Print-on-Demand, Climate Change, and the Future of Publishing

As the founder of a hybrid press, I'm concerned with the publishing industry's role in deforestation and climate change. So I was pleased when Brazil sent a strong environmental message during the Rio Olympic Opening Ceremony. That its heavy-handed global warming themes were seen as controversial by most U.S. media outlets shows that climate change is a contentious topic — or one people prefer to ignore. And this, of course, extends to the publishing industry, which rarely acknowledges books’ impact on global warming.

Despite the digital revolution, paper is king. Our industry requires paper to survive, and deforestation is one of the major contributors to global warming. Online searches about book publishing and climate change mostly lead you to Amazon to purchase books on the topic. But persist and you will find that there are people talking about this subject, although the noise is not reverberating loudly enough.