Greener Kids Books

Plenty of children's books voice an environmental message, yet books manufactured in ways that respect the environment are few and far between. Consider this: Canada's Harry Potter is the only forest-friendly Harry Potter in the world. Out of 55 publishers globally, Raincoast Books is the only one to print Harry Potter on 100-percent post-consumer recycled paper, processed without chlorine. Raincoast Books used that paper for the initial print run of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix —930,000 copies. It saved an estimated 39,320 trees, 17 million gallons of water and 1, 885 pounds of solid waste, not to mention electricity and greenhouse gases.

It's still hard to find books printed on recycled paper, but that's beginning to change. During the past several years, Markets Initiative has worked extensively with Canadian book publishers to help them shift away from papers derived from the world's ancient and endangered forests. They have worked throughout the entire supply chain—with writers, publishers, printers and mills to find and develop ancient forest-friendly papers. The progress made by the Canadian publishing sector has been groundbreaking and garnered significant ecological savings.

Now a similar movement is underway in the United States. Until recently, it has been small and mid-sized university publishing that has given the recycled-paper movement any momentum. But since the founding of Green Press Initiative in 2001, 68 U.S. publishers have signed on. They are committed to maximizing the use of recycled paper and to phasing out of papers that may contain fiber from endangered forests. In 2003, GPI estimates that between 3-10 million books were printed on recycled paper from GPI members. That number should spike within a few years, since many of those 68 publishers have taken the pledge, but not the plunge. Numerous authors in Canada, UK and the United States have pledged to take part as well, from Philip Pullman to Margaret Atwood to Alice Walker.

Until now, a lot of GPI's work has been focused in the trade sector, but now they're starting work on the children's side of publishing. Partly as a result, the big publishers are too. According to Tyson Miller, GPI's founder and program director, "A lot of the major multinationals are starting to play ball now. And the major publishers all have a children's imprint. Parents aren't necessarily looking for a particular author when they're buying a book for their kids. So if it says 'forest friendly' on the cover, that might be a way of marketing the book."

None of the major publishers have policies in place yet, but that's poised to change, Miller says. For instance, Green Willow—an imprint of Harper Collins—is starting to use a lot more recycled paper. Some smaller houses do already—on occasion. Ten years ago, Sierra Club Books for Children first published Ancient Ones: The World of Old-Growth Douglas Fir. It's printed on paper containing a minimum of 50 percent recovered waste and absolutely no fiber from old-growth trees, but many Sierra Club children's books are not. That's set to change.

Ezra's Earth Publishing, established to teach children environmental stewardship, published The Day the Trash Came Out to Play on 50 percent recycled, 15 percent pcw paper. Now San Diego City Schools make a lesson plan about the picture book for all third graders.

The Vices of Virgin

With global paper consumption projected to increase roughly 77 percent by 2020, publishers' actions matter. Almost 50 percent of the world's original forests have been cut down. Much of what remains is under threat from illegal and destructive logging, often for use by the paper industry. For example, the Canadian Boreal holds one-quarter of the world's intact, original forests, but almost 30 percent of the forest has now been allocated for logging. And the United States imports 80 percent of all Canadian paper and wood exports. As a result, what's left of the Boreal is disappearing.

Recycling not only reduces the number of trees cut down, it eases the pressure to convert forests and wetlands into tree plantations. Within U.S. borders, most of the trees used to make paper are grown in the Southeast; in 1999 the region held 33 million acres of pine forest, down from 72 million acres in 1953. During the same period, pine plantations grew by 30 million acres. The intact forests of the Southeast are not "ancient," but they are the most biodiverse in North America. According to Miller, more than 70 percent have been converted. What's left is one of the many ecosystems GPI is trying to protect.

Plus with recycled paper, much of the work of extracting and bleaching the fibers has already been done. That means less total energy, water and chemical use, and lower releases of water and air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (which contribute to smog) and particulates (which contribute to respiratory problems).

Since only 5 percent of current consumption is met by using recycled fiber, forestry management remains critical. The intent of the Forest Stewardship Council is to shift the market to eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples and violence against people and wildlife that often accompanies logging. But while the FSC certifies the people who actually handle the paper, such as the paper manufacturer, paper merchant and the printer, it can't tell you which publishers are forest friendly. GPI can.

Better Publishers

The following publishers of children's books have formally committed to the goals of the Green Press Initiative and are working to eliminate their use of paper with fibers from Endangered Forests over a 3-5 year period. As a means of accomplishing this goal, they will be maximizing their use of recycled and/or FSC certified paper:

Ezra's Earth (www.ezrasearth.com)
Beyond Words Publishing (www.beyondword.com)
Chronicle Books (www.chroniclebooks.com)
Free Spirit Publishing (www.freespirit.com)
Gibbs Smith (www.gibbs-smith.com)
Jewish Lights (www.jewishlights.com)
Sierra Club Books (www.sierraclub.org/books)
Ten Speed / Celestial Arts (www.tenspeedpress.com/catalog/celestial/index.php3)

Other FSC or 100 percent recycled publications for kids:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Raincoast Books, 2003, $25.80), by J.K. Rowling. To order, see www.amazon.ca.

"Wild Animal Baby," National Wildlife Federations' children's magazine, printed on FSC-certified paper. (NWF, 10 issues for $19.95) 1-4 years.

Until the medium catches up with the message, here are a few of the best environmental books for children from the last dozen years:

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? (Henry Holt, 2003, $15.95), by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle (2-3 years). The text reads like a nursery rhyme about ten different animals. All ten are, or have been, endangered. Toddlers may miss the point, but they will enjoy looking at the lush colors and beautiful creatures.

Where Once There Was a Wood (Henry Holt, 1996, $16.95) by Denise Fleming, (2 years - up). Perhaps the most gorgeous children's book around. Fleming's text and illustrations recall a wood, meadow, creek, plus their inhabitants—and the housing development that replaced them all.

Just a Dream. (Houghton Mifflin Co, 1990, $18.95) by Chris Van Allsburg, (7-10 years). A surrealistic masterpiece about the environment. Young Walter couldn't care less about litter or recycling until a terrifying nightmare about the future--with landfills buying neighborhoods-- terrifies him into taking care of the earth.

Ancient Ones: The World of Old-Growth Douglas Fir (Sierra Club Books for Children, 1994, $6.95 in paperback, $16.95 hardcover) by Barbara Bash, (8-10 years) With gentle description and plentiful paint, Bash introduces children to the wonderful world of an old-growth forest.

Come Back, Salmon (Sierra Club Books for Children, 1992, $7.95 in paperback, $16.95 hardcover) by Molly Cone and Sidnee Wainwright, (9-11 years). This book tells the story of Jackson Elementary School, a thousand baby salmon and poor little Pigeon Creek. With good photos and engaging writing, you're soon rooting for all three and before it's over, you'll want to adopt a stream of your own.

The Day the Trash Came Out to Play (Ezra's Earth Publishing, $16.95) by David M. Beadle, illustrated by Laurie A. Faust (8-10 years). When young Robin throws a candy wrapper on the street of his beautiful town, he unintentionally starts an event of landfill proportions. It's not long before the town becomes overrun by mischievous, high-spirited litter. Can Robin fix the situation before everything is buried under a pile of unruly, stinking trash?

Resources

For more than 250 other children's books about nature and the environment, go to Childsake (www.childsake.com)

An Annotated Bibliography of Children's Literature with Environmental Themes: teachers.net/archive/envirobks.html

For more information on paper, see The Green Guide's paper product report and Choosing the Right Paper.