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It's not easy being green, but a small and growing number of authors are asking publishers to print their books on environmentally friendly paper.
While no one keeps count, well-known writers, including Barbara Kingsolver, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood and Alice Walker, are part of the trend. It reflects a growing green movement in the entertainment world that includes musicians such as U2 and Bonnie Raitt, who are packaging their CDs in recycled materials.
Walker spokeswoman Wendy Weil says the author's last two books were printed on recycled paper, and the practice is built into her contract with Random House.
Less than 5% of U.S. books are printed that way, says Tyson Miller of the Green Press Initiative, a group working to interest publishers and authors.
Jerome Kramer, editor in chief of Kirkus Reviews, says the involvement of big-name writers can help increase that number. "It's always important to bear in mind what a small tip of the iceberg any author is. When an author with some cachet gets behind the issue, the reasonable assumption is that the impact would be exponential and would get the conversation going."
Environmental groups are hoping he is right. "If authors are working to push the publishers along with us, it sends a strong message," says Pam Wellner of Greenpeace, one of several groups calling for changes in publishing. Greenpeace wants book paper to be 100% recycled or, at least, a combination of recycled paper and wood pulp not harvested from old-growth or endangered forests.
The issue recently drew attention when 2.5-million-member Greenpeace asked the 300,000 on its e-mail list to request that Scholastic, the U.S. publisher of the Harry Potter series, conform to the group's standard. Scholastic heard from more than 12,500, Wellner says.
Scholastic's Kyle Good says that while Potter books weren't published on recycled paper, "we absolutely don't use wood fiber from ancient forests."
Publishers can guarantee their wood fiber only if they purchase it from companies certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which keeps track of fiber sources. Manufacturing book pages from recycled paper is considered more environmentally responsible because no new wood fiber is involved.
Canadian publisher Raincoast printed the past two Potter books on recycled paper, and Italian and Israeli editions, due this fall, are expected to be printed on ancient-forest-friendly paper.
Publishers say it's a challenge.
"Printing more books on forest-friendly paper is a priority and a preference for us," says Stuart Applebaum of Random House Inc. "We're looking at balancing the ecological challenges of using environmentally responsible paper with the fiscal challenge of producing responsibly priced books for the consumer."
Some publishers who use only forest-friendly paper are finding that their costs haven't risen, says Miller of the Green Press Initiative. Publishers who use it sporadically average an additional expense of 5 cents to 10 cents per book, he says. The cost hasn't been passed on to consumers.
Katherine Hannigan requested recycled paper for her children's book, Ida B.
Ida B, says Hannigan, is very involved with nature, "so it would be a nightmare for me to go out and talk to kids who would ask, 'Did you cut down trees to make this book?' I couldn't tell them that I write about it but don't live it."
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