“Rethinking Paper & Ink” hits shelves on Earth Day

“Rethinking Paper & Ink: The Sustainable Publishing Revolution,” written and published by students in Portland State’s Ooligan Press graduate program in publishing, hits bookshelves and online retailers on April 22. Its Earth Day release is not merely symbolic, as this book takes up the ambitious task of revolutionizing the entire publishing industry, one page at a time.

“Rethinking Paper & Ink” offers an in-depth, critical examination of current practices in the book publishing industry, and discusses ways to guide it toward a more sustainable future. Alyson Hoffman, a graduate student in PSU’s publishing program, was the book’s project manager for Ooligan Press.

“We can’t always make the best choices when publishing a book,” Hoffman said. “The more sustainable it is, the more expensive each copy becomes. We can, however, balance what we accomplish economically with the environmentally conscious choices that we make.”

The book is a part of the Ooligan Press “Open Book” series, a continuing selection of offerings whose production processes are guided by three mandates: Ecological sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. Each publication in the “Open Book” series is accompanied by an audit, detailing production decisions made to reduce ecological impact and a critical assessment of their measurable impact. These three mandates and their focus on accountability are critical, according to co-author Natalie Guidry.

“It’s important to us to stress to other publishers that in order to produce an environmentally sustainable product, their business practices must also be economically sustainable,” Guidry said.

Ooligan Press believes that in order for the print publishing industry to survive, it must make more sustainable choices, and in order for that to happen, it must be able to make those choices feasible. In the age of electronic media, such a thorough reexamination of print media is uncommon. The book also offers uncommon insights into what goes into the cost of publishing a book, and the relationship between a book’s cost and its ecological impact is a theme present throughout the text.

“Highly unsustainable practices are the widespread norm in this industry,” said Guidry. “We want to spread our knowledge to other publishing professionals so that they can incorporate their own modifications to production practices in order to make more sustainable products.”

The book, which was produced follow in all of the guidelines that it endorses, is itself an experiment in what can be accomplished through sustainable publishing. “Rethinking Paper & Ink” expands upon what was originally a small booklet of the same name, written by Melissa Brumer and Janine Eckhart and published in 2009 with the help of the Miller Grant. The grant funds stipulated that copies must be given away for free, and according to Alyson Hoffman, they went quickly.

“Once we had given away all of those copies, we had to decide whether to reprint it without another grant for support, or to assign it an ISBN and release it as a legitimate title in our catalog,” Hoffman said. “After doing a lot of additional research since the initial run, we decided the time was right to expand the text and release it as a more complete guide book for publishers. To be a part of creating this kind of awareness in a field I’ve chosen to pursue is very satisfying.”

Sustainable publishing practices are emerging as a critical aspect of an industry that boasts annual global revenues of $27 billion.

“We realize that we aren’t going to change the industry overnight,” said Guidry. “If we can raise awareness and promote discussion, that’s a good start.”

Ironically, while Ooligan Press is leading the way in measurable and accountable sustainability at PSU, the graduate students of the Department of English Publishing Program are uncertain if the university will continue to sustain them. Director and Ooligan founder Dennis Stovall is set to retire in December 2011, and university officials have expressed uncertainty as to whether he will be replaced. A transitional board of directors has been installed in the interim.

“Rethinking Paper & Ink” is a vital and authoritative example of the power of the printed word, and the dedication of the students of Ooligan Press. Hopefully, it will not also be their swan song. ?