I was contacted by Rebecca Wolpinski of Barefoot Books a little while back. She wanted to introduce me to her company and have Chloe and Abby review some of their books. To keep with the purpose of Eco-Office Gals we picked the “Whole World” set. It comes with a beautifully illustrated hard copy edition printed on forest friendly paper which includes sing-along CD and eco-tips for preserving the planet”—The O List*, a work book and a reusable bag.
My girls were so excited when the box arrived and they found out it was something for them. We never made it past the kitchen floor singing and doing the hand motions, then they were off to the kitchen table to go throught the workbook. Chloe continued to sing the song for the rest of the day.
This great workbook includes:
Eco-quiz, minibeasts word search, recycling game, draw your ideal home…
Children will love these green puzzles and hands-on ideas for saving our
planet. Perfect for earth-conscious youngsters when paired with our *Whole
World* book.
The illustrations are vibrant and fun. The girls almost didn’t let me read as they picked out the many images on each page and decided who was who. We really got into this book (ask my 13 year old son, he walked into the kitchen as we all sat on the floor singing… we got some strange looks! LOL)
So, what has the company Barefoot Books done to grow green?
(from the site)
- Forestry We ensure that our printers source the paper on which our books are printed from ancient-forest friendly sources. This means that the paper suppliers are obliged to replant trees that they have harvested, and that they do not damage rainforests or other ancient woodlands.
- Shipping Many of our books are transported across considerable distances. We very rarely use planes as a method of transporting stock. Typically, our books are shipped by boat.
- Community Based Approach The traditional book industry operates on a returnable basis which means that books often move from the publisher to the distributor and then back again. This wastes lots of fuel and cardboard and often results in damaged product which can’t be sold. At Barefoot, we have adopted a more grassroots communal approach to marketing our books, avoiding the wasteful practices of the bigger distributors, and working with a broad network of independent retailers and partners, including our rapidly growing community of home-sellers.
- Communications We set out to minimize paper use by communicating as much as possible online and by telephone. We recycle the paper that we use for print communication.
- Office Supplies We buy our office supplies from green manufacturers and our office paper is recycled. We buy our refreshments, including coffee, tea, and milk from a local organic market. We wash and reuse real glasses and mugs instead of paper or plastic.
- Recycling All of our paper and other recyclable office materials are taken to a local recycling center on a weekly basis. We recycle the toner used in our printers and copiers.
- Electricity We use energy efficient light bulbs to light our office.
- Travel We try to reduce Barefoot’s carbon footprint by minimizing travel. We take the train or bus as often as possible as an alternative to cars and airplanes.
- Employee Involvement We all work together to ensure that computers, lights and equipment are turned off when not in use.
This was a great company to be introduced to and wonderful books to have for my kids! Thank you Rebecca for introducing me to Barefoot Books!
Guess what? Yep, you can share these books with your kids, too! Rebecca is offering one of my readers a chance to win a set of the “Whole World” to add to their children’s library. So, you know the routine… go check out Barefoot Books, come here and tell me which book strikes your fancy for an entry. Twitter or stumble this giveaway for an extra entry, and subscribe to me feed for another. Remember to leave a seperate comment for each entry, and this is for US residents only, please. Due to the holidays, I will let this run through the end of the week. So, a winner will be picked Dec. 26th. Good Luck!
Here are your random numbers:
25
Timestamp: 2008-12-27 00:26:15 UTC
Congrats!
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:07 am Giants, Ghosts and Goblins would top our list!