For ordinary readers, it's quite easy to distinguish books made from forest friendly paper. They normally carry on the first few pages of the book (where the publisher is identified) a "recycled" logo or an "FSC" logo, Greenpeace campaigner Ma Lichao explained.
The "Book Lovers for Forests" program will further popularize the concept of reading green. The campaign team are now looking at a survey of readers' recommendations to select the next book to be published using green materials.
At the Kong Hong Book Fair which was held this past July, Greenpeace gained support from many well-known writers from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland through the forum they organized at the fair. By July 19 authors including Zhang Kangkang, Yang Hongying, Li Yinhe, Chen Guanzhong, etc, had promised to back the campaign.
And the campaign team will also participate in the 2008 Beijing International Book Fair this September to persuade more publishers and authors as well as readers to join them.
Greenpeace is confident about the prospect of seeing a greener publishing industry in China, Ma Lichao said, as the campaign has already made remarkable achievements worldwide.
For instance, in Canada, where the book campaign was initiated in 2000, 115 leading publishers including Random House Canada and Penguin Canada have made formal commitments to use only "Ancient Forest Friendly" paper.
The Canadian edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was printed on 100 percent recycled paper. As the author JK Rowling described, "the Harry Potter books are helping to save magnificent forests in the Muggle world, forests that are home of magical animals such as Orangutans, Wolves and Bears."
European publishing houses are also using initiatives. The biggest publisher in Germany, Random Houses, is currently printing 85 percent of its books on FSC certified paper. In Spain, fifteen titles and more than 700,000 books have been printed on Ancient Forest Friendly paper and same has happened with over 130,000 books in Italy.
