New Society Publishers is committed to building an ecologically sustainable and just society through education and action.
We’re proud to hold to the highest environmental and social standards of any publishers in North America.
Sustainability Practices
- Our books are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, processed chlorine-free, with low-VOC vegetable-based inks (since 2002)
- All of our ebooks include a Guide to Responsible Digital Reading
- We’re carbon neutral (since 2005)
- Our corporate structure is an innovative employee shareholder agreement, so we’re one-third employee-owned (since 2015)
- We’re certified as a B Corporation (since 2016)
- We’re Signatories to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Publishers Compact (2020-2030, the Decade of Action)
- In 2021 we created a statement of ethics
- We are signatories to the Net Zero 2030 SME Climate Commitment.
- We print our books primarily in North America
At New Society Publishers, we care deeply about what we publish and about how we do business.
Net Zero Commitment
In 2021, New Society Publishers joined the United Nations Race to Zero Campaign by making the SME Climate Commitment. This is a Science-Based Targets Initiative with the following aims:
- Halve our greenhouse gas emissions before 2030
- Achieve net zero emissions before 2050
- Disclose our progress on a yearly basis
At New Society Publishers, we care deeply about what we publish and about how we do business.
Paper
100% Recycled Paper
Ancient-Forest Friendly Paper
In summer of 2001, New Society committed to publishing our forthcoming titles on acid-free paper that is Forest Stewardship Council certified, 100% old growth forest-free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-based, low-VOC inks. We were the first North American publisher to make such a commitment. Sourcing this paper initially from New Leaf Paper in San Francisco, we have since printed over half a million books this way, and have helped start a revolution in the publishing industry.
We also use only 100% post-consumer recycled FSC-certified paper in our office and encourage reviewers and endorsers to accept our titles in electronic form.
Each New Society book contains an Environmental Benefits Statement indicating the environmental benefits of doing this in terms of:
- Trees saved
- Pounds of solid waste
- Gallons of water saved
- Kilowatt hours of electricity saved
- Pounds of greenhouse gasses avoided
- Pounds of HAPs, VOCs, and AOX combined and
- Cubic yards of landfill space saved
Although printing on FSC-certified 100% PCW recycled paper costs a premium, it is one step toward ending global deforestation and climate change. Insist on it for all books you buy!
Digital Reading
Ebooks
New Society Publishers is pleased to offer direct sales of our ebooks from our website. All New Society titles have been simultaneously released as ebooks since 2009, meaning that you will find hundreds of great New Society books available for instant download in digital format.
A Guide to Responsible Digital Reading
At New Society Publishers, we’re concerned about how our reading choices impact the planet; and since you have chosen to visit our website, we think you probably are too.
Most readers understand that buying a book printed on 100% recycled, ancient-forest friendly paper is a more environmentally responsible choice than buying one printed on paper made from virgin timber or old-growth forests. In the same way, the choices we make about our electronic reading devices can help minimize the environmental impact of our ereading. Want to learn more?
Issues and Resources
Before your next electronic purchase, find out which companies have the best ratings in terms of environmental and social responsibility. Have the human rights of workers been respected in the manufacture of your device or in the sourcing of raw materials? What are the environmental standards of the countries where your electronics or their components are produced? Are the minerals used in your smartphone, tablet, or ereader conflict-free? How can you help advocate for greater Corporate Social Responsibility at all steps of the manufacturing process? Here are some resources to green your e-reading:
Recycle or Repair?
In 2022 an estimated 59.4 million metric tonnes of e-waste was generated worldwide. Toxic chemicals in electronics, such as lead, cadmium, and mercury, can leach into the land and water over time or can be released into the atmosphere, impacting nearby communities and the environment. The links below will help you to recycle your electronic devices responsibly.
- Canada – Recycle My Electronics
- United States – Greener Gadgets, Earth 911
Of course, the greenest option is to keep your device going as long as possible. IFIXIT.org is spearheading the repair revolution, complete with a consumer bill of rights. Their mission is to provide a viable (and exciting) alternative to the throwaway economy.
If you do decide to upgrade, please give some thought to passing your old one along for someone else to use.
How to Buy Our Ebooks
In addition to buying ebooks directly from our website (in non-DRM PDF and EPUB formats), the links below will take you to some of the major retail sites where our ebooks are available.
Carbon Neutral Program
In 2005, New Society took its commitment to the environment up another notch by becoming the first North American publishing company to become carbon neutral. Our first step is to reduce our direct emissions as much as possible. For example, by curtailing our shipping and travel as much as possible. Then, each year we purchase carbon offsets for the emissions we cannot avoid. We invest in initiatives that will prevent the release of a similar quantity of emissions elsewhere, or which will achieve long-term carbon storage.
In 2023, in partnership with ECW Press, New Society received funding from the Digital Greenhouse Grant from Canada Council for the Arts to create a carbon calculator to be provided free of charge to all Canadian Publishers. New Society Publishers provided their Going Carbon Neutral: A Guide for Publishers, designed by Guy Dauncey, free of charge to form the blueprint for this new calculator.
Look for the new carbon calculator in early 2024.
For more information on our carbon credits, check out our Corporate Social Responsibility Report
Certified B Corporation®
New Society Publishers became a Certified B Corporation™ in June 2016. With this certification, New Society Publishers receives recognition for our existing social and environmental performance standards and becomes part of a community striving to do even more. Individually, B Corps meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability, and aspire to use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems.
Collectively, B Corps lead a growing global movement of people using business as a force for good™. Unlike traditional corporations, Certified B Corporations are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions not only on their shareholders but also on their stakeholders – workers, suppliers, community, consumers, the environment. New Society also considers it our responsibility to consider the impact of our actions on the unborn generations to come.
New Society Publishers & the SDG Publishers Compact
In 2020, New Society Publishers’ celebrated our 40th anniversary. Fittingly, 2020 was also the year the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Publishers Compact was launched. As a publisher whose very core is sustainability, we are honoured to sign and reinforce the SDGs. Not only can we act as champions of the SDGs during the Decade of Action (2020-2030), by publishing books that will help inform, develop, and inspire action, but we feel we can act as sustainability business leaders in our industry. In addition to our broad commitment to all the goals, in 2021 our overall focus is SDG 13: Climate Action, and we will also prioritize SDG 2: Zero Hunger and SDG 10: Reducing Inequalities.
Signatories to the SDG Publishers Compact commit to:
- Committing to the SDGs: Stating sustainability policies and targets on our website, including adherence to this Compact; incorporating SDGs and their targets as appropriate.
- Actively promoting and acquiring content that advocates for themes represented by the SDGs, such as equality, sustainability, justice, and safeguarding and strengthening the environment.
- Annually reporting on progress toward achieving SDGs, sharing data and contributing to benchmarking activities, helping to share best practices and identify gaps that still need to be addressed.
- Nominating a person who will promote SDG progress, acting as a point of contact and coordinating the SDG themes throughout the organization.
- Raising awareness and promoting the SDGs among staff to increase awareness of SDG-related policies and goals and encouraging projects that will help achieve the SDGs by 2030.
- Raising awareness and promoting the SDGs among suppliers, to advocate for SDGs and to collaborate on areas that need innovative actions and solutions.
- Becoming an advocate to customers and stakeholders by promoting and actively communicating about the SDG agenda through marketing, websites, promotions, and projects.
- Collaborating across cities, countries, and continents with other signatories and organizations to develop, localize, and scale projects that will advance progress on the SDGs individually or through their Publishing Association.
- Dedicating budget and other resources toward accelerating progress for SDG-dedicated projects and promoting SDG principles.
- Taking action on at least one SDG goal, either as an individual publisher or through your national publishing association and sharing progress annually.