18 Tips for Environmentally Conscious Publishing
11. Proof electronically. While text may often be proofed electronically, Harvard University Press has gone one step further and proofs all of its jacket covers electronically. Except for the final proof, the publisher either distributes a portable document format (PDF) file by e-mail, or the jacket is proofed via a password-protected Extranet on an offsite server that allows anyone, regardless of location, to access the site, review the jacket cover, and share notes and comments with everyone else in the approval chain.
12. Travel the Web. Simon & Schuster’s sales division makes extensive use of webcasts, video and teleconferencing for key seasonal meetings, which significantly reduces their reliance on energy consumed for travel.
13. Turn the office “green.” Turn off computer monitors and printers at night to conserve energy. Replace traditional light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. Set office lights on a motion sensor so they go off when no one is in the room. Disable “sleep modes” and screen savers from computers; turn them off instead. Cancel duplicate subscriptions and catalogs that are unneeded. Ask vendors to send invoices electronically. Likewise, send any invoices electronically as well. If possible, cut checks electronically, too.
14. Look for win-win opportunities. It’s important to achieve cost parity in any situation, and when it comes to environmental initiatives, costs have been significant enough to deter some publishers from their lofty ideas. To achieve cost parity, Van Der Laan suggests publishers prioritize their initiatives and rank win-win initiatives at the top of their “to-do” lists. “If you use less electricity, you’ll not only benefit the environment, but pay less for energy costs,” he says. “You’ll be surprised. There are a lot of those initiatives that are win-win.”
15. Partner with “green” companies and organizations. Scholastic worked with the Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit conservation organization, in making its decision to use FSC-certified paper and its continuing development of an environmentally and socially responsible paper-procurement policy.
