I’ll happily end 2011 with @MargaretAtwood RT’ing me! #literaryheaven

Published by Canopy, a Canadian nonprofit group dedicated to forest preservation, Toronto writer Margaret Atwood’s new book, In Other Worlds, had a soldout limited-edition straw-paper print run in both the U.S. and Canada. Called Second Harvest Paper, straw paper is made from materials produced by harvesting wheat and recycling paper. It’s a rare product, as there are currently no pulping facilities that can turn that straw waste into pulp. The paper used for the limited-edition books was made in a small batch by Montreal’s Cascades Fine Papers (which makes the Cascades brand recycled toilet paper and paper towels), using flax straw from Alberta and wheat straw imported from China. That means no trees were harvested in the production of the books. Straw paper is an innovative, sustainable product that garnered In Other Worlds the honour of TreeHugger’s top green gift of 2011.