A New Campaign Is Rewarding Green Readers With Green Gifts

Feb. 8, 2010 - PRLog -- For over two years Eco-Libris has been offering eco-conscious readers the opportunity to balance out their books by planting trees. At the same time the company has worked to promote sustainable reading, and reduce books' impact on the environment. Now Eco-Libris is combining the two, with a special giveaway that rewards customers with green gifts that promote green reading, from gift cards at Strand Bookstore and BookSwim to free “green” books that were printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper!

“We wanted to show our customers our appreciation by providing them a greater value for their actions and we thought it can be a win-win solution to give them gifts that not only are good for the environment, but are actually great examples of “green” reading, from books that are printed responsibly to gift cards at a great independent bookstore and a Netflix-style book rental service”, says Raz Godelnik, CEO of Eco-Libris. “Customers will of course continue to receive our “One tree planted for this book” sticker for every book they balance out, so with the tree planting, stickers that help demonstrating their commitment, and the new gifts, greening up your reading with Eco-Libris is more rewarding than ever.”

Customers who will balance out 25 books on Eco-Libris’ website will receive a $10 gift card at Strand Book Store of New York City, one of the world’s best independent bookstores with over 18 miles of new, used, rare and art books . These cards are good for any in-store or online purchases and they never expire. “We are proud to continue to support the work of Eco-Libris and hope more people plant a tree for every book they read in 2010!” says Christina Foxley, Director, Store Events & Marketing at Strand.

For customers who will balance out 50 books, there is going to be a special gift – a choice of “green” book, printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper. The books offered are books that participated in Eco-Libris green books campaign last November that promoted responsibly printed books. Customers will be offered to choose from a list of 5-6 books that will be changing occasionally.

Some of the first books to be offered are of Book Publishing Company (“BookPubCo”), a leading publisher of raw, vegan, vegetarian and natural health books that is dedicated to printing all its books on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Among the books offered are “Raw for Dessert”, “Tofu Cookery” and “Local Bounty, Seasonal Vegan Recipes”. “BookPubCo applauds Eco-Libris for giving readers the option of ‘balancing out’ the print media’s use of virgin paper by planting a tree for each book they read and is happy to take part in their current campaign to promote green reading with green gifts, including our books", says Bob Holzapfel, President of Book Publishing Company.

Eco-Libris is also offering for customers who will balance 100 books a $25 gift card for BookSwim, a Netflix-style book rental library service, lending you paperbacks, hardcovers and college textbooks. “We are thrilled to continue our work with Eco-Libris," said George Burke, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of BookSwim.com. "Like all book-lovers, we hope to ensure that books stay affordable and available while minimizing the book industry's impact on the environment. We are happy and proud to have the opportunity to promote the good work Eco-Libris is doing. There’s nothing more exciting than knowing that we’re helping achieve the mission of a verdant world, where both trees and books are plentiful. “

In addition, the first 10 customers to balance 100 books will receive a free copy of Jennifer Kaplan’s "Greening Your Small Business: How to Improve Your Bottom Line, Grow Your Brand, Satisfy Your Customers - and Save the Planet" (Prentice Hall, November 2009)

More information can be found on the campaign’s webpage – www.ecolibris.net/gifts.asp

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Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris is a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. To achieve these goals Eco-Libris is working with book readers, publishers, authors, bookstores and others in the book industry worldwide. So far Eco-Libris balanced out over 120,000 books, which results in more than 130,000 new trees.