Blog Action Day: Publishing and the Environment
October 15, 2007 by Lillie
Fifteen thousand bloggers are joining together on Blog Action Day to write about the environment. No doubt many of the participating bloggers will be rabid environmentalists, but the majority of probably aren’t. I’m no tree hugger, and the hype hasn’t convinced me that man causes global warming. However, as a Christian, I believe that we must be good stewards of the earth that God has given us.
Genesis 1:26:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
My husband and I do not create hardships for ourselves for the sake of conservation. Both of us find relief from chronic pain in hot showers, and sometimes we take several showers a day. However, we are otherwise careful when using hot water, such as running the dishwasher and washing machine with full loads.
As much as possible, we reduce, recycle, and re-use. We don’t have to have the shiniest new gadgets. We drive cars that get good mileage, and we don’t drive a lot. We started recycling when the only things that could be recycled (at least as far as I knew) were newspapers and cans. Now, we recycle glass, plastic, metal, and all kinds of paper. Even before anything goes to the recycling bin, we’ve used it as much as possible. Instead of buying storage containers, we re-use plastic dishes and glass jars. We use the back side of paper for drafts, and after both sides are printed, I cut up less-than-full pages into notepaper.
Unfortunately, the publishing industry in general isn’t friendly to the environment.
I’ve heard that one-third of all the paperback books published end up in landfills without being sold. Books are sold to bookstores as returnable. If a bookstore orders more copies of a title than it sells in what it determines to be a reasonable time, the store can return the unsold units to the publisher. However, in the case of mass market paperbacks, only the cover, not the book, is returned. The stores strip the covers, send the covers back for credit, and throw away the rest of the books. That’s why you sometimes see a notice that if you bought this book without a cover, the publisher and author aren’t making any money. Imagine how many trees are being destroyed and how many garbage dumps are being filled with books no one has ever read! This problem is inherent in the publishing business model, and individual authors and consumers aren’t in a position to do much about it.
Some publishers are beginning to use recycled paper. While this doesn’t solve the problem of excess copies of the books being discarded, at least it does reduce the number of trees destroyed. And if paper recycling becomes more common, maybe the publishers will decide it’s more cost-effective to recycle the unsold books than to discard them.
Digital printing can make small print runs more cost-effective, and print-on-demand (POD) eliminates excess inventory. Using POD technology, books can be printed as needed. Instead of printing thousands of copies and hoping they sell, publishers can print only the number of copies that are actually sold to consumers. The term POD is confusing, because some subsidy publishers call themselves POD publishers. People sometimes confuse the subsidy business model with the printing technology, but any publisher can use the POD technology. Small presses and self-publishing authors, especially, can benefit from digital printing, either in small press runs or in print-on-demand, to avoid large unsold inventories. Anyone looking at POD needs to do due diligence as there are some less-than-scrupulous companies taking advantage of the POD term.
E-books can eliminate the need for paper completely. Electronic books, read on computer or hand-held reading devices, save trees and unsold copies don’t end up in landfills. You can read more in several other posts here, especially my e-book series. Of course, there are environmental issues with electronic devices themselves. However, according to the article E-Waste: The Final Frontier on Earth911:
“A full 99 percent of all materials that go through our doors are recycled—meaning that they go into reuse of some sort,” says John Shegerian, Chairman & CEO of Electronic Recyclers.
Eco-Libris is working to balance out the environmental impacts of the book publishing industry. You can plant a tree for every book you read. Sign up at Eco-Libris, decide how many books you want to balance out, and donate $1 each to have a tree planted.
Eco-Libris works with its planting partners to plant your trees in developing countries
Our planting partners are organizations that work in developing countries. Their planting and conservation activities are an integral part of their efforts to help local communities in these countries move towards a sustainable future. We make sure that your trees will be planted where they provide significant value for both the environment and the local communities, who are very much involved and play an important part in the planting projects.
You can make a positive impact on the environment without giving up any of the pleasures of reading. Look for books printed on recycled paper, patronize companies that use technology to avoid waste, read e-books, contribute to Eco-Libris, trade books with friends, or read books from the library.
Related Posts:
E-Book Series
[tags]Blog Action Day, environment, publishing[/tags]
Lillie- I have just started a new book project and will be looking for an editor. I’m curious what you think your fee would be to take on this project. You can find details about the project at
http://priscillapalmer.com/priscillapalmer/2007/10/16/book-submission-request-article/
I plan on selecting articles and putting the book together the way I want it before submitting it to an editor so, you would be recieving the book in the form I plan on publishing it in (with the exception of editing of course.)
Before accepting this project I would like you to know that I’m putting a bit of a rush on this project. My goal is to have it published in e-book form by the 1st of the year (This is not set in stone but, gives you an idea of the goal I have in mind).
Please e-mail me with your thoughts at priscillacoach4u@aol.com
I doubt this matters, but I do use only recycled paper to print and write on. I wonder what my business cards I made of? I doubt that is recycled paper.
This is a great entry, Lillie. It reminds us of the apparently little things, which, in reality are big.
Lillie,
Thank you for mentioning Eco-Libris in your post. I definitely agree with your analysis. The bottom line is that the book publishing industry is far from being sustainable. This situation needs to be changed and the sooner the better.
Many actions can be taken not in the far future, but in the very near future. We believe for example that replacing virgin paper with recycled paper is becoming a very realistic option. Just look at the last Harry Potter, a bestseller published on partially or fully recycled paper worldwide.
There’s a lot to be done and Eco-Libris aims to be an agent of change helping to make reading much more sustainable. We are also proud to offer book lovers as well as publishers, writers and bookstores an opportunity to take an action and make a difference NOW. You are most welcome to check our site and learn more about us.
Thank you,
Raz Godelnik
raz@ecolibris.net
http://www.ecolibris.net
very interesting project…do you have some update for it?
Hi Lillie. Thank you for a very thought provoking article. I’m an avid recycler, but I’m afraid that stops at books. I’m ashamed at all the books I have collected that I’ve never read or only read once. I never considered the impact that has on the environment. And this from the woman who only uses recycled loo roll! Shame on me. Sitll can’t bring myself to read an e-book though …
Fiona,
At least the books you own have the potential of someday being read. The real waste is the ones that are discarded into landfills before they are ever sold—and that is about one-third of all books printed!
I have heard (don’t know if it’s true) that parts of the M25 highway around London are paved not with gold, but Mills and Boone! That is the books were pulped and dumped as part of the road’s foundation. It is a terrible waste – not the Mills and Boone’s of course, but, as you say, the trees.
Fiona,
I haven’t heard that. But if it’s true, my reaction is mixed. On one hand, I hate that all those books were pulped. But on the other hand, if they were going to be pulped anyway, it’s better they were put to some kind of use building up a road rather than building up a landfill somewhere.
I think blogging in itself is a great way to reduce our impact on the environment. No paper is used to write online as opposed to printed form.
Salvage (if you wrote YourName@Keywords, I could address you as a real person, and you would still get your keyword link),
Great point—blogging is environmentally friendly.
in the blog we can all give ideas, both for the government, private, or individual. Can even scrutinize the impact of the environment. not correct?
cecep´s last blog post..York News
cecep,
Blog Action Day for the environment was a special day in which bloggers were encouraged to write about the environment. Each blogger wrote from his or her own perspective.
Certainly “Blog Action Day” is a very innovative project. With bloggers all around the globe making a concerted effort to raise awareness about global poverty and ways to fight it.
Eddie´s last blog post..Time shortage! Imagination or reality
Eddie,
Any time we have large numbers of people bringing awareness to a specific problem, it is a positive thing. Awareness alone doesn’t solve the problem, but nothing can be solved without awareness.
That is one of the things I really enjoy about blogging. Its impact on the natural environment is minimal when compared to conventional writing means. The amount of paper saved alone is well worth it.
Matthew,
Interesting thought. I was talking here about book publishing, but anything published electronically cuts down on the environmental damage of paper and printing and transportation.
Great thought to minimize the environmental damage by minimizing the use of products which harm our environment and as well reusing them. Not only paper or glass can be recycled but almost everything we use in our day to day life can be recycled.
Neeraj,
It wasn’t too long ago that we had to drive across town to take paper to be recycled. Now the city picks up all kinds of recyclables every week at our doorstep—quite a change for the better.
Hi Lillie,
There are many great line in the post.I thnk every man should doo some thing for the enviroment.
Aditya,
If we all do a little, we will make a big difference.
Lillie, I agree to your thoughts on environmental issues. But when ebook is concerned I am still with the real paper book. I tried reading ebooks initially and prolonged starring at the monitor has terribly affected my eye sight. You are correct the amount of carbon emitted from gadgets is much more harmful than cutting down trees to make paper. We should be conscious and plant more tree saplings than we are cutting down.
Girish@Car Rental Auckland´s last blog ..Rugby World Cup Car Rentals
Girish,
I know a lot of people prefer reading print books, and that’s OK. As you say, we should replenish the trees that are cut down for paper, and there should be a better system so thousands or millions of books aren’t printed and thrown away without ever being read. Print-on-demand is good for this because books are printed only when they are ordered. Even if books are printed in print runs, the number should be reasonable so that most of the books are actually sold and read rather than just tossed.
I am not a tree hugger either, but I care for the planet I live on and global warming is a big issue that we have to solve and I believe we can solve it. Technology is the major factor in polluting the environment, but we can use technology to save the planet as well!
I just finished a website on how to save gas, environment and money.
David,
Good luck with your new Web site. My husband and I drive an 18-year-old car with barely 100,000 miles on it. So we don’t contribute much to problems from cars.
Lillie, you are absolutely right. Print on demand is the only solution for saving the natural resources. It should be in such a way that the printing should start only after the payment is made. A week long waiting time is okay according to me, or if you can wait there is always the option of ebooks and buy a kindle from amazon. I think that would quench the thirst.
Alan,
I read e-books almost exclusively. I can set the font size quite large on the Kindle, which is helpful for my poor eyesight, and I can carry a bunch of books at once with no more space or weight than a single paperback.
Wow, two years have passed and now when I checked out Blog Action Day has 156 Countries / 18,085,076 Readers. Great. I wish such noble social causes receive support from the federal govts in their respective countries. That way things get a great exposure and results can be quick. What do you think?
Michael,
I’m not a big fan of government action. In general, I think things are done more efficiently and cost effectively by individuals and organizations such as churches. However, having governments recognize and promote the activities of others creates great synergy.
I like when people, usually group of people start some project for a good cause once in a while, there is so much business activity, but too few people think about the environment that has given them the chance to live, I dont say that people have to think about the environment every day, but what I hope is a little bit more care and passion for the our planet.
John,
Blog Action Day and Bloggers Unite give bloggers the opportunity to speak out on various causes. They have a lot of participation.
Where I live people came together in huge numbers and cleaned up the local area of rubbish and other wasteful pollution. I mean, we had online registering and formed groups. We had 10,000 people! Yes, people couldn´t believe how many turned up as volunteers.
From that day onward I always felt it was a problem of the medium and communications of the ideas and not the people themselves. I mean come on, no one is that careless or stupid. So in order to get these ideas to work we must use our technology to communicate in a better way.
Oh and as I deal with sporting it was a great exercise for me. So being double useful to everyone and myself!
Ramon,
What a great success story. That is amazing to have such great response. I hope the momentum keeps going.
I remember my thesis adviser told me about environmental policies in the lexicographical world. Yes, those thick dictionaries of Webster, Longman, MacMillan, etc. To cut down their content by 15% (and their thickness, respectively) or something to safe more woods on the planet. But even 10 years ago it was pretty easy to predict that it all is gonna go electronical. I don’t remember when I last opened a hard copy of a dictionary (though I have plenty of them), though I refer to online dictionaries and reference materials pretty often.
Jed,
I’m with you. My print dictionaries and reference books just collect dust, but online ones get a workout.
Certainly “Blog Action Day” is a very innovative project. With bloggers all around the globe making a concerted effort to raise awareness about global poverty and ways to fight it yay!
mandy,
There are a number of Blog Action and Blogger Unite events. Not all are related to global poverty—in fact, this post isn’t about global poverty but about the environment. But it is great to see bloggers getting together for causes they believe in.
I like ebooks. Using a specialised reader means that I can carry many books around at once, and much more lightly than would otherwise be possible. The book prices are quite expensive still, but not more expensive than paper books, as you would expect.
Simon,
If you buy e-books from small and e-book publishers, the prices are much less than the big NY publishers, and you’ll find lots of great books.
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