We went up to the Sierra's last weekend and hugged some really really big beautiful trees. In honor of Methuselah and her thousand year old sisters, here is some info on Greenpeace's Book Campaign. They are encouraging publishers, printers and authors to choose Ancient Forest Friendly paper for their books. You can help by shopping responsibly too, there's a list of places to buy paper at the bottom of this email.
The approximately one million copies of the Canadian edition of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" were the only ones in the world to be printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper.
"The forest at Hogwarts is home to magical creatures like unicorns and centaurs. Because the Canadian editions are printed on Ancient-Forest Friendly paper, the Harry Potter books are helping to save magnificent forests in the Muggle world, forests that are home of magical animals such as Orangutans, Wolves and Bears. It's a good idea to respect ancient trees, especially if they have a temper like the Whomping Willow."
J.K. Rowling
The ancient forest friendly paper is 100 percent post-consumer recycled and processed chlorine-free. Raincoast Books spokesperson, Tessa Vanderkop said: "We're hoping the high profile of the Harry Potter books will raise awareness and help to get other publishers on board. That would help drive the paper cost down and make it more affordable."
To raise awareness in kids, check out Greenpeace's "Kids for Forests": http://archive.greenpeace.org/kidsforforests/
Jennifer
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Greenpeace Book Campaign
http://www.greenpeace.org/extra/?campaign%5fid=3938&forward%5fsource%5fanchor=Greenpeace%20Book%20Campaign&item%5fid=325787
Leading international authors such as JK Rowling, Ian Rankin, Günter Grass, Marlene Streeruwitz and Andrea De Carlo are just some of those working with Greenpeace to ensure that their future books are printed on 'ancient forest friendly' paper such as recycled and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper.
Greening the publishing industry
The Greenpeace Book Campaign aims to 'green' the book publishing industry, who are currently printing the majority of their books on virgin (non-recycled) paper linked to ancient forest destruction in countries such as Finland and Canada. Book publishers are also printing children's and colour books in South East Asia, which could be linked to rainforest destruction in Indonesia. This campaign has already been very successful in Canada where Markets Initiative (a coalition project of Greenpeace Canada and other environmental groups) has worked with book publishers for the past three and a half years. Sixty-seven Canadian publishers - including Random House Canada and Raincoast Books - have made formal commitments to phase out ancient forest fibres from their books. Since 2000, 4 and a half million books have been printed on recycled paper made from post consumer waste
European publishers follow suit
Now some of European publishers are beginning to follow the example set in Canada. In the last few months, 14 Dutch publishers, representing 75 percent of the fiction market, have committed to phasing out pulp from the world's last ancient forest areas from their books. Moreover, in Italy a group of authors with their publisher Einaudi have been the first to publish their new book 'Guerra agli Umani' on a 100 percent recycled paper as a result of the book campaign.
Two more of JK Rowling's publishers have also embarked on greening Harry Potter. The Italian hardback edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, published by Salani, was printed on paper that included up to 30 percent Forest Stewardship Council certified virgin fibre. Harry Potter's UK publisher, Bloomsbury, printed the paperback on 10 percent post consumer waste recycled paper. The adult version of the book was printed on 20 percent post consumer waste recycled paper. This is a positive step in the right direction for Salani and Bloomsbury but there is still some way to go. The rest of their paper continues to be sourced from forests where questions remain about the environmental standards of forest management under current industry led forest certification schemes and from countries like Finland, where issues of old growth logging are ongoing.
Losing our ancient forests
An area of ancient forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed every two seconds. A staggering 80 percent of world's original ancient forests have been destroyed or degraded. Much of what remains is under threat. Each year millions of hectares of ancient forest are logged, driven by international demand for cheap timber and other wood products including paper.
Some of the forests most affected by our demand for paper are those in Canada, Russia and Finland. Canada's Boreal forest is the largest tract of ancient forest left in North America yet more than 45 percent of the Boreal forest has been allocated to logging companies to meet the national and international demand for paper. The majority of book paper in Western Europe continues to be sourced from virgin pulp from countries like Finland, that contain some of the last fragments of old growth forest in Europe and from forests in Russia, where at least 50 percent of logging is estimated to be illegal. (Greenpeace Russia estimate, based on interviews with the State Forest Service, company specialists and experts, cited in Greenpeace (2003), 'Finnish forestry: destroying forests, destroying livelihoods'.)
Ancient forests and the animals and peoples that depend upon them, could be spared from needless logging destruction if paper products like books were sourced from 'Ancient Forest Friendly' alternatives.
Ancient Forest friendly paper
Ancient Forest Friendly papers are free of ancient forest fibre and contain 100 percent recycled fibre or 100 percent FSC virgin fibre or papers with high recycled content and the remainder of the fibre content being FSC.
Check out this "ecological calculator" and calculate the trees you could save if the books, newspapers and magazines you used were on 100 percent post-consumer waste paper.
http://www.greenpeace.org/multimedia/download/1/565915/0/Forest_saving.swf
How to shop responsibly for paper:
- Buy recycled paper with a high post-consumer waste content.
- Buy Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper to ensure that the fibre comes from forests that are sustainably managed.
- Buy tree free paper made from agricultural residue (cotton, hemp, flax, kenaf, etc.).
A few places to buy Ancient Forest Friendly papers
Real Goods Solar Living Center
707-744-2100
www.realgoods.com
ecological retailer offering a variety of tree-free papers.
Real Earth Environmental Co.
310-457-6551
www.treeco.com
retailer offering tree-free/recycled printing papers, letterhead, stationery, folders, and notepads.
New Leaf Paper
415-291-9353
www.newleafpaper.com
offers kenaf and hemp papers and has an excellent selection of recycled papers for printing and writing (call for minimum order); also manufactures and sells EcoOffset, Reincarnation Gloss, Reincarnation Matte, and Satin, four 100% recycled (with 50% PCW or more), processed chlorine-free lines.
Hemp Shak
805-543-0760
http://www.hempshak.com/
ecological paper retailer.
Green Field Paper Co.
619-338-9432
http://www.greenfieldpaper.com/
offers organic cotton and hemp printing and writing papers, stationery, and other eco-paper products.
Eco Goods
408-429-5756
www.ecogoods.com
ecological paper retailer.
