Dispatches From The Green House - Better World Books Blog - Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Community Outreach & more

Funds Raised for Global Literacy:

$10,184,799.20

Books Re-Used or Recycled:

63,271,794

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

Guest Post by Pattie Baker, Author of “Food for My Daughters”

It had been a weedy, unloved, unused piece of land a little more than two years ago, and now the largest community garden in my county flourishes there, 20% of which is dedicated to donations to a local food pantry directly across the street from the park in which the garden is located. Our first donation came just six weeks after the garden opened, and it consisted of three little bags of lettuce leaves. I was so proud of it, until I went to deliver it to the church where the food pantry is held each Wednesday. The line of people in need wrapped around the building. Our meager donation embarrassed me, although the words of Mother Teresarang in my head: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” And we would feed three that day.

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.

infographic

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

tree_w_bookerflies 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

earthday 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…

Interview with Summer Rayne Oakes [ 24:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1583)

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.