Environmental Blogging and Green Book Publishing

Posted on October 18, 2009 by itees

I am a member of various design, green and environmental groups on the site, LinkedIn, and recently joined “Green Publishing,” a subgroup of “Green.” I have seen discussions by those who are writing environmental blogs, and publishing green literature. Here are some of the sites I’m following and what they’re doing to help get some important information out there.

Greenprofs – Green Business Professionals Sharing Information, Insights and Best Practices On The Environment, Corporate Social responsibility and Climate Change

“Founded in August 2008, Greenprofs supports Green, a group of over 55,000 environmental professionals on LinkedIn. Greenprofs is a resource of information on ‘all things green’ a one stop shop for insights, employment and the sourcing of green business suppliers.”

GreenandSave.com - Green News, Tips, and Services for Saving Energy, Money, and the Planet

I found this site to be organized in a very easy, “find and click” way. Showing lead-ins to articles on a variety of topics, such as, most popular, discover, movers & shakers, podcasts & video, green columnists, and tips & lifestyle.

SEECFoundation.org – A Sustainable Future

From their site:
“The Social, Environmental and Economic Concerns (SEEC) Foundation is a sustainability-focused nonprofit organization that helps the community and businesses progress towards a sustainable future. To do this, we provide strategies and resources that address environmental issues, social conditions and realize financial benefits. The SEEC foundation was created to help reflect the positive synergy that exists when social, economic and environmental concerns are simultaneously addressed and work in unison.”

Her Guide To Green – A Better Living, For A Better You

Her Guide To Green is dedicated to incorporating eco-friendly products, people, and initiatives into the lives of women around the world.

The EcoSpheric Blog – Informing and inspiring those who want to live and laugh more sustainably

The most recent post title is: Don’t Leave Your Children A Dying Planet
I was just reading one of my National Geographic magazines and each page I turned was reporting on the decline of another species. Bees, fireflies… and if this wasn’t sad enough, the places with polluted water from the chemicals we put out there.

When I saw this post, I had to read it and I agree. We must do what we can now, so we’re helping, not destroying this planet and not leaving it to the next generation to fix.

Photo from Kids vs Global Warming

Also, check out Kids vs. Global Warming, a non-profit organization founded and led by 14 year old Alex Loorz.

Haddock Research & Branding – Understanding people’s relationship with climate change and the low-carbon economy

They are a full service market research agency with many years of experience in running international, quantitative studies.
From their site:
“The international Environmental Choices™ monitor is fully-owned by Haddock Research. Based on a very wide-ranging questionnaire, it provides a single-source to measure the interrelationships between people’s circumstances, attitudes and behaviour relevant to the low carbon sector. The survey provides both specific analyses and holistic understanding of people’s lives – particularly important given policymakers concerns about the ‘rebound effect’.”

Lollypop Publishing – Books For The way we Live

Lollypop Publishing Ltd is a small independent book publishing company in the West Midlands. They specialize in both children’s and reference books on environmental, social & sustainable transport topics.

What does Green Design mean?

Posted on October 16, 2009 by itees

In the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about what being a “green” designer means. Of course I have been environmentally friendly for many years, but how does this tie in to being a designer?

A few weeks ago I received an email from Graphic Design USA, asking me if I’d like to be one of the featured designers in their October “Green” issue. I was thrilled and humbled of course, and realized it would surely send people to the cause I’ve been working very hard on, since May. My writing partner, Mary Jo Rhodes and I have been blogging about the Frog extinction crisis at (FrogsAreGreen.com), and our posts range from backyard habitats and deforestation to chemicals polluting the water.

GD USA had sent along a few questions for me to answer, and this opened a whole can of worms as Mary Jo and I discussed what the answers might be.

The main question that started this was, “What does being a “green” designer mean to you?

There are so many ways I can answer this question. Are we talking about whether I’m working on an assignment or company that projects “green” ideas, for example, the Frog blog or this blog.

Am I working on an event campaign where I might be designing invitations, envelopes, brochures, and postcards and will make sure it’s printed on eco-friendly, recycled paper, using soy or vegetable inks.

Or lastly, are we talking about what I do in my own studio to be eco-friendly, such as using a Brita water filter, recycling paper, posting information on my desktop, rather than printing it out, and so on?

I suppose it means all of it.

So I ask you, what does being a “green” designer mean to you?

(If you want to see what 12 designers/agencies answered, pick up the October issue of GD USA which should be out this month.)

Sugar Paper, a sweet idea for tree lovers

Posted on October 9, 2009 by itees

In reading about alternatives to paper made from trees, I’ve come across paper made from sugar fibrous residue which remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice, known as Bagasse pulp. It is currently used as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials.

Sugar paper is susceptible to humidity for paper, and heat for cups and utensils (heat can cause them to stick together).

From Wikipedia:

“Around 5%-10% of paper production worldwide is produced from agricultural crops, valuing agricultural paper production at between $5 billion and $10 billion. The most notable of these agricultural crops are wheat straw and bagasse. Paper production is the second largest revenue stream from bagasse after electricity cogeneration; higher than ethanol. Using agriculatural crops rather than wood has the advantage of reducing deforestation. Bagasse has the added advantage in that it requires fewer greenhouse gases to collect, compared to harvesting of wood chips, as the fibre has already been transported to the factory for extracting the sugar. Due to the ease with which bagasse can be chemically pulped, bagasse requires less bleaching chemicals than wood pulp to achieve a bright, white sheet of paper. The fibers vary in length depending on the country and cane variety but are typically about 1.3mm to 1.7 mm long. Bagasse fibers are well suited for tissue, corrugating medium, newsprint, and writing paper.

Bagasse pulp and paper mills tend to be smaller than wood based mills although many world-scale factories exist, notably TNPL (Tamil Nadu, India) Century Pulp and Paper (India) and Ledesma Paper (Argentina).

From the site, WorldCentric.org:
(http://worldcentric.org/sustainability/manufacturing/bagasse)

From this site: Propal, S.A.(www.propal.com.co) If you need the text of this site translated into English, google has a great translation tool. (google translator)

Paper made from sugar cane fiber is listed internationally as “Friends of Nature” as its raw material, sugar cane bagasse, a byproduct of the sugar industry, rolling over short periods of time. Through the process of developing this fiber paper reduces solid waste and produces a fine paper, biodegradable and recyclable. For the quality of the papers and the environmental benefits obtained, the sugarcane fiber alternative source is the increased demand in the world.

PROPAL corporate policy involves the preservation of the environment, meeting at its plants 1 and 2 with the control parameters set by the Ministry of Environment, the Regional Autonomous Corporations and other relevant administrative bodies, making good use and reuse of natural resources.

“Paper made from sugar cane fiber is listed internationally as “Friends of Nature” as its raw material, sugar cane bagasse, a byproduct of the sugar industry, rolling over short periods of time. Through the process of developing this fiber paper reduces solid waste and produces a fine paper, biodegradable and recyclable. For the quality of the papers and the environmental benefits obtained, the sugarcane fiber alternative source is the increased demand in the world.”

Sample product using Bagasse: