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Green Book Publishing: Getting Techie
The global warming connection
There are concrete connections between the “global warming” and recycled paper use. As publishers, your choice in recycled paper has a direct impact on global warming. Trees store carbon. Cutting down trees reduces the places for carbon to be stored. When we cut down trees to make paper, we essentially destroy our natural carbon storage sites and eliminate this natural buffer against climate change. Also, the carbon that was once stored in trees gets released in the atmosphere. Scientific studies on the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide conclude that about 25% of the human-caused increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is a result of deforestation.
Using less energy=less global warming
It takes less energy to produce paper from existing paper than it does to cut down, transport, and process new tress. Producing recycled paper saves energy, thereby reducing the pollution and emissions associated with energy production.
Landfills: a hot bed for methane
Waste in landfills breaks down and in turn naturally creates methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Using post-consumer recycled paper keeps paper out of the landfill, both saving trees and reducing methane gas production.
Before and after: pre-consumer vs. post-consumer recycled fiber
Pre-consumer recycled fiber, while much better than virgin fiber, often includes scraps and trimmings leftover from the manufacturing process. Some post-industrial recycled waste, such as cuttings from envelope converting, over-printed books and magazines, and coffee cups are also labeled as pre-consumer recycled fiber and do represent some real environmental savings. Only paper that has been purchased by and collected from an end user can be labeled as post-consumer recycled fiber. The purpose of using recycled fiber is to save trees and prevent paper from being landfilled. Because recycling pre-consumer waste is very easy and cheap, it was recycled for economic reasons long before most people talked about recycling. Using post-consumer recycled fiber has the advantage of reusing paper that would otherwise be landfilled.
Think ink
Vegetable inks reduce the use of toxic chemicals because they do not require harsh solvents to clean the printing equipment. “Inks have different components, including pigments, as well as petroleum or vegetable oil. When you replace petroleum with a vegetable oil, whether it’s soybean oil, tung oil, or another kind of plant-based oil, what you do in the printing process is reduce the amount or percentage of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are released from the printing plant into the air. VOCs contribute to smog. Petroleum-based inks have much higher VOCs than vegetable-based inks. The EPA monitors what printing plants (and other industries) emit into the air, so by using low VOC inks a company reduces its air pollution,” says Deborah Bruner, Director, Book Publishing Papers from New Leaf Paper. Deborah is on the Green Guide Girls™ Collective Wisdom Team™ and has an extensive background in inks.
Going Digitial
What’s the fastest way to go green? That’s right—go digital. Whether it’s an e-book or an mp3 audio book, digital books require no paper or cover materials. Since they can be downloaded, these books require no fuel for transportation. Even better: the cost of producing an e-book or mp3 is virtually zero! Though e-books and downloadable audio books currently make up a tiny fraction of book sales, revenues for this segment have been increasing rapidly in years. As prices of e-book readers and other portable electronics that can display e-books drop, these will continue to grow in popularity. Young adults who grew up in the digital age will also enter the marketplace through e-books and mp3 files for their iPods. Though digital books may never totally replace paper and ink, producing and publicizing them can increase profit margins and greatly reduce environmental impacts.
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