Recycle Week 2012
Posted by Better World Books on 06.18.2012 at 1:10 pm
By Emma McNeill, Organisational Support Manager and Environmental Champion at Better World Books.
One of Better World Books Guiding Principles is ‘Invest Well. Waste Not – Choose wisely, consider the return on your efforts and the impact in your actions. Reuse, reuse, reuse…then reduce and recycle.’ It’s a great message and one that I believe in.
It’s coming up for Recycle Week 2012 (organised by WRAP under the Recycle Now brand) and I will be using the week to encourage the people around me to recycle more by letting them know the reasons why recycling is important. So here are 5 Good Reasons To Recycle: Read more…
1 Comment » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, recycle, reuse, UK
Food for Thought
Posted by Erin on 12.19.2011 at 9:48 am
3 Comments » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, From our Friends
Happy Earth Day!
Posted by Dana on 04.22.2010 at 2:13 pm
Being the savvy shopper that you are, I’m sure you already know all about our fabulous Earth Day Sale where you can get 20% off 3 or more used books*. And I’m sure you already have a shopping cart full of fabulous previously loved books ready to go in your cart.
But did you know that tons of once wept over, laughed with, and well loved books don’t get that second chance. It’s true. Sad but true. Check out the facts.

In honor of Earth Day take Dana’s Official Better World Books’ Blog Pledge.
Repeat after me:
“I, State Your Name, will never throw a book away. I will donate it or sell it to Better World Books, give it to a friend or make gosh-jolly-darn sure it gets recycled”.
Good for you. Way to go! Now go outside and enjoy Earth Day and spread the word: No more books in landfills!
*Offer not valid on Marketplace purchases.
1 Comment » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, earth day, Sale
EPA Award. W00t!
Posted by Dana on 03.22.2010 at 4:44 pm
We like awards and we like the earth, so we’re pretty stoked to get an award from the EPA.
Yup. We’re mean and green and we’re proud of it. Okay well, we’re not mean but you get the idea. And so does the EPA. We were just awarded 2009 WasteWise Gold Award for Paper Reduction.
Wanna know why? We never throw a book away. Ever. Any used books we can’t sell are either sent directly to one of our non-profit literacy partners or are recycled.
We have diverted more than 32 million books from landfills while raising $7.6 million in funding for literacy and education initiatives worldwide through the sale of those books. Read more…
1 Comment » | Tagged Company News, Dispatches from the Green House, 2009 WasteWise Gold Award, EPA, Paper Reduction, recycling
Denver Green Festival
Posted by Dana on 05.07.2009 at 7:16 am
So I guess now I’m a veteran of the Green Festivals having now been to 3 of them. DC last November, Seattle in March and now Denver this past weekend.
This was the first year the festival was held in Denver and though the weather wasn’t great on Saturday it cleared up and the traffic picked up on Sunday. Unlike Seattle, where we just had an informational booth, in Denver we were the official bookseller for the festival.
It’s a lot of fun getting to meet our customers face to face as well as both the local and national authors. One of the highlights for me was getting to meet Mike Farrell who played Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on M*A*S*H. Of course in addition to his acting, he is well known for his activism and has two books out which he was signing after his talk. I’ll actually get the chance to sit down Mike for a podcast while when we’re in Chicago for the next Green Festival, May 16 & 17.
I’m looking forward to another fun but exhausting trip out there, so if you’re in the area, come see us.
Have your say » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, Activist, Denver, green books, green festival, Mike Farrell
Earth Day at BWB: Save 20% on Used Books
Posted by Dana on 04.22.2009 at 7:51 am
Happy Earth Day!
Are you still wondering what you can do to celebrate Earth Day?
Well for starters, you can buy used books at www.BetterWorldBooks.com AND save 20%! Just use the coupon code EARTHDAY09 at checkout. And on Earth Day, we’re doubling all carbon offsets! In addition to being a great deal, by shopping Better World Books our customers have (as of today):
- diverted 24.4 million pounds of books from landfills
- saved 284,500 trees from being cut down
- saved 12.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere
- and saved 58 million Kwh of electricity from being used
Need some good green reading? Check out the great deal on Daniel Goleman’s new book: ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE and learn how knowing the hidden impact of what you buy can change everything.
Need more? Check out all of our Earth Day recommendations from green books and podcasts to our Earth Day Reader’s checklist and more!
You can also help by voting for Better World Books for the Business Week Social Entrepreneurship Award!
1 Comment » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, Week In Review, boook coupon, business week, Daniel Goleman, earth day, Earth Day 2009, Ecological Intelligence, green books, used books
April 22 is Earth Day – How will you celebrate?
Posted by Dana on 04.20.2009 at 5:47 pm
If you’re a (sometimes) cynic like me, wondering if Earth Day is just another “Hallmark Holiday” launched to serve some person or company’s bottom line, you can rest easy.
First of all Earth Day is not about buying gifts or spending money. Just the opposite, it’s about sustainability and conservation and just general environmental awareness. Also if you think all this green stuff is new, think again. I did a little research and found out that the first Earth Day was in 1970. It was founded by Senator Gaylord Wilson (D-Wisconsin) who called for an environmental teach-in to be held on April 22nd of that year in response to widespread environmental degradation. That year over 20 million people participated. Now Earth Day is observed each year on April 22 by more than 500 million people and national governments in 175 countries.
Better World Books will be celebrating Earth Day with a one day special when you reuse first and buy used books. On April 22 only, all used books bought on www.BetterWorldBooks.com will be 20% off. You’ll just enter coupon code EARTHDAY09 during checkout to receive this discount. (Of course shipping will still be free AND Carbon Neutral as always!)
We’ll also have lots of suggestions on how you can go green and celebrate!
Check back on Wednesday for BWB’s Earth Day Celebration and in the mean time let us know how you plan to honor the day!
2 Comments » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, better world books, earth day, Earth Day 2009, ReUse First, Senator Gaylord Wilson
Better World Books Podcast: Summer Rayne Oakes
Posted by Dana on 04.14.2009 at 7:51 am
Ever hear of a bug loving, Cornell educated “Eco-Model”? I hadn’t — not until I heard about Summer Rayne Oakes. She’s the real deal – a talented, smart environmental activist who is also a fashion and beauty industry insider. I had the chance to sit down with Summer Rayne to talk about her new book STYLE, NATURALLY where she details the best way to shop with sustainability in mind.
The book doesn’t choose a cause but gives you options whether you prefer fair trade, organic, all natural or buying local. Read more…
2 Comments » | Tagged Author Podcast, Dispatches from the Green House, Better World Books Podcast, dana barrett, Style Naturally, Summer Rayne Oakes, sustainable fashion
Seattle Green Festival
Posted by Dana on 03.31.2009 at 8:21 am
I am sitting at the gate in Chicago Midway airport on my way home from the Green Festival in Seattle. What a great experience. The event took place over two days in the Seattle Convention Center and brought together amazing speakers, companies and attendees who are all working to conserve, reuse, recycle, and just generally improve the environment and thereby the economy.
This is the second Green Festival I’ve been too. The first was in DC in November when I had no idea what to expect. I have come to learn over the last few months how closely tied our environmental and economic issues are. If you’re not sure what I mean, check out Van Jones’ GREEN COLLAR ECONOMY, Herve Kempf’s HOW THE RICH ARE DESTROYING THE EARTH, and John Perkins’ THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE just to name a few.
At first I struggled a bit with the idea of the festival. Many of the speakers talk about the need for us to curb our out of control materialism and cut back on our consumerism in general, and yet the floor of the conference is filled with companies selling their wares. (Including us!) But after my interview with John Perkins this past weekend, I got it. Read more…
1 Comment » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, green festival, herve kempf, John Perkins, Van Jones
Vote Earth
Posted by Dana on 03.02.2009 at 9:07 am
Here at Better World Books, we are all about doing our part to save the environment. That said, I know sometimes the whole thing can get overwhelming. You’re not sure how to help and which little thing will really matter. I can assure you they all do. You’re efforts to recycle, turn the water off when you brush your teeth and buy books from us all matter.
Now there is something even easier you can do. Vote Earth. All you have to do is turn your lights off for one hour. On Saturday March 28th from 8:30PM to 9:30PM just flip your light switches to off and you are voting for earth over global warming.
This is the third year of Earth Hour, which started in Sydney in 2007 with 2.2 million homes turning their lights off, grew to a global effort last year with 50 million joining in, and has a goal of 1 billion people turning their lights off this year. Help ‘em out. It’s easy, meaningful, and the candlelight could be fun.
For more information on Earth Hour, go to www.voteearth2009.org.
3 Comments » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, Copenhagen, Earh Hour, Global Warming, Vote Earth
- Aaron King africa ARC betterworld.com better world books fund Better World Books in the field blog book drive book drives book reviews books books for africa bookstore campus chicago children's books conferences dana barrett david murphy green festival green for all hilarious posts Impact invisible children library literacy literacy statistics massachusetts Natasha National Center for Family Literacy NCFL off-topic Our Partners partner updates Pat Plonski Phi Theta Kappa podcast Poll Wednesday press room to read Show Us Some Love social entrepreneurship Spooky Book of the Day worldfund Xavier Helgesen
- Africa 2010 (10)
- Antiquarian Ramblings (9)
- Ask the Dust: Notes from the Rare Book Section (4)
- Author Podcast (48)
- Better World Book Club (20)
- Book & Author News (49)
- book club (4)
- Book Lists (108)
- Book Reviews (67)
- Books on the Big Screen (7)
- Company News (81)
- Contests (16)
- Dispatches from the Green House (47)
- Flabbergasted (15)
- From our Friends (84)
- holidays (21)
- Impact (179)
- Impact Vignette (5)
- In the News (22)
- LEAP (14)
- Literacy Trips (20)
- Our Partners (184)
- Poll Wednesday (19)
- Show Us Some Love (29)
- Social Enterprise (19)
- South America 2011 (6)
- The Man Behind the Curtain (22)
- Uncategorized (375)
- Video Impact Story (6)
- Week In Review (18)
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
-
Latest Comments
my all time favorite was "The Pokey Little Puppy." When I got older it was "Ali...
I loved all things Beverly Cleary when I was a kid. That and, of course, Little...
At about age nine, I fell in love with Louise Moeri's "A Horse for X.Y.Z." This ...
Don't forget Freddie the Pig....
Baby Island - Carol Ryrie Brink Una and Grubstreet - Prudence Andrew Miss ...










