Trees made of books! December 20, 2011

Christmas tree of Books at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland

Always enjoy seeing libraries using discarded books to create art, purses, or  furniture! Go University of Warmia and Mazury of Olsztyn, Poland (and a Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia  – a shout out to my ancestors in Poland!) for their lovely giant Christmas tree created from books. See the writeup in American Libraries or visit their website for more info and videos.  Check out more trees made from books from my past blog posts too!

Tree Planting Info May 4, 2011

Last Friday April 29 was the official Arbor Day but everyday can be Arbor Day! Arborday.org website has a plethora of info and resources. Their Tree Guide offers details on commonly planted landscape trees. Check out your hardiness zone according to zip code.  Be sure to check out the plant the right tree diagrams and quizzes to learn where you should plant a tree or try the Best Tree Finder Wizard.  Their forums allows posting of questions, sharing advice and stories or building networks of people.

Libraries can use this resource when tree planting around their library and especially to share with their patrons! And its always a nice gift to give to tree.

Book Trees December 20, 2010

Check out these cool ideas created from taking discarded books and making trees and decorations:

Created by Gleeson Library, U of San Francisco, image from Shawncalhoun on Flickr:
From instructables:
From the James Cook University Library in Cairns, Qld via Flickr:
From Real Simple.com:
From bunchofpants on flickr.com:

Tree Campus USA January 3, 2010

For academic librarians find out if your campus is involved with the Tree Campus USA program. Introduced in 2008 and  modeled after the Tree City USA program, Tree Campus USA has awarded over 30 college campuses with recognition for tree planting, and other service learning activities that meet the program’s 5 standards.  The campus creates a plan to protect and care for the campus trees, not only on Arbor Day but year-round, through outreach to facilities personnel, students, urban foresters, arbortist and other important stakeholders. Find out the benefits, read about a few of the recognized colleges, or  apply for your college.

i am green October 6, 2009

Check out iamgreen who’s goal is to  make every cell phone and computer “green.”  igamgreen LLC has developed proprietary downloadable software app for use on your iPhone, blackberry, android etc. for about 99cents.  They offer advice and education as well on how to more efficiently use technology, change your phone/computer settings, and general green news & tips.  They also plant a tree for every application purchased! Follow their blog, follow them on twitter, fan them on facebook, or visit their web site. They are in partnership with Energystar, IGEL (initiative for global environmental leadership) and Trees for the Future.

Watch this short video on their cell phone app:

Give-A-Tree cards August 21, 2009

The Arbor Day Foundation offers Give-A-Tree Cards where you get an actual card to sign and give to someone along with getting a planting a tree in their name for $5.95/each (order more than 100 and they are $3/each). What a great idea to give to friends and family as well as colleagues at work, students workers, board members,or just to show your appreciation. (they also offer ecards if you dont want to send a paper one!)

Virtually Grow A Tree May 1, 2009

Have an iPhone? You can download this ap -  iPhorest - and virtually grow a tree! This service is provided to iPhactory by The Conservation Fund. For each virtual tree planted, The Conservation Fund will plant a native tree in real life.  Fun tip to share with your staff and patrons.

Greening of Delta Airlines July 28, 2008

Feeling guilty about flying somewhere for a library conference?  Delta has some green options.

In late spring, Delta announced the options for those flying to donate $5.50 for domestic roundtrip flights and $11 for international roundtrip flights to help offset the carbon dioxide emissions of their flight through the The Conservation Fund to plant trees throughout the U.S. and abroad. Recently they annouced another green effort – a comprehensive on-board recycling program which includes not only aluminum but also newspapers, snack containers, soda cans and water bottles. Proceeds go to benefit Habitat for Humanity. Delta states that in the first two weeks of the program, they recycled approximately five tons of material.