Eco Libris plants a tree for every book
Eco Libris is a for-profit company that aims to replace each book purchased in the United States with a planted tree in Central America and Africa. Why those two areas? Because the greatest deforestation is taking place in those areas causing environmental problems and hardships on the people living there.
Book Publishing in the United States uses about 20 million trees per year to produce about 4.15 billion books. The publishing industry as a whole currently uses only 5-10 % recycled material in its books. Publishers, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Scholastic have all pledged to increase the recycled content of their books. Still there is a long way to go.
Planting trees through Eco Libris helps reduce CO2 while providing a better environment for the communities in which the trees are planted. Less soil erosion and better land practices result from the program.
Since Eco Libris does extensive research into the choice of planting partners, contributors can be sure that their donations will not be misused. The planting partners are chosen for their knowledge of local tree species, mixed forest planting, and the flora and fauna of the area. Current planting partners are: The Alliance for International Reforestation, Ripple Africa, and Sustainable Harvest International.
In order to make sure that trees planted are tended properly and will attain maturity, Eco Libris also hires local community members to be trained to tend the planted trees. 13 trees are planted for every 10 trees donated because not all of the trees will make it to maturity. The extra trees balance out the anticipated loss through drought, disease, or some other malady.
Although many of the major bookstores don’t provide opportunities to partner with Eco Libris, a list of participating bookstores in each state gives environmentally minded readers a place where they can purchase their books in good conscience.
Eco Libris is also collaborating with BookMooch to save further trees by encouraging recycling of books. BookMooch is a worldwide book exchange that allows you to exchange your books for books you are looking for. There are no fees involved except for mailing costs.
For every 10 trees you pay to have planted through Eco Libris, you get one BookMooch point for a book exchange. So you have not only improved the environment by having more trees planted but you also save paper by recycling your unwanted books.
For every tree you pay to have planted, Eco Libris will send you a book plate made of 30% post-consumer waste and 70% pre-consumer waste. The stickers are mailed in a 100% post-consumer waste envelop.
This is the perfect way to combine a passion for reading with a passion for the environment.
Donating trees through Eco Libris for the books you already own can be done here.
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