In honor of Earth Day (April 22), we wanted to take a moment to post some information about the Green Press Initiative, a group that fights for good use of resources in the publishing industry.
According to the Green Press Initiative:
The U.S. book and newspaper industries combined require the harvest of over 120 million trees each year and emit over 40 million metric tons of C02 annually; equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of 7.3 million cars.
People who read and write regularly about the world around them will often find themselves writing about their environments. The Green Press Initiative calls on writers, publishers, and booksellers to work toward a more environmentally conscious publishing industry.
According to their Facebook page:
Green Press Initiative’s work has helped to bring about a sixfold increase in recycled fiber use in the U.S. book industry—that’s a reduction of over 1.4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 3 million trees per year!
Do you want to get involved? Check out their website today.
The publishing industry itself could reduce the amount of pages used at the beginnings of books by combining information into far fewer pages. Publishing companies should shred and recycle all unwanted manuscripts instead of just tossing them into the trash.
Writers and editors could print their edit copies, if they edit on paper, onto the flip side of used paper (turning it upside down as well to reduce confusion).
If rejection letters are not wanted, the backsides can be reused to make notes, outlines for new projects.
When reading a book, we could all opt for electronic mediums or buy used copies if the book is for themselves or any fellow earth lover. Both of these I currently do. I love used books and I pass them on to friends when I am finished.