Penguin
Green Books
A Devon based house, Green Books has been publishing books on sustainability, eco-building, eco-philosophy and green living for over 25 years. It claims to be “the UK’s largest independent environmental book publishing company, producing books on a wide range of ecological and cultural issues.”
Since its foundation, the publisher has been working side by side with The Schumacher Society, an organisation that promotes the legacy of the British economist E.F. Schumacher (author of the widely celebrated Small is Beautiful), through the discussion of sustainable and ecological solutions.
In 2009, John Elford, founder of Green Books, stated that their publications had been systematically printed within 150 miles from their offices in Devon, using vegetable inks, and also that the majority of books had been printed on 100% PCW paper. From a financial point of view, these green measures promote the local sustainability, which is additionally beneficial for a small publisher – of 8 employees only – like this one.
It is a fact that decisions such as printing an entire list on recycled paper might not be a profitable option, at least, for now, for big publishing houses. Recycled paper is more expensive than virgin paper, and it is worth reminding that its process is not purely ecological, since it soaks up energy and chemicals. Regarding large houses, The Publishers Weekly mentioned that Hachette is now using 10% of recycled fibre, contrariwise to Penguin that is only using recycled paper for printing, copying (100% recycled) and stationery (75%).
Despite its differences – either in prominence, size or income – small and large publishers face the same problems and need to take similar decisions in order to minimize their environmental impact and ensure sustainability. They might be about paper, inks, gas emissions, light consumption in offices, or even about reducing unnecessary costs in business travels.
Image credit: Green Books
FSC – Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a worldwide, non-governmental, non-profit organisation established in 1993 to promote responsible management of world’s forests. Its mission is to ensure a lawful, profitable and reasonable management, “environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous”.
FSC assesses whether those in charge for forest management are complying with law, international protocols, and if they are enhancing, while still respecting, the life of surrounding communities. As such, FSC works in conjunction with professionals from a wide range of industries who use wood as a raw material, mainly forest owners, members of timber and printing industries and publishers.
In order to ensure a better and more responsible management of our forests, the organisation implemented a system of certifications:
1. Forest Management
2. Controlled Wood
3. Chain of Custody
1. The Forest Management certification “is awarded to forest managers or owners whose management practices meet the requirements of the FSC Principles and Criteria”;
2. The Controlled Wood certification allows manufacturers to mix FSC certified material with uncertified materials (for example, illegally harvested wood or wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights), always under controlled and previously accepted conditions;
3. Finally, the Chain of Custody Certification (FCS CoC) is applied to manufacturers, processors and traders of FSC certified forest products. This certificate is used to certify any product made according to the FSC standards.
The FSC CoC allows companies to label and track the timber or other wood products derived from FSC certified forests, and monitor them through the whole process of production, from forests to consumers. In the market, FSC certified products are identified with a seal, which we may find today in a variety of wood-made products, including books. In books, the seal is usually printed on back covers or copyright pages, and it is widely taken as a trustworthy symbol.
Publishers are increasingly committed to FSC standards. Most publishing houses are now using FSC or other type of certified paper. For example, Penguin has printed all its b&w books on FSC certified paper since 2008, and HarperCollins, in 2013, set a goal that 70% of the books printed by Harper UK would be FSC certified.
As consumers, with an FSC certified book, we get the chance to support an ecological cause and to trace back the origins of our books. At least, to find out from which type of wood they were made of. Pick a book, type an FSC code and check, here.
Image credit: Capella
PREPS – Publishers’ Database for Responsible Environmental Paper Sourcing
PREPS is a joint initiative of 23 publishers from all around the world. It was established in 2006 to provide to its members a better understanding of papers resources and responsible paper practices. Its current members are:
- Cambridge University Press
- Cappelen Damm
- Chronicle Books
- Egmont UK
- Hachette UK
- HarperCollins
- Imago
- Laurence King
- Macmillan
- McGraw-Hill Education
- Meld
- Oxford University Press
- Parragon
- Pearson Education
- Penguin Group UK
- Random House
- Reed Elsevier
- Sage Publications
- Scholastic
- Simon & Schuster
- Usborne Books
- Walker Books
- Wiley
The group is an evolution of an idea initially developed by Egmont UK, who created in 2003 a Grading System now known as the PREPS Grading System. Drawn by the project, 10 publishers then launched PREPS in 2006: Egmont, Imago, Walker, Usborne Books, Hachette, Pearson, Reed Elsevier, Penguin, Sage and HarperCollins.
The group developed a database with technical specification of the woods, wood fibre, pulps and respective forest sources of the papers used by each one of them, as well as data on the CO2 emissions and water consumption of the paper mills with whom they work.
The PREPS Grading System is based on this information and is provided by paper mills. Every time that one of the 23 members wants to use a new type of paper, a request is sent to PREPS Secretariat (run by a management consultancy specialised in Corporate Responsibility), that then asks for information about the paper to the corresponding mill. The information returns, being added to PREPS database and graded according to the PREPS Grading System, on a range from 1 to 5 stars. Usually the paper is awarded as 1, 3 of 5, meaning:
Grade 1: Paper containing unknown or undesirable forest sources
Grade 3: Paper where all the forest sources are known, legal, low risk or either FSC or PEFC accredited
Grade 5: Paper which is FSC or 100% PEFC accredited or 100% PCW
PREPS also organises meetings and seminars, keeping the dialogue between publishers and paper manufacturers up to date. In 2012, PREPS access was additionally extended to printers. I believe this is an expression of a general willingness in book publishing, and specifically of these 23 publishing houses, to work closer with suppliers, so that more sustainable, green-certified products, can be provided to book buyers around the world.
Images credit: PREPS
Publishing gets green 