Now it is at the vanguard of green publishing, with bighitting authors such as Alice Munro demanding that their books be printed on recycled paper. And writers around the world are following suit.

Canada is the largest source of wood pulp for the global paper industry. The country was the first to promote largescale green publishing in 2003, when Rainforest Books in Vancouver printed JK Rowling's Harry Potter books on 100% recycled paper. Rowling announced: "The Harry Potter books are helping to save the forests and creatures from the muggle world."

Now Greenpeace is working on a campaign to persuade more publishers to do the same. Two hundred authors worldwide, including Helen Fielding, Philip Pullman and Ian Rankin, have signed up.

Poet and green campaigner Mandy Haggith writes in spring's Mslexia magazine that "pulp and paper mills produce some of the most toxic substances on earth", and urges readers to look out for the Forest Stewardship Council logo on books.

British publishers with green paper initiatives include Random House, HarperCollins and Egmont. British writer John O'Farrell adds:

"I expect nothing less than recycled paper for the publication of all my recycled jokes."