Joan Meeks, a recycling business owner in Fort Worth, is enlisting women in environmental professions to co-author a book on sustainability. Image courtesy of Storyblock.

March 11, 2020

A North Texas green business owner is looking for collaborators to help her write a book about sustainability.

Joan Meeks, owner of Commodity Recycling Solutions in Fort Worth, is also a public speaker who gives talks about her passion – recycling.

“I’ve always wanted to write a book,” said Meeks. “It’s been on my bucket list forever.”

With the 50th anniversary of Earth Day coming up in April, she decided this was the year to finally check it off her to-do list. 

She mentioned it to a woman in one of her business support groups, who works in the publishing industry in Los Angeles. 

Joan MeeksJoan Meeks won the Green Source DFW Small Business Award in 2015. Archive photo.

“She said there aren't enough books out there on sustainability or the whole environmental stewardship movement.” 

She offered to help Meeks self-publish a book.

They hatched the idea to make the book a collaboration, with chapters written by women in environmental professions. They expanded the geographic region beyond DFW to include authors located anywhere in Texas.

Each writer will be asked to share their expertise in a 2,000-word essay. Each should conclude with a call to action, said Meeks.

“You're going to get people pumped up and motivated and they're going to want to work towards your cause," said Meeks. "But a regular lay person doesn't know what they can do toward that particular cause, whether it's recycling or clean buildings, energy conservation, water conservation or reducing waste.”

So far Meeks has enlisted five collaborators, but ideally would like 10 women to pen a chapter each.

There is a fee, which Meeks said is a fraction of what it would cost to self publish a book on one’s own.

“Our investment pays for a professional to edit our chapter, form suggestions, make corrections, do whatever has to be done to get it into manuscript form to get it to the publisher. The publisher will handle the graphic art for the book and getting it listed with the Library of Congress.”

Each author will receive 50 copies of the book with their photo on the back. Meeks’ photo will be on all the copies as well, as the main driver behind the book.

"A lot of people will use the book as a marketing tool for their company," she said.

Those who are interested should contact Meeks at Contact@JoanMeeks.com or call 817-300-6958.


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