Harry Potter Goes Green
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Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 3/28/2007
Harry Potter is joining the likes of Al Gore, Brad Pitt, and Cameron Diaz—he's going green.
Scholastic says all 12 million copies of the U.S. edition of J. K. Rowlings's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be printed on paper that contains a minimum of 30 percent post-consumer waste fiber. On top of that, 65 percent of the 16,700 tons of paper used in the U.S. first printing will be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which sets the global standard for responsible forest management. "This historic commitment is the largest purchase of FSC certified paper to be used in the printing of a single book title," Scholastic says.
The publisher also says the deluxe edition of the book (100,000 copies) will be printed on text paper that is FSC certified and contains 100 percent post-consumer waste fiber. All jackets will be FSC certified and contain 30 percent post consumer waste and will be manufactured using energy generated from wind power. In fact, all future printings in the Harry Potter series will use paper with a minimum content of 30 percent pcw.
"This really will show our students why they're hauling classroom paper to the recycling bin every day," wrote one school librarian from California on the LM_NET online discussion group for school librarians.
