Harry Potter: JK Rowling green publishing saves ancient forests
December 2, 2007
Creator of young waif wizard Harry Potter and the imaginary magical world of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry author JK Rowling accepted The Order of the Forest award from the Canadian environmental organization Markets Initiative in recognition of her influence in the book publishing industry shift to green printing practices.
When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was set to go to print, Rowling requested publishing houses use environmentally-friendly paper sources.
As a result, the pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows did not threaten the destruction of trees in ancient or endangered forests. In addition to the 197,685 trees still standing, the green publishing practices conserved 327,657,453 liters of water and eliminated 7,876,000 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions traditional printing would have spewed into the atmosphere.
Markets Initiative credits Rowling with launching a trend that has seen an additional 300 publishers, including HarperCollins UK, Random House US and Scholastic, adopt green printing policies.