Environmental Commitments

New Society Publishers is committed to building an ecologically sustainable and just society not just through education, but through action. We're acting on our commitment to the world's remaining ancient forests by:

Printing all our books on 100% post-consumer recycled FSC-certified paper, using vegetable-based, low-VOC inks

Using only 100% post-consumer recycled FSC-certified paper in our office

Making all of our frontlist and as much as our backlist as possible available through our ebook program

Producing a “paperless” PDF catalog and encouraging endorsers and reviewers to accept our titles in electronic form

Offsetting our emissions to make all of our business operations carbon neutral.

Ancient-Forest Friendly Paper

In summer of 2001, New Society committed to publishing all of our forthcoming titles on acid-free paper that is Forest Stewardship Council certified, 100% old growth forest-free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable based, low VOC inks. We were the first North American publisher to make such a commitment. Sourcing this paper initially from New Leaf Paper in San Francisco, we have since printed over half a million books this way, and have helped start a revolution in the publishing industry.

Each New Society book contains an Eco-Audit indicating the environmental benefits of doing this in terms of:

Trees saved

Pounds of solid waste

Gallons of water saved

Kilowatt hours of electricity saved

Pounds of greenhouse gases avoided

Pounds of HAPs, VOCs, and AOX combined, and

Cubic yards of landfill space saved.

Although printing on FSC-certified 100% PCW recycled paper costs a premium, it is one step toward ending global deforestation and climate change. Insist on it for all books you buy!

Carbon Neutral Program

In 2005, New Society took its commitment to the environment up another notch by becoming the first North American publishing company to become carbon neutral. Our first step is to reduce our direct emissions by curtailing our shipping and travel as much as possible. Then, each year we neutralize all of the emissions which we cannot avoid by investing in initiatives that will prevent the release of a similar quantity of emissions elsewhere, or which will achieve long-term carbon-storage.

In 2010 we neutralized 305 tons of CO₂ emissions by making a donation to the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), an organization dedicated to helping rural, off-grid people in developing countries to power a brighter future through clean, renewable energy and modern communications. Click here for more details.

As part of our Carbon Neutral program, New Society author and consultant Guy Dauncey; produced a paper, Going Carbon Neutral: A Guide for Publishers , designed for use by any publisher in the world as a template to help them do the same. This is available free of charge as a download:

It is worth noting that using 100% Post Consumer recycled, Ancient Forest Friendly paper in our books and office, already yields a reduction of 36% in our annual carbon emissions over "business as usual."