Green Book Festival 2012: call for entries September 26, 2011

Call for entries!  This annual competition -2012 Green Book Festival -  honors books that contribute to greater understanding, respect and positive action on the changing worldwide environment. Considerations to published, self-published and independent publisher works in the following categories: non-fiction, fiction, children’s books, teenage, how-to, audio/spoken word, comics/graphic novels, poetry, science fiction/horror, biography/autobiography, gardening, cookbooks,animals, photography/art, e-books, wild card (anything goes!), scientific, white
paper, legal, business, mystery and spiritual. Entries can be in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese or Italian.

Grand prize  – $1500 and transportation to our May awards in San Francisco OR an equivalent amount donated in your name to the environmental charity of your choice.

A panel of judges will determine the winners based on the following criteria:

1) The overall writing style and presentation of the work;
2) The potential of the work to enhance understanding of the environment and its
issues;

TO ENTER: Entry forms are available online at http://www.greenbookfestival.com or may be sent to you by emailing GreenBookFestival@sbcglobal.net.

The Green Book Festival is produced by JM Northern Media LLC, producers of the
Hollywood Book Festival, New York Book Festival and DIY Convention: Do It
Yourself in Film, Music & Books.

How Can I Recycle This? September 23, 2011

Really, anything can be reused or repurposed.  This blog - How Can I Recycle This?  -  offers over 900 items and over 14,000 suggestions of ways to reuse, repurpose or recycle things that would otherwise go in the bin! Check it out, search for most anything and find creative and useful ideas for recycling!  From VHS tapes to crock pots to old lentils to  house keys.  Search and explore or share your own ideas.  You can also follow them on twitter.

Resource Guide for Green Librarians! September 22, 2011

Check out this great resource guide  by Laura Barnes  of Prairie Research Institute, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (University of Illinois Library)

I love the guide’s opening Introduction box that contains handouts from green library workshops with slides and resources.  It  includes RSS feeds from the Environmental News Bits Libraries category and  a list of new green library resources (from her “delicious” bookmarks tagged for green libraries) which you can subscribe to the RSS feed.

Other tabs include a Sustainability Overview, with book and website recommendations in general and for sustainable libraries; a Green Building/facility tab with sections on energy, green cleaning and water efficiency; a Purchasing tab, with info on greenwashing, product guides, electronic disposal, and paper use/recycling; a collection development tab on green weeding information and collection development collection resource links; and lastly a Programming tab with book lists, curriculum resources, and art/craft projects.

Thanks Laura, a great resource so many libraries can now use!

Green Reads September 16, 2011

Our campus Sustainability Committee’s bookclub is reading two interesting green reads this year:

This fall -Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-cynic Unplugged her Fridge, Sold her Car, and Found love in 366 Days by Vanessa Farquharson.

And in the spring -  Green Metropolis by David Owen.

any other good green reads to recommend? please comment!

Book Bikes September 15, 2011

As a librarian who loves biking & sharing books, what a fun concept – the  new book mobile is  a book bike!

Check out some of the libraries using this idea:

Chicago Book Bike

Pima County library’s book bike

Brazillian biciloteca

Sustainable Librarians – join the online discussion September 12, 2011

A great place to join other green and sustainable librarians  is online at the new LinkedIn group Sustainable Librarians. This group is for librarians who are social entrepreneurs, leaders, facilitators,and advocates in the sustainability movement. We hope people will share stories and best practices and encourage others to join the movement. Recent discussion have been on using GreenPrint in your library, librarians traveling to AASHE or GreenBuild, and an announcement about a Greening your library webinar offered this week by one of our members!

If you aren’t familiar with LinkedIn, it’s a free online network to connect professionally with other coworkers, former coworker or possible find a future job thorough networks and connections on LinkedIn.

Amazing Kids – Jasper Sustainability Club Videos September 2, 2011

Jasper Sustainability Club for Youth designed this presentation to be presented at the Living Future unConference in Vancouver in April of 2011.

Thanks Anne Less for sharing these great videos!