Greener Publishing

The copyright pages of my books include the following statement: “This book is printed on demand, eliminating the negative environmental impact of printing large quantities of books that might go unsold and contribute to waste.” But I sometimes wonder if I’m choosing the most environmentally friendly method of producing my books.

I am both an author and a publisher, and I’m a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). Yes, the secret is out. The publisher’s name on my books—Bebo Press—is the publishing arm of my company, JLFG Communications. All the decisions, from which editors and designers I hire to how I distribute books, are up to me.

Last week, I donned my Bebo Press hat and attended IBPA’s Publishing University, which was held online this year. One session, “Greening Your Publishing Program,” caused me to reconsider the resources and chemicals used to print books. Speaker Karla Olson from Patagonia Books gave us many insights.

Paper is the biggest concern. Paper is made from wood, which comes from trees. Not all forests that supply those trees are managed equally well.

The worst practices include clear-cutting, leaving hillsides bare and subject to erosion. But that’s not the only problem. The session speaker told me about paper plantations, which boast that they plant a new tree for each one they cut down. Unfortunately, they plant the same type of tree, a species grown because it’s an excellent source of paper. The biodiversity that makes for a healthy forest is lacking.

But choosing paper with the Forest Stewardship Council’s FSC Certified label guarantees that the wood used to make it comes from sustainably managed forests. FSC-certified forests must follow stringent principles for forest management that support the long-term health of forests and communities. They must also meet 57 specific criteria.

Olson believes the FSC Certified label should be a minimum acceptable guideline for publishers. Beyond that, the more recycled content, the better. Choices include paper made with pre-consumer waste—scraps and trimmings from the printer floor—or post-consumer waste. The amount of recycled content varies from 30% to 100%.

What is a publisher to do? Books are made from paper. There are a few exceptions, but they haven’t caught on. Cradle to Cradle by Michael Braungart and William McDonough comes to mind.

The first section of the introduction, titled “This Book is Not a Tree,” explains the authors’ choice to print on paper made from plastic resins. They note that plastic books are durable and waterproof.

I saw an ad for Nestle where one of the Cradle to Cradle authors promoted the company and praised its efforts to encourage plastic bottle recycling. Could their support be related to how they had their book printed?

I read the plastic “paperback” edition of Cradle to Cradle. The book is surprisingly heavy. In my mind, that detracts from its value. Sure, I can take it with me on vacation and wipe it down if I spill something on the book. But I don’t want to carry added weight in my luggage.

What about eBooks?

Hence the appeal of eBooks. Readers can carry around as many books as they like, with no concerns about extra weight or space. One e-reader can contain dozens or hundreds of books.

EBooks came up during the Greening Publishing session at the IBPA conference. Olson claimed that the energy, water, and raw materials required to produce an e-reader are equivalent to that needed to produce 40 to 50 paperback books.

She concluded that eBooks are only an environmentally preferable option for someone who reads at least 25 books per year. She assumed, however, that people would discard an e-reader after two years and would throw it into the trash.

I hope that anyone reading this blog who owns an e-reader would keep their device for longer than two years (the Kindle Paperwhite that I bought in 2016 still works). Also, I hope you know to either donate an old e-reader that you don’t want or send it to a responsible e-waste recycler if it no longer works.

More thoughts on print books

My books are available in both print and digital editions, and I plan to expand into audiobooks. I want to give my readers options because I know that some people only read print books, some prefer eBooks, and some will only read a book if it’s available on audio.

It can be easier to flip through a print book to find something than to search the eBook. I was on a video call with an expert during the IBPA conference and wanted to ask about something specific from one of my books. I picked up the paperback, flipped to the relevant page, and held it up to the camera.

Another choice that reduces waste is ordering books in standard sizes, such as 5.5 x 8.5 or 6 x 9 inches. Unusual dimensions result in more scrap when books are cut to size. Ingram allows publishers to select from a tremendous variety of sizes, but I’m glad that I chose 6 x 9.

I will continue to sell print books, but Ingram and Amazon, my two printers, don’t offer recycled or FSC certified paper. On its website, Ingram touts the benefits of print-on-demand as reducing waste. But the rest of the information is vague. Saying that the company “expects each of its paper suppliers to be environmentally responsible” doesn’t have any concrete validation behind it. I did learn that my books were printed in Fresno, California, the location closest to me. But I couldn’t find any details about the type of paper the Fresno plant uses.

Friesens, which prints Patagonia Books, gives its customers multiple options for paper with recycled content. One of those is a paper made from 100% post-consumer waste that Olson says looks and feels just as good as virgin paper.

While I can choose which company prints my books, I don’t want to order more books than I can sell in a reasonable time frame. Friesens has a minimum order quantity of 250 books. Then there’s the problem of storage and shipping. I’m not keen on managing individual shipments of that many copies. (If I can secure more bulk orders, however, I might change my tune.)

Olsen suggested that session participants contact Ingram and ask the company to offer recycled paper. A group discussion on the IBPA conference platform the next day suggested that we all do just that. There is power in numbers, so I hope we can persuade Ingram to make a change. If we can also do the same with Amazon, think of all the forests we can save!