Bonnier Books UK promises 10 trees for every book in 2020

Bonnier Books UK will plant 10 trees for every new book published in 2020 as part of its ongoing sustainability plan.

Publication dates will be marked by planting 10 trees per book with Reforest’Action, a B CorpTM-certified social enterprise whose primary mission is to raise awareness and take action for forests.

Authors, illustrators and brand partners will be given a choice of where in the world they would like the trees to be planted and be kept in the loop of "the eco-benefits of the forest" as it grows over time. 

In addition, Bonnier Books UK has also begun replacing all of its in-house packaging with environmentally-friendly options: brown paper tape will replace brown plastic tape; card packaging will replace jiffy bags and brown paper bubble wrap will replace plastic bubble wrap. As a result, all of the company’s in-house packaging will be made from completely sustainable and compostable materials, it said.

Kate Parkin, m.d., adult trade publishing, said: "As the publishers of the forthcoming The Future We Choose, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac's inspirational book on climate change, we are committed to developing sustainable publishing practices. I could not be more pleased by this initiative, which will be welcomed by staff and authors alike."

Jane Harris, m.d., children’s trade publishing, said: "I’m delighted to share our company initiative of planting trees on the publication of our author, illustrators and brand partners’ new books. This is part of the Bonnier Books UK sustainability programme which also includes publishing more sustainably. Our aim is to publish books for children - our future generations - in the most ethical way possible and we are continuously looking at how we can improve."

Karina Stevens, production director, added: "At Bonnier Books UK we are committed to continually improving our levels of sustainability and reducing our impact upon the environment. With over 90 suppliers and over 51 million books printed in 2018, we understand that this is a global challenge and there is no quick fix . However, as part of our ongoing sustainability plan, we are committed to improving our standards so that we may move beyond compliance – setting ourselves challenging targets that require us to measurably improve our paper sourcing, significantly reduce our carbon emissions and strive for continual improvements in labour and human rights within our supply chain."