Read Me A Book, Plant Me A Tree

By hannah on May 21 2008 at 12:00 PM

A few weeks ago I was introduced to a company called Eco-Libris, which gives avid readers like me the opportunity to balance out the books they read by planting trees.

Until recently I didn't put too much thought into the environmental stipulations of book production. Yes, I know trees are necessary for paper, and paper is necessary for books. However, I did not know that over 20 million trees are cut down annually to supply the United States with books. That number IS ridiculous; especially when you consider that it only pertains to one country. In fact, of the 4.15 billion books produced in the US annually only about 5% of the paper used in production is recycled.

For every book that you read, Eco-Libris gives you the chance to plant trees in developing communities for an affordable price. Eco-Libris wants one tree per book to be planted. Just $10 and you can balance out the last 10 books you read, 13 trees will be planted to assure the survival of at least 10. The trees that readers purchase are planted in communities in Latin America and Africa, where deforestation is a crucial problem. High ecological and sustainable standards were considered when Eco-Libris teamed up with their planting partners to decide which communities would be chosen. By planting trees where the threat of deforestation is high, we are able to fight climate change, conserve soil and water, and also benefit many locals by offering an investment in their futures.

"The bottom line is that the trees planted to balance out our customer's books are planted where they have the most value both environmentally and socially and we're very proud of that," says Eco-Libris CEO, Raz Godelnik.

Not only will the bookworm & environmentalist in YOU be satisfied after working with Eco-Libris, but you'll also receive awesome stickers to place inside each book you balanced out to display your contribution.

Keep in mind; it's not just readers who can become involved to make reading greener. Eco-Libris aims to work with anyone in the book industry who wants to go green. Eco-Libris teams with publishers, authors, and bookstores.

So far over 45,000 books have been balanced out, and 60,000 new trees have been planted! Let's all tally the books on our bookshelves and plant some trees. Help Eco-Libris reach their goal of balancing out half a million books by the end of 2008!

Check out Eco-Libris today!

Comments

Hannah, this is probably the best "motivator" to get me to actually try and read a book (and finish it). I've purchased about 5 books in the last month, and not one have I made it past the 2nd chapter. Sometimes I get so caught up in work that I don't have time to read, and obviously forgot the ecological impact that books have on us. I plan to green those 5 in the meantime, even before I read them.

On a side note, who's the cute girl reading the book? ;-)

My mother will love this!

I love this article! My organization has been working with a foundation in Uganda for about a year to address this very topic. The President of the foundation spoke at our International Earth Summit in San Jose, CA last November, and the photos that he showed of the deforestation of his country were heartbreaking. In addition, they have no solid waste management (garbage company to haul away your trash), so they are burning garbarge right on the ground - even in school yards - and releasing harmful toxins into the air. They are working so hard to leave their next generation a healthy and safe environment. Here's more info: http://gogreeninitiative.org/content/...