Posted on 06/21/2003 8:34:57 PM PDT by nwrep
Canadian Firm Prints Harry Potter on Green Pages
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 19, 2003 (ENS) - Fans of the Harry Potter (news - web sites) books probably do not associate the little wizard with rainforests or recycling, but that will change for at least 935,000 readers of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." The Canadian edition of the eagerly anticipated book--all 935,000 copies--has been printed by Canadian publisher Raincoast Books on 100 percent recycled, endangered forest free paper, a move that many believe represents a landmark event for environmentally friendly publishing.
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"By printing the latest Harry Potter book on 100 percent recycled paper, Raincoast has set the stage for a complete transformation of the publishing industry," said Lafcadio Cortesi, director of the Boreal Campaign at ForestEthics. "Readers everywhere appreciate that the magic is not just what is written on the pages, it is the very pages themselves."
And the author of the largest selling fiction book in history has penned her own heartfelt endorsement of Raincoast's decision to publish Potter's latest adventure on ancient forest friendly paper.
"The forest at Hogwarts is home to magical creatures like unicorns and centaurs," Rowling writes in an endorsement that appears prominently in the Canadian edition.
"Because the Canadian editions are printed on Ancient-Forest Friendly paper, the Harry Potter books are helping to save magnificent forests in the muggle world, forests that are home of magical animals such as Orangutans, Wolves and Bears," Rowling wrote. "It is a good idea to respect ancient trees, especially if they have a temper like the Whomping Willow."
According to research done by Markets Initiative--a coalition project of three environmental organizations, Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Greenpeace Canada and the British Columbia Chapter of Sierra Club (news - web sites) of Canada--the 935,000 books printed by Raincoast Books will save almost 30,000 trees in forests such as the Boreal forest of Canada, as well as in Canada's rainforests and throughout the Rockies region.
In addition, it will conserve 20,248 BTUs of electricity--195 years of electricity to power the average American home--and 2,679,548 pounds of greenhouse gases, which equals 2.4 million miles traveled by car with average fuel efficiency.
The paper used in the books printed by Raincoast was produced by San Francisco-based New Leaf Paper.
The greening of Potter is part of a broader effort by publishers and writers in Canada and the U.S., led by Markets Initiative, to increase the use of environmentally friendly papers in their books.
Thus far, 35 Canadian and 20 U.S. publishers have made formal commitments to use recycled and other environmentally preferable papers, and millions of forest-friendly books have been printed on such paper in Canada during the past 18 months.
"We look forward to seeing publishers in other countries follow the lead of their Canadian colleagues in helping to safeguard biodiversity and the world's remaining ancient forests," said Markets Initiative's Campaigns Director Nicole Rycroft.
In addition, Green Press Initiative is pressuring U.S. publishers, including the U.S. publisher of the Potter books, Scholastic, to secure endangered-forest free commitments.
According to Green Press, if Scholastic made an endangered-forest free commitment and switched to 100 percent recycled paper for the next Potter book, and printed the same quantity, it would conserve an area of trees some 13 times the size of New York's Central Park and some 24 million pounds of greenhouse gases--equal to the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by a car with average fuel efficiency traveling 21.81 million miles.
According to American Forest and Paper Association figures, less than five percent of the paper used by the printing and writing paper sector contains recycled fibers--in the year 2000 the association says one million tons of paper were used by U.S. book publishers.
The groups promoting the eco-friendly Potter print suggest that fans who live outside of Canada go online to purchase the Canadian edition.
And second - trees are the best example of harvesting for use. I don't espouse using "ancient" wood, like redwoods, I assume, but growing trees, harvesting them and using them for paper is the best example of renewable resources America has. Paper companies manage the forests the best of any company utilizing any of our natural resources.
Printing on recycled paper, as "Comus" has commented is incredibly chemical intensive. The paper companies have it right - harvest and planting new trees are a finely tuned balance they have perfected. People get all crazy about "recycling" without finding out about the chemical cost. We all need to educate ourselves on what is energy- and CHEMICAL-conservation.
Using plastic grocery bags, and recycling them, means that they are used in shoes, packaging and other reusable products. Using paper and recyling it means toxic chemicals used in the process, to get rid of microbes in the paper products.
Choose carefully at the grocery store on your next visit. And, oh yeah, at the bookstore!
Raincoast is NOT the first compant on print books on recycled paper. O'Reilly, a publisher of programming textbooks, has been printing on recycled paper for years. Raincoast may be the first CANADIAN publisher to do so, but they have hardly transformed the publishing industry.
The article is ignorant, blatant propaganda, meant to remind the population of the need to protect the environment from the evil logging companies and help them to forget their economic woes and the growing disgust with the government.
Paper companies don't cut old growth forest. They utilize tree farms (frequently the targets of ELF arsonists, BTW) for that. Fast-growing pulp wood trees. It's cheaper, they own the ground where their trees are planted, and the trees are replaced as soon as they're cut, so that the next crop can be guaranteed.
Heheheh. Great idea.
Most of the loggers I know love the woods and love the trees. Some people will be shocked to know that loggers know a tad about growing trees, as well as cutting them down.
Take oaks. Acorns are very hard to sprout. Hubby's crew went to their respective homes one evening bearing handsful of acorns. To sprout in our houses and plant in a year. Yes, about half of them did sprout, and yes, all of us did plant them. Uh...ok, so one is them is in our back yard...we like oaks, but have mostly cherry and spruce on our property. It's about 7 feet tall this year and has slowed down. Another thing about oaks is their slow growth...people want fast results, and so few people tend to plant them.
We will not live to see that tree reach maturity. But our grandkids will.
These guys do things like this all the time. Trees are a renewable resource. The more we plant, the more we have.
No, the best thing to recycle is Hillary's Lying History.
Yes. My mother's family used to own a tree farm. It was managed by a paper company. They'd cut trees and plant replacements in a cycle that suited their needs, and the family got a check for the profits each year.
The paper company kept it going nicely from the 1920's (I believe) until the early 80's, when we sold it because there were just too many heirs to deal with. It probably is still doing fine.
Tree farms are great for paper mills and Christmas trees. I think the people who are against using trees for any purpose must be city dwellers who rarely see one.
Yes. My mother's family used to own a tree farm. It was managed by a paper company. They'd cut trees and plant replacements in a cycle that suited their needs, and the family got a check for the profits each year.
The paper company kept it going nicely from the 1920's (I believe) until the early 80's, when we sold it because there were just too many heirs to deal with. It probably is still doing fine.
Tree farms are great for paper mills and Christmas trees. I think the people who are against using trees for any purpose must be city dwellers who rarely see one.
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