New Green Website Lets Book Lovers Balance out the Books They Read by Planting Trees

Eco-Libris helps book lovers go green and plant a tree for every book they read. About 20 million trees are being cut down every year to produce paper for books sold in the U.S. alone. By partnering with non-profit organizations in developing countries, Eco-Libris can now invite readers to do something about it in a new website launched today.

Novato, California (PRWEB) July 11, 2007 -- In times when global warming and environmental issues are receiving growing public attention, many people are looking for ways to green up their lifestyle. Starting today, a new company, Eco-Libris (www.ecolibris.net), is offering book lovers an easy way to make a difference - plant one tree for every book they read.

"About 20 Million trees are cut down annually for virgin paper used in the production of books sold in the U.S. alone," says Raz Godelnik, Eco-Libris' CEO, an eco-entrepreneur who decided to turn to green business a few years ago after serving as an advisor to the Israeli Minister of the Interior "We want to raise awareness to the destructive environmental impacts of using paper for the production of books and provide people with an affordable and easy way to do something about it and fight climate change. We strive for a world where reading books doesn't contribute to deforestation and global warming. Planting trees is just the first step towards the day the book publishing industry will be truly sustainable."

Eco-Libris works with its planting partners to plant trees in the highest ecological and sustainability standards in Latin America and Africa. In these areas, deforestation is a crucial problem, and planting trees not only helps conserve soil and water, but also raises the ecological awareness of the local communities for whom these trees offer many benefits and an opportunity for a better future

The process itself is fairly simple -- upon entering the website, customers decide how many books they would like to balance out. They then pay online and a tree is planted for each of these books. Customers also receive a sticker from Eco-Libris, made of recycled paper, for every book they balance out, saying "One Tree was Planted for this Book," which they can later display on their books' sleeves.

Eco-Libris has partnered with three non-profit organizations that work in collaboration with local communities in developing countries to plant the trees. "Choosing the right partner was probably one of the hardest tasks," says Godelnik. "We chose highly respected organizations we know our customers can trust. All our planting partners are registered in the US and UK and work in collaboration with local communities in developing countries. Eco-Libris is fully accountable to its customers and will conduct periodical assessments of its planting projects to ensure its customers receive the best value for their efforts to go green."

"It's very simple," says Godelnik, "Eventually and hopefully sooner rather then later, books will be made from recycled paper or other eco-friendly materials and logging for paper will stop. On that day we'll happily move on to a new cause, but until then every book reader should take action, and Eco-Libris is the right place to start."

Gili Koniak, the company's environmental and natural resources expert explains further: "Eco-Libris works with its planting partners to plant trees in the highest ecological and sustainability standards in Latin America and Africa. In these areas, deforestation is a crucial problem, and planting trees not only helps conserve soil and water, but also raises the ecological awareness of the local communities for whom these trees offer many benefits and an opportunity for a better future".

Eco-Libris' efforts go hand in hand with worldwide efforts to fight deforestation, such as the United Nation's "Billion Tree" campaign launched last November by Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai. These efforts are due to the fact that deforestation accounts, according to UN data, for around 25 percent of man-made emissions of carbon dioxide, the main driver of global warming.

Latin America and Africa, where Eco-Libris' partners are operating and planting trees, are the two regions that are losing their forests at the highest rate according to the State of the World's Forests 2007. The company's goal is to restore half a million trees to these regions by the end of 2008.

For additional information on Eco-Libris, please contact Eylon Israely or visit http://www.ecolibris.net/

About Eco-Libris:
Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris is offering book lovers, as well as book stores and publishers, the opportunity to balance out the trees cut down for the production of books by planting trees in developing countries. The company is owned by California based Redwood Visions Consulting LLC and has offices in Delaware and California.

Contact:
Eylon Israely, Business Development
Eco-Libris
250 Bel Marin Keys Blvd.
Novato, CA 94949
http://www.ecolibris.net/

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