The results are in, and Lantern has been given a gold certification in the Green Press Initiative's new publisher certification program. This is great news (though it proves what we already know)!

Lantern was the first publisher to sign up with the Green Press Initiative in 1999, and we work hard every day to make responsible business choices, from our power sources to our computer disposal choices to our eating and travel methods. As a company that prints books, we've paid special attention to paper issues. The publisher certification program is rigorous, but as we told our GPI rep, we aren't interested in anything but the gold.

Here's what gold certification means:

• The vast majority of our books are printed on post consumer recycled paper. That paper is also certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, meaning that the supply chain is documented.
  
• We print our books in the U.S. to cut down on transportation costs and so that work conditions are regulated.
  
• We run a green office, with clean sourced energy, the strictest reuse and recycling policies possible, and various other efforts like composting and the use of public transport.

We hope that you, the reader, will support Lantern and GPI in our endeavor to preserve the ancient forests and the natural systems on which all life depends. One way is to buy books that cost a little more but make a positive commitment to the environment no only in their words, but in the paper that they are printed on. For more information, visit www.greenpressinitiative.org.