No Trees Were Harmed...

How does WorldChanging, a nonprofit dedicated to sustainability and social responsibility, print 200,000 copies of a 600-page book and keep its eco-cred? The answer is on the last page of the book, A User's Guide for the 21st Century. Publisher Harry N. Abrams, readers learn, bought wind-power credits to offset the energy used to produce the book, made from post-consumer recycled paper (sparing trees and saving water). And to ameliorate the effects of a 14-city book tour, the group is investing in greenhouse gas reduction, a move reminiscent of the carbon-neutral efforts made by Al Gore (who wrote the foreword) when he traveled to promote An Inconvenient Truth. The book, with its entries on green design and ethical business, can itself be recycled, of course, though editor Alex Steffen hopes people "will pass it along instead."

By Elizabeth Woyke