What we’ve saved by going green

Long concerned with the environmental impact involved in the making of books, UNC Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since the program’s founding in 2001. This means we’re committed to recycling at the office and we give preference to postconsumer and chlorine-free papers in our book manufacturing. You can read more details about our environmental policy on the Press’s website.

As part of the program, university presses ask paper suppliers and printers to audit the papers they supply to us and document how they meet certain environmental qualifications.  Each year, production manager Heidi Perov collects the figures from our printers to tally up the benefits of our efforts. Over this past year we have saved:  (drum roll please…)

• 1827 trees
• 588 million BTUs of energy
• 173,714 POUNDS of greenhouse gases
• 836,6469 GALLONS of waste water
• 50,796 POUNDS of solid waste

We still print books on paper, but we’re working hard to minimize our footprint and preserve irreplaceable natural resources.

One more fun announcement: the Press web site has been UPDATED. Hooray! If you visit our web site as an author, and you click the “For Authors” section, you will see a totally revamped site. We now have pictures of our editors, their assistants, as well as what their lists are and what types of books they acquire. It is fresh and clean and easier to navigate. Check it out at the UNC Press web site.

-Rose & Ellen