Publishers Going Green

I recently read an article that indicated of the 4 billion books published every year, only 5 - 10% of them make use of recycled materials. As a Greenie and a writer, it really got me thinking.


Most of you know that I wrote my first novel last fall. This book is about two days away from being able to be published (IMO mind you, no professional Editor has laid eyes on it just yet) but I’m wondering how and where I should market my piece of fiction.

Two years ago, one of our favorite musicians here at GLR, Jason Mraz, put out a photography book titled “A Thousand Things”. When it came out I thought it was super innovative for its use of sustainable materials in the paper (Forest Stewardship Council [FSC] certified wood free, chlorine free) and ink (soy based). Even the cover is wood free and, upon Jason’s request, all waste during the printing process was recycled.

Not bad! But how about for those of us who aren’t already a celebrity? When we put out our first book can we be as demanding of how it is printed or do we have to suffer as a tree is chopped down and deal with it because we don’t have any influence in the process?

Well that question is mostly rhetorical when it comes to me because if there is anything you all know about me by now it’s that I never rest quietly on what someone else says I should do! ‘Question, challenge then understand’ should be my motto in life.

So then the first question of course is: where do I begin?

Many publishers are thinking of new approaches to the questions of sustainability. For example, they may use standard tree pulp for their paper but it comes from sources deemed FSC certified*.

There is also a growing trend to offset their paper footprint in ways around the office. Chronicle Books has an Environmental Policy link right on their homepage where they talk about the Green initiatives in their office construction three years ago, as well as their support of various social and humanitarian charities through their staff’s volunteerism.

Another new movement cropping up among many publishers is the elimination of paper from their media. There are so many ways to publish electronically these days -- blogs, websites, pdf documents, even twitter! -- it is almost not necessary to cut down a tree just to put an author’s perspective out into the world.

Other publishers will plant a tree for each book printed, such as Eco-Libris. Because many of the publishers that partner with Eco-Libris print on demand (only print copies when an order is placed), it reduces the advance of materials in order to satisfy orders.

For me it will be easy enough to cross reference the publishers I find listed online with my Writer’s Market 2010 guide to publishers that I have in paperback form in my office already.

Since there is an environmental angle in my manuscript, it might not be a bad idea to start with those folks. After all, we will be on the same page when it comes to the printing process. No pun intended.

*read more about certification and sustainable forestry on the FSC.

Project 365 Community Is Helping to Support Doctors Without Borders

Good morning folks, hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and that perhaps it is sun filled like ours here in the northeast United States! Matt and I have a full day today running around seeing friends who just moved back to the area, other close friends having a little get together and going to check out my mom’s photographic contribution to the “Images of Arlington” show over at the Arlington Center for the Arts.

In the spirit of supporting my mom’s photography, I thought it was high time to tell everyone about a really cool project she is involved in. The name of it is Project 365 and the premise is for all the photographers who are involved to snap and share one photograph a day. Might sound easy but 365 days is much longer than one might think when trying to find fresh ideas for photo subjects!

The group had the great idea to take a sampling of the captures and bind them together into one very awesome coffee table book which is available to purchase through blurb. The book is:

365 Community: A Photo A Day

There are professional photographers and everyday picture enthusiasts (and everyone in between!) featured in this book, but the best part of all is that all the proceeds from the sale of the book will be sent to support Doctors without Borders!

DwoB is an organization operating in over 60 countries worldwide and their main goal is to provide quality medical care to those who are unable to acquire it in their region due to threats of violence or the trauma of living in a post catastrophe environment. Doctors from all regions of the globe, and from all walks of life, come together to provide healthcare in an impartial way to those who need it most.

In March alone the Project 365 book helped to raise $86 for DwoB! Now admittedly that is awesome but I’d love to see that figure jump a mile! Photos are always a wonderful gift and what better way to give that gift than providing over 190 pages of unique photos from some amazingly talented individuals?

My mom has 5 photos featured in the publication; this is what the pages look like inside:

Think Father’s Day people! Don’t get dad another tie, golf club or fat filled meal, give him a gift that really counts and will bring a smile to his face! Not to mention the faces of those people who will benefit the most from access to medical care.

The book is only $46.95 for the softcover but I say go for the image wrapped hardcover version for that extra classy touch since it comes in at only $65.95.

Thanks so much Project 365 for donating your skills to such a worthy cause as DwoB, every dollar raised is a tremendous help and I’m proud that my own mom is a part of it!

♥love♥

Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It by Billee Sharp

Recently, I was fortunate enough to have been given a copy of the book Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It (The D.I.Y. Guide to the Good Life) by Billee Sharp, to read and review, and let me tell you, I am in love with this book!

The book is essentially a “how to” type of guide on ways to do everything in the title, but the minute I started reading the Foreword I knew I was in for so much more than that. Billee takes you through life in her own family, as a way to show just how simple each of the suggestions can be, and through her frank yet easy going approach she lets all readers know just how much better our life will be if we take her advice to heart.

There is not a single page in the book that I didn’t have an “a-ha!” moment or find some useful tip or website / organization that could make me an even Greener Greenie. With resources out the wazoo (everything from how to calculate your own carbon footprint to the websites for Freecycle) and enough recipes for home made cleaners and meals, I don’t think this book can live on my bookshelf; it must be stored in the kitchen as a reference guide!

I really enjoyed her easy way of explaining just how simple it is to make the switch to a more frugal, old school if you will, mentality by telling us that, at first it may be difficult, but will get easier each time we take the initiative to take on more ourselves.

Because I am a writer I did notice a few editing goofs, one of which would cause a bit of confusion as it was for a website URL but overall the book flows. Even me, the slowest reader on the planet, got through it in just three sittings. The encouraging thing is I am already ready to thumb back through it as just today I have a need to make use of one of Ms. Sharp’s suggestions for polishing silver!

Because I was so uber impressed, and fully intend to make great use of this book on very likely a daily basis, I am granting Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It (The D.I.Y. Guide to the Good Life) by Billee Sharp a Four and a Half Leaf Rating!

I think there is a new authority in town on Greening up our lives and it is Billee Sharp! Take her advice to heart and look for her book at your local library or second hand book store before buying new, but if you absolutely can not wait to find it, the book is a steal at $15.95 from Cleis Press online. Thanks for your keen eye on the planet and our pocketbooks Billee, living frugal never sounded so fun! ♥love♥

The Everything Green Living Book

About three weeks ago at my local Barnes and Noble I quite by accident stumbled across this book and wow am I ever happy I did! The Everything Green Living Book is a thorough guide with oodles of pertinent information, but it is written in a very easy to understand voice making it a fantastic resource for not only a beginner but an expert looking for a few new tips or tricks. The cover caught my eye immediately, due to the words Green Living, and as I continued to visually scan it, I noticed the recycling symbol in the upper left corner. This book is printed on 100% post consumer waste paper. Hooray! I was intrigued and began to flip through.

There are twenty chapters, 277 pages of jam packed information, covering everything from the world as it stands now through how to be environmentally responsible even when we die. The foreword is written by Christopher J. Maron, Program Director of the Adirondack, NY Nature Conservancy and he encourages adopting our own conservation ethic. Flipping the page, prior to even viewing the Introduction, there is a list of Ten things each person will take away after pouring through this book and the final one caught my eye “If you take an ecovacation, you’ll be helping the environment while supporting a local economy and having a great time.” Again, this piqued my interest but I was determined to read through the Introduction before going back to the table of contents to scan for the chapter containing information on ecovacations.

Upon reading the Introduction I chuckled as it clearly states “Many people may be surprised at what topic piques their interest.” I was not as much surprised as I was curious what advice this book would include for taking an ecovacation so as I completed the Introduction, I flipped right over to Chapter Thirteen, Vacations and Travel. The thirteen pages in this chapter review terms, pros, cons, how to do it, parks (in the United States), souvenirs, festivals and stay-cations. Included are questions, facts, tips and alerts in separate little boxes to punctuate the information. This format is true for all the chapters and not only does it make the book extremely easy to navigate but helps to hone in on specific bits of information within each larger category as well.

The end of the book includes three Appendix sections including resources (books and websites), a glossary of terms and finally a quiz to determine our own footprint. After completing reading the section I was most interested in it was clear that the level of available information could not be matched in any of the other books I owned and I went back to the beginning to read through the entire book in just two nights! When I came to the very end my brain was buzzing with such a great feeling I was truly inspired -- this book is one of the reasons I started writing this blog, researching local groups and decidedly becoming more involved in maintaining the environment around me. For all of these reasons and more I recommend that everyone check this book out (as a side note I checked with my local library to see if it could literally be checked out however the network of libraries that includes my town does not carry this particular title however I strongly encourage everyone to look into that in their own area as a greener option).

With all of this in mind I am bestowing a Five Green Leaf Rating on this wonderful resource material!

To purchase the title you can either click on the cover image above and be taken to Barnes and Noble online or feel free to check out the Adams Media associated website where the book can be purchased direct.

Please note the cover photo is not stolen from the internet but is my own book which I scanned in.

Welcome to the Green Leaf Reviewer

First of all I would just like to say thank you very much for stopping by, we are brand new and hope you will enjoy the format as it evolves through time.

Next I would like to tell you all a little bit about what we do here at Green Leaf Reviewer. Our mission is simple -- review any and all things environmental. Movies, books, music, products, people, everything! The world is the environment and everything in it can be discussed. One day a review may be completed for an eco-conscious movie such as An Inconvenient Truth while the following day I might post a review of my next door neighbor because they tossed a plastic bottle in the recycle bin for the first time. Anything and everything goes.

I will do my best to post a little something everyday but since I am a real life person (waving hi to all current and future admirers!) life sometimes does get in the way. Please bear with me, especially in these early stages as this gets off the ground. With that in mind, I would also like to draw attention to the Google advertisement box on the right side bar. If something looks interesting to you please click on the ad. This will help me to raise funding to ensure this blog can grow. I appreciate it and thank you in advance for your kind click.

Finally, the Leaf Rating System I developed will be applied to every review completed on this blog. As many critics do, I have a rating system from one to five. One is considered "don't waste your time unless you are really bored" while five is "get yourself out there and experience this yesterday!!" Clearly 2-4 are everything else in between. Here is what a Two Leaf Rating would look like:

The opinions expressed with each Leaf Rating are mine alone. I do not expect everyone to agree with everything I say although whether you agree or not please feel free to comment! Getting people to talk about the environment is the best way to bring the issues it faces to the forefront and then fix them!

Thanks for your visit, please feel free to subscribe to this blog so you never miss a Green Leaf!