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Harry Potter goes green for the world’s ancient forests
US publisher Scholastic urged to follow suit
In 2003, Canadian Publisher Raincoast Books, working with
the Markets Initiative (2) set a positive trend for Harry Potter publishers in
helping to save the world’s ancient forests by printing ‘Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix’ on a 100% post consumer recycled paper. Since then,
Greenpeace has been encouraging other Harry Potter publisher to print their
book on ancient forest friendly paper as part of the Greenpeace Book Campaign
(3).
Gavin Edwards, of
Greenpeace International said, “It is great to see that some Harry
Potter publishers following the lead set by Raincoast books. It is now up to less progressive publishers like Scholastic in the USA, to respond to the challenge that has been laid down.”
With the
publication of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Raincoast is again
printing the Canadian edition on a 100% post consumer recycled paper. This
trend is now being echoed by other publishers across the globe.
· The
German edition published by Carlsen will be printed on 40%
post-consumer recycled paper with the rest of the virgin fibre coming
from Forest Stewardship Council certified sources. The FSC is the only way you can ensure that the virgin fibre is coming from environmentally and socially responsible sources.
· The
UK edition, published by Bloomsbury is expected to be printed on a 30%
FSC certified paper – a positive first step by the publishing house.
Greenpeace appreciates the efforts that Bloomsbury have made and hopes
that the publisher will move towards entirely ancient forest friendly
papers for future Harry Potter print runs.
· The
Israeli and Italian editions, published by Books in the Attic and
Yediot Ahronot Books (Israel) and Salani (Italy) have made commitments
to print the book on ancient forest friendly paper when they are
published this autumn.
“The
US publisher Scholastic is one of the largest Harry Potter publishers
globally. If they had printed the book on 100% recycled paper, like
Raincoast, its 10.8 million print run could have saved 217,475 trees,” continued Edwards.
Greenpeace is also urging other Harry Potter publishers like Editorial
Salamandra (Spain) and Buhrmann (Holland), who are still making
decisions on which paper to use for their editions, to follow the lead
taken by Raincoast Books, Carlsen, Bloomsbury, Books in the Attic,
Yediot Ahronot Books and Salani and save some ancient muggle forests.
Notes to Editor
(1) Ancient forest friendly papers are those that maximise recycled content with any virgin fibre coming from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sources.
(2) The Markets Initiative is a coalition project between Greenpeace Canada, Friends of Clayoquot Sound and the Sierra Club. For more information visit www.oldgrowthfree.com or contact Nicole Rycroft, Director on +1 250 725 8050.
(3) The Greenpeace Book Campaign encourages publishers to stop sourcing paper from ancient forests and to start developing ancient forest friendly solutions. The ecologic
Contact information
- Gina Sanchez, Greenpeace Communications, +31 627 00 0064
