BookExpo America, the publishing industry’s annual showcase and trend-spotter, is admittedly a little behind in the race to go green.

This weekend’s convention in Los Angeles will include much discussion about the environment. Three panels will review recent trends and initiatives and a featured speaker, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, will promote his new book, “Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — and How It Can Renew America.”

Virtually every major publisher, from Random House Inc. to Scholastic Inc., has announced environmental goals, mostly through the increased use of recycled paper and fiber from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international environmental organization.

But the revolution has not quite arrived at BookExpo.

Around 30,000 event guides, more than 40 pages long, will be distributed at the Los Angeles Convention Center, along with 19,000 copies of the 700-page program guide. More than 10 million pages in all will be printed, none on recycled paper.

Lance Fensterman said that BookExpo, produced by Reed Exhibitions, welcomes any “constructive suggestions.” He will likely hear from Tyson Miller, founder and director of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit program that has worked extensively with publishers on environmental issues. Mr. Miller sees “an opportunity for the convention to do more about practicing what it preaches.”

Around 30,000 publishers, authors, agents, booksellers, and librarians are expected in Los Angeles, at a time when the industry faces flat sales and possibly radical change. Random House, coming off a disappointing 2007, is switching CEOs. The Borders Group superstore chain may go up for sale, possibly to rival Barnes & Noble Inc., which itself has had a difficult year.