The Green Press Initiative

This is very cool: Jennifer Howard has an interesting article in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education about the fact that university presses are leading the way towards using recycled paper in the publishing industry. It's part of a movement led by Green Press Initiative, a non-profit that works with writers and publishers to protect forests by switching to recycled paper.

GPI has issued a "Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper Use," in which they have, as Howard reports, "set a goal of increasing American book publishers' use of recycled fiber from the present average rate of 5 percent to an average rate of 30 percent by 2011. The result, GPI estimates: saving '524 million pounds of greenhouse gases, 2.1 billion gallons of water, 264 million pounds of solid waste, and 4.9 million trees each year.'" Wow ... now, why wouldn't we do that?

The GPI's website has great resources for authors who want to join in, including a pre-written letter you can send to your publisher explaining why you want your book printed on recycled paper. I'm totally doing that (though I'll probably write my own letter). Y'all should too. Just like Fritjof Capra, Alice Walker and Julia Butterfly Hill (see photo above).