Organic Book, How to Be A

Just got back from Barnes & Noble. Really should go there more often because I love books, but I digress.

Saw an enticing new book about living an organic lifestyle. Forgot the name and couldn't find it on Amazon.com because there are so many other books on the subject, but if I come across it again, I'll update this blog accordingly. But I digress.

The book caught my eye because it was colorful and solid, a coffee table book with actual interesting information like how to grow an apple tree and cooking organic meals. Bold pictures, engaging topics.

I turned to the back cover to check the price. $25. And what do I see under the price, in large capital letters?

MADE IN CHINA

So you're telling me that a beautifully printed book with a plethora of tid-bits on how to live an organic lifestyle (presumably to make life better for the reader, and subsequently live off the earth more efficiently), but you're going to have the book printed in China?

Ponder this for a moment.

Here's a brief background of what probably went into the production of this book:

1. Trees chopped in either USA, Canada, or Brazil, most likely, since China is rapidly becoming scarce on natural resources like, say, trees.
   
2. Chopped trees shipped to China for processing to turn into paper.
3. Ink-- well, quite frankly I don't know where ink comes from, but you can fill in the blanks about where it may have originated.
4. Books printed in China, packaged in materials shipped from USA.
   
5. Books shipped back to USA for selling.

Think about the "un-organic" nature of this process. And think about the organic nature of the book's contents. It's easy to say you're "green" or "organic" or "environmentally sound", but apparently not so easy to perfect in real life.

Just a suggestion... if you're going to print a book about being organic, don't digress. Go all the way and make it an organic book too.