Indi Samarajiva

Originally published by Ooligan Press, reprinted here with permission of the authors. The complete 65-page text is available for download (PDF format).

Best Practices

ACQUISITION & EDITING

Acquiring editors with sustainable objectives should ask deeper questions than simply, “Will it sell?” They may want to ask: What is the societal value of the potential book? Is it worth the environmental and social costs? Would this book be better off existing as an e-book only? It is important for everyone involved in sustainable publishing to understand what “cost” and “value” mean in the context of the triple bottom line.

Using a combination of e-books and paper books will be vital to the success of the publishers of the future. Certain titles may be better off as e-books, while others should be printed. As publishers and acquisitions editors, rethinking the submission guidelines of your company can help avoid wasting of time, energy, and materials.

Another easy and effective way to reduce waste and cost is to require all submissions and other correspondence between acquiring editors and authors to be sent via e-mail only. Stop printing and using paper unless you have to.

The same rule applies to editors. Rather than working on hard copy, work on digital files and correspond via e-mail with authors and other editors. Teach the authors how to use editing features such as Microsoft Track Changes. Again, only print when necessary.

DESIGN

To approach book design in a sustainable way, the first step is to commit to staying informed about the materials and processes your designs require. Rather than considering only the needs of the author and the reader, take into consideration the larger picture: the immediate and long-term needs of the environment and society.    

In the cradle-to-cradle (C2C) model of production, sustainability is incorporated into the design of the book itself. The idea of C2C is to use designs and production techniques that are as efficient as possible and essentially waste-free (sometimes this theory is also referred to as “closed-loop”). In C2C designs, the recyclability or reusability of a product is designed into it from the start—the end-of-life phase of the product is planned for when producing the initial design. This is different from the old cradle-to-grave model that we use now in which products are designed to be consumed with the assumption they will be thrown out or recycled.

Sustainable Design Checklist at re-nourish.com:

• Ask more “why” questions. Why is this project necessary? Why are we doing it this way?

• Ask more “what if” questions. What if we did this? What if we minimized effort here and exerted more here?

• Ask more “how” questions. How is this piece going to impact the world while in production and after? How can I minimize these  impacts?"

• Minimize and simplify your design.

• Design for cycles (reuse, remanufacture).

• Design for durability, not obsolescence.

• Choose vendors that use renewable energy.

• Optimize your process, reduce your print waste, and make sure to use non-toxic materials.

• Support sustainable forestry: choose post-consumer waste (PCW) paper and FSC-certified vendors.

• Rely on other designers and vendors as a community of support.

MARKETING & SALES

Environmentally friendly publishers can apply marketing practices to communicate their corporate responsibility and sustainable practices to the public. A company’s commitment to sustainability can be used as a marketing tool to promote the company and to effect change in the industry by encouraging demand for sustainable publishing practices. Include sustainable publishing education as part of your marketing strategy.

It is important to avoid greenwashing or disingenuously representing your company as environmentally friendly. The best way to do this is with a company committee responsible for staying informed on current sustainability research and tracking and analyzing the materials and processes in action. Sales staff should also be educated about publishing sustainably and what measures are in place to avoid greenwashing and so that they can effectively communicate those issues to the public.

Additionally, think twice before you decide to create marketing collateral using paper and ink: How effective is the strategy? What are the real costs? Can the same message reach the same audience through other, non-material means? Focus on internet marketing, networking, and creating audience loyalty by means of branding, word of mouth, and viral marketing techniques.

PRINTING & BINDING

Because the largest financial, ecological, and social costs of publishing a book are directly related to paper, it is very important to know your printer. What is their commitment to sustainable practices? How is their business powered? What paper, ink, and printing options are available? And where and how are they manufactured? What do they use to clean their offset printers? Who does their binding and how?

BETTER MATERIALS

There are no clear-cut answers to some of the issues in paper manufacturing and printing, there are almost always trade-offs to be made. Here is a list of options for the materials and processes we have discussed so far:

Paper—The most sustainable option is FSC-certified, PCF, uncoated paper produced as locally as possible with the highest percentage of post-consumer recycled content available. Another promising alternative is polymeric paper, which was used for the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

Ink and Toner—Try to avoid products containing VOCs if possible. Use soy-based inks (make sure to find out what percentage of the ink is soy, as many have a high percentage of petroleum oil) or vegetable-based inks, preferably grown organically and as locally as possible. Though currently only made in black, soy toner is available as well. The HP Indigo Press is a specialized digital press, used primarily for color printing, that scores high in terms of efficiency, quality, and environmental impacts. The toner used for the Indigo is a liquid, not a powder, and can reproduce process colors with excellent accuracy.

Digital or Offset—There are costs and benefits to each of these choices. We believe that efficient digital presses, such as the HP Indigo or  Xerox’s Nuvera, are currently the most sustainable choices for short print runs. However, until digital technology catches up, print runs of 1,000 or more copies are better off with offset printing that uses little or no VOCs in production.

Cleaners—This applies to offset printers. The alcohol-free cleaning and washing solutions now available are a better choice than alcoholic cleaners, because their evaporation point is higher. The evaporation of VOCs from cleaners poses an immediate health risk. So the ideal cleaner would be both VOC- and alcohol-free.
 
To reduce the social impacts of the paper industry, Green Press Initiative recommends the following:

• The industry should respect and support local economies and businesses, reversing the trend towards ever-larger industrial units and promoting community-ownership and a diversity of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the paper sector, and reversing the trend toward ever-larger industrial units. Production systems must not jeopardize environmental services or ecosystem assets, such as water quality, and their equitable use.

• The paper industry should use the best available technology to minimize the use of water, energy, chemicals, and other raw materials; minimize emissions to air and water, solid waste, and thermal pollution, to eliminate toxic waste and mill discharges; and reduce product brightness to reduce bleaching levels and eliminate the use of chlorine and chlorine compounds for bleaching.

• Any new pulp-mill developers must demonstrate environmentally and socially sustainable sources of fiber.

• Companies should recognize that they are a part of a larger land-use system and should take into account the indirect effects of their land use, such as displacement of pressure for land. (Green Press Initiative, “Environmental Paper Network: Social Impacts of the Paper Industry”)

The book industry is rapidly implementing practices that minimize negative social and environmental impacts. Over 160 publishers, representing about 40% of the book industry’s market share, have either developed strong environmentally friendly policies or signed Green Press Initiative’s industry-generated treatise on responsible paper use. The treatise has also been endorsed by more than a dozen book printers and paper mills. (Green Press Inititative, “About: Book Sector.”)

As for binding, sewn or saddle-stitched options are the most environmentally sound, as well as the easiest to recycle. However, they are not always the most practical. If there is a way to adapt your book design to make one of these binding options feasible—problem solved. If not, research your options for hot and cold glue melts. There may be less toxic options available.

THE EVER AFTER

The messy end-of-life phase of a book is the product of bad infrastructure. As the publishing industry changes to become more sustainable, the amount of waste and overproduction will be reduced. This is the area where policy changes need to happen, and companies need to start competing with more than one bottom line in mind. So, what can a sustainability-minded publisher do? Avoid overproduction as much as possible.

• Print using print-on-demand (POD), preferably in the publishing house or as local as possible, by using efficient digital presses with hardware such as the Indigo. Bind in-house if possible, or use a local bindery. This would cut down on overproduction, waste, and pollution generated by offset printing, the needless greenhouse gasses emitted by the back-and-forth traveling of the unsold book, and the need to store excess books.

• Utilize the e-book and print selectively, using POD when possible.

• Give incentives to retailers to adopt a no-returns policy. Margo Baldwin, Publisher of Chelsea Green Publishing, helped to start their “Green Partners” program in which retailers are given incentives to adopt a no-returns policy, and it has been successful so far. Over forty retailers are listed as “Green Partners,” including the Portland State University bookstore.