Green publishing and Dog Ear Publishing

It's kind of funny to see the publishing industry embracing a 'green' revolution - especially when the SELF publishing industry, for the most part, has always been green.

In the vast majority of our self publishing efforts, print-on-demand is utilized to produce the books. Print-on-demand is by its very nature more green than printing thousands of books that then sit in warehouses, often simply to be sent back to the shredder. It's even more green when the books are truly print-on-demand and the technology is used to fulfill end consumer orders. The print-on-demand model (when used to satisfy end-consumer need) is just about the most environment-friendly book publishing option in the book industry (really only e-books are more environmentally gentle). Imagine how many trees would be saved by only printing the books that are ordered, using strict environmental practices and certified materials.

My company, Dog Ear Publishing, works very hard to be the best and smartest choice for authors, and we quickly realized that building beautiful books doesn’t have to be harmful to the environment. We use recycled papers – though it may vary in percentage as our printing process does limit us in some ways due to the speed at which we print our books.

The offset printing-hold inventory model of publishing requires large amounts of printed inventory – all of which are produced BEFORE a sale is ever made to keep costs low and profits high. Practically every single title produced by the traditional publishing market in a traditional offset-printed matter have a large quantity of books that go unsold and are consequently returned and destroyed. To make matters worse, this is typically in addition to being shipped and handled multiple times.

At Dog Ear Publishing, a book is typically printed only after the sale is made – ensuring that each book we print has a home with a reader. Print on demand helps eliminate waste, reduces carbon emissions and helps us be a good steward of our valuable natural resources.

The raw materials used in all Dog Ear Publishing books carry certifications that promote the health of our planet and industry - our raw materials are obtained from Chain of Custody (COC) certified suppliers, which guarantees the environmental sustainability and sourcing of materials used. We use environmentally certified papers that carry one or more certifications from:

FSC – The Forest Stewardship Council
SFI – The Sustainable Forestry Initiative
PEFC – The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification GREEN-E

Some of papers we use are even are produced using 100% wind power. Dog Ear Publishing papers contain NO old growth forest content, content from forests of exceptional conservation value, or the Amazon Basin; and all papers ARE sourced from Sustainable Reforestation Programs.

My partners, Alan Harris and Miles Nelson, and I believe that building beautiful books doesn’t have to be harmful to the environment. In addition to recycled papers, Dog Ear Publishing has retrofitted its entire office with energy efficient light bulbs, and our equipment is energy star rated. With quite a bit of success, we've implemented an office wide recycling program. Very little of anything is simply thrown away - we are reducing and recycling everything from paper, aluminum to our equipment.

We created “Dog Ear CARES,” a program through which we dedicate a portion of sales to supporting environmental efforts to reduce pollution (including carbon emissions), protect natural habitats and foster alternative and renewable fuels - in addition to organizations like RIF and others that promote literacy.