The magazine, based out of Berkeley, California, began publishing "awareness-raising" articles about "green literature" in 2006. In the past five years, Uppity Eco has called for a cease-publishing of The Brothers Karamazov, Riverside Shakespeare, Norton's Anthologies, and Little Women for their "excessive use of paper" and "blatant attack on the world's formost oxygen producers." The latest attack on Smith's novel, however, is part of a new effort to contextualize books in order to hold them accountable to modern environmental-friendly standards.
Hugo Leopold, the magazine's editor, said in a statement on Twitter that "...the magazine does not take issue with literature as a whole, but rather works to remind people (upper-middle class Westcoasters), that the Earth and all Her beauty needs to take priority over mere words on a page..." Leopold's statement was met with opposition from everyone.
The ongoing debate over e-books and "regular" books, however, is not an issue that Uppity Eco or Leopold have taken part in over the last year. The magazine did, however, publish a brief article last month declaring e-books as an "over use of plastic" and recognized an "empty recycled glass jar" as a perfectly good way to keep words together without wasting paper or plastic.
As for Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, it remains unclear if the publisher, Harper, will seek any legal action against Leopold or Uppity Eco regarding libel. In an unofficial rumor heard within the publishing house, there is a possibility that Harper will file a complaint and take Uppity Eco on Judge Judy.
"We shouldn't see trees as potential books," stated Hugo Leopold
