Green Press Initiative

Shona Burns: 2008 Publishing Executive Hall of Fame Inductee
September 1, 2009

When Shona Burns first entered college, she was unsure of what she wanted to study. “I started out doing a business studies degree,” she recalls. “I was bored rigid. … I had met a couple of fellow students who were getting a publishing degree and found what they were talking about a lot more interesting than what I was doing myself.”

Your Options in 'Green' Printers
June 1, 2009

Regarding the book manufacturing industry’s commitment to “green” principles, it could be said that a page has truly turned. Over the past decade, consideration of climate impacts and paper sourcing has become central to the industry’s approach, and, along the way, many manufacturers have discovered ways to balance the need to economize, invest in infrastructure and reduce environmental impacts—often through innovative policies and practices that manage to do all three.

Working Toward the Point of No Returns: Chelsea Green Publisher and President Margo Baldwin on the company's Green Partners program.
December 19, 2008

Margo Baldwin, publisher and president of independent publishing company Chelsea Green, has worked for a quarter of a century not only to publish books about sustainable living, but also to run her business with the same strong environmental focus. An example of this environmentally focused mission, the company's Green Partners program offers discounts and other perks to retailers that purchase books on a no-returns basis. According to Baldwin, the response has been extremely positive, and she hopes the program will continue to grow as more book-sellers sign up in the coming year. Here, Baldwin discusses details behind the program with Book Business Extra:

What Publishers Need to Know About Foreign-Sourced Papers: A Q&A with Green Press Initiative’s Todd Pollak
August 29, 2008

Indonesia’s Sumatran tiger population has declined by an estimated 70 percent in less than 30 years—with some estimates indicating that fewer than 200 Sumatran tigers now exist in the wild. The outlook for elephants and orangutans in this region is just as bleak. What does this have to do with where you’re buying your paper? Everything, according to Todd Pollak, program manager, book sector, for the nonprofit organization Green Press Initiative (GPI). Pollak says China and South Korea may be sourcing your paper from Indonesia, which in turn could be doing considerable damage to the social and environmental health of that country. “There’s

Gene Therapy
May 1, 2008

The publishing industry’s intensified movement toward going “green” was highlighted by recent reports from three major trade groups—the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), the Association of American Publishers (AAP), and the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF). In this column, I summarize the major features of each of these reports, as well as note a bit of contention on some of the findings, that point to the why and how of going “green” for publishers and book printers. (For an extensive and very useful backgrounder, check out the article “The Green Team,” by James Sturdivant, in Book Business, February 2008, also

Free E-Books Offered to Raise Industry’s Environmental Awareness
April 28, 2008

To commemorate Earth Day, which was celebrated April 22, FreeAndGreen.com is offering free e-books in partnership with BooksOnBoard.com and Abbey House Press. The partners are hoping the initiative helps spur the publishing community’s efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and protect forests, according to a statement issued by BooksOnBoard.com “Greenhouse-gas emissions can be dramatically reduced over time through the advance of e-books and other means of delivering content digitally,” says Bob LiVolsi, president of BooksOnBoard.com. The free books were provided by Abbey House Press’ Abbey House Classics imprint and can be accessed through www.FreeAndGreen.com and at www.BooksOnBoard.com. “Each year, approximately 30 million trees are used

A ‘Green’ Celebration
April 16, 2008

Green was the fashionable color on Monday evening, March 10, as more than 200 publishing industry executives gathered for a unique celebration in the Marquis Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis in New York’s Times Square, during the Publishing Business Conference & Expo. It wasn’t an early St. Patty’s Day celebration either, but a celebration honoring the recipients of the 2nd Annual SustainPrint Leadership Awards, recognizing achievements and leadership in “green” publishing. The awards—established in 2007 by SustainPrint.com (the Web site produced by book business and publishing executive magazines to cover environmental sustainability in printing and publishing)—recognize book- and magazine-publishing companies each year for outstanding

Results of the Industry’s First-Ever Environmental Survey Released
April 16, 2008

History was made at the Publishing Business Conference & Expo on Monday, March 10, as the Green Press Initiative (GPI) and the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) presented findings from the first-ever environmental survey of the U.S. book industry. GPI, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, and BISG, an industry trade association, commissioned the study to help the industry understand its environmental impacts, assess areas for improvement and make recommendations for improving its ecological footprint. Michael Healy, BISG executive director, and Tyson Miller, GPI director, unveiled the 73-page “Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry” to a crowded conference room of