Final Harry Potter tome is “greenest book in publishing history”
Feel that crackle in the air? That’s millions of Harry Potter fans trying not to fidget as they wait for the book’s midnight release. (Or trying not to freeze, in the case of an Australian fan who was rescued after diving into a frigid lake to retrieve his pre-purchase receipt.) The final installment of the mugglicious series is said to be the greenest book in publishing history — a good thing, since it’s set sales records at retailers like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Sixteen publishers around the world used eco-friendly paper for the edition, including U.S. publisher Scholastic, which went the conventional route for the last Harry book and faced a boycott as a result. In all, says Markets Initiative, a Vancouver-based group that helps publishers go green, the switch for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has saved nearly 200,000 trees and avoided almost 8,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Which totally makes up for the fact that Harry dies in the end. Oops, did we say that out loud?
