I think at this stage you should go for FSC. Recycled would be great but at this point you can't afford to uphold all of your principles. In a year or so, when things are easier then maybe you can. I believe that there are degrees of FSC certifcates though so you could look into making sure that it is as sustainable as possible.

Go FSC. Nothing wrong with chopping down healthy trees if they are replaced. Young trees which grow faster than old ones absorb more CO2 so do more good than fully grown healthy trees.

M

It's a very interesting question, not just for snowbooks, but for the much bigger publishers too. Bloomsbury have just published Jon Mcgregor's, so many ways to begin,on recycled; it's the only mainstream example I can think of at present.

FSC. The label is there for a reason - not just any old trees, but sustainably managed forests that meet the criteria of the FSC. The kind of forests grown for paper are planted for that purpose, so it is not as though you'll be chopping down ancient teak rainforests or something.
Kudos to you for grappling with the ethics though.

I agree, FSC. If you were Bloomsbury you could afford to go green, but until they make recycled paper more affordable it's not your fault if you can't afford it.

Given the economics, it is heroic that you are even contemplating this shift, Emma.

All I can offer - but you've probably done this - is recommend you investigate all the technical issues surrounding use of recycled paper before going near it. Your readers will expect 'normal' standards on paper feel, aging, light resistance, print quality and fastness, page curl and so forth. Are there bulk and weight negatives for shipment and display or higher print wastage on set-up, which undermine the environmental case? What is the consistency in quality? Are there any undesirables such as odour, DIPN or heavy metals present. How is the material sourced?

Good luck - Derek

FSC absolutely. Not all of us were made to be martyrs. Your business needs to be sustainable as well as the planet. Sx

FSC I think, publishing is lower than writing is wastefully. Draft upon draft!

Strikes me that FSC is the way to go. I am skeptical about recycling in anycase. Energy usage in making recycled products is high and when you count in costs of collection, sorting, and then the distribution of the recycled stuff I imagine that the FSC paper is probably better for the environment anyway.
Eoin

Wow, thanks chaps. I will ask for your points of view more often.

FSC it is, then!

Get another printer's quote?
Printing on recycled paper SHOULD from any economic angle cost less but, as ever, the environmental kudos is being premiumised.

"My mama told me you better shop around"

Absolutely FSC. Isn't FSC sustainable by definition? Anyway, it woudl be madness to let Snowbooks suffer or die for this principle - when FSC is sustainable (if not as tree friendly).

Also, keep working the ebooks angle, to make your products as available electronically to enlightened readers. (I'm not enlightened - I enjoy cover art and touch/feel which I'm not sure ebooks can provide - but then I'm judging after reading Jules Verne on a Palm Pilot in 2001).

Thanks for asking, though

realistically, you can't justify recycled on a book with tight margins. work to get yourself into the position where you can influence policy on this kind of thing, and work towards all books being carbon neutral - but you have to survive as a company to get there.

I would go for the FSC for now BUT make a commitment to plant say 10 trees every year somewhere.

Planting trees helps toward solving the global warming crisis--which many here haven't got as yet but it's coming.

Conscience eased :)

Print on woodfree paper. We do at Long Barn Books. Environmentally friendly and only a tiny tiny bit more expensive than normal paper.
And it has a lovely look and feel whereas recycled does NOT.

We looked into self-publishing once, and you may like to try TJ International in Cornwall, as they do really good rates for 100% post-consumer paper and 50 to 100% recylced covers. Green Books use them, and the quality is really good. Hope this helps!