HARRY POTTER BECOMES FOREST FRIENDLY
            In 2003 Raincoast Books printed Canadian editions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on 100% post-consumer recycled, processed chlorine free paper and fiber. This commitment saved trees, water, and energy and reduced solid waste and greenhouse gases.
            J. K. Rowling is quoted on the Raincoast.com website: “The forest at Hogwarts is home to magical creatures like unicorns and centaurs. Because the Canadian editions are printed on Ancient Forest Friendly paper, the Harry Potter books are helping to save magnificent forests in the muggle world, the home of magical animals such as orangutans, wolves and bears. It is a good idea to respect ancient trees, especially if they have a temper like the Whomping Willow.”
            For the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sixteen publishing houses worldwide committed to using recycled, or ancient forest friendly, paper. “Ancient forests” refers to forest areas that are relatively undisturbed by human industrial activity. These forests have a multi-layered canopy, natural regeneration, trees varying in size, age, and species, accumulations of dead and fallen trees, and numerous large trees.
            “Scholastic announced that all 12 million copies of the first printing will be on 30 percent post-consumer waste fiber, 65 percent of which is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as procured through responsible forest management,” reports Jessica Goldberg for E Magazine. “The 100,000 copies of the deluxe edition will be printed on 100 percent recycled paper. Every reprint of the series will from this point on be printed on a minimum of 30 percent recycled paper.” (www.emagazine.com/view)
            16,700 tons of paper are needed to fill Scholastic’s order according to Goldberg. “By switching to 30 percent recycled paper, just the English-language editions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows alone will save: 197,000 trees, an area 2.5 times the size of New York’s Central Park… 72,074,421 gallons of water, enough to fill 218 Olympic sized pools… 17,364,063 pounds of green house gas emissions, equal to taking 1,577 cars off the road for a year… 9,255,366 pounds of solid waste, which is the weight of 4,999 fully-grown elephants… 137,609 million BTUs of electricity, enough energy to power 1,512 homes for a year and equivalent to the energy in 154 million lightning bolts.” Goldberg’s cites Market Initiatives, using the Environmental Defense Paper Calculator, as the source for this information. This information and more can be found at www.raincoast.com/harrypotter/forest.html; www.ancientforestfriendly.com.
            When books become bestsellers and make the news, all the paper that is consumed is never mentioned. Paper recycling must become part of our conservation ethic, including looking for products that use post-consumer recycled paper. Items that use post-consumer recycled paper are usually labeled that way. Printed matter, even if only using a percentage of such paper, saves trees.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 08/01/07 (for publication on 08/11/07 in the Journal Standard, Freeport, Illinois) Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org