walk the talk?
Any ideas or information would be great.
Melanie Hope Greenberg
Author-Illustrator
www.melaniehopegreenberg.comKathleen Krull
www.kathleenkrull.com
Blogging at http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/
Filed under: Uncategorized
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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Thanks so much for bring this subject to light.
Anybody out there have answers?
ps
Love the abstract display of the book cover 😉
Woops! That’s “bringing”.
Early morning calls for strong coffee and an editor.
ps Kathy found this article yesterday:
Study Measure Publishing’s Carbon Footprint at 12.4 Million Tons
— Publishers Weekly, 3/10/2008 7:41:00 AM
The U.S. publishing industry emits over 12.4 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, or about 8.85 pounds per book, according to the findings in the just-released report, Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry. The study, coordinated by the Book Industry Study Group and the Green Press Initiative, looked to establish industry benchmarks related to publishing’s impact on the environment. The cutting of trees for paper was found to have the most significant impact on the industry’s carbon footprint, although the report says the use of recycled paper and fibers has increased over the last several years.
For full coverage of the report and what publishers, booksellers and manufacturers are doing to become more environmentally friendly, check out this week’s print edition of PW.
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