Okay - this is going to be a hard one for my fellow bibliophiles but hear me out… I’m not advocating for a wholesale change (unless you’re up for it) but this simple change saves a lot of paper, carbon emissions, and as it makes Kon Mari-ing your life a heck of a lot simpler. Anyone else dread the paper/book clean out? Yeah - no book left behind in my household.
I come from publishing, I deeply love print books - so much so that I have a collection of unique printings of Pride and Prejudice (This cookbook/P+P is my most recent) and three crammed full bookshelves in our teeny one bedroom Brooklyn apartment. And to get rid of books is like insulting a friend. So at this point you may be thinking - ummmmm and you want me to buy eBooks? Yes!
About a year ago I realized just how much paper I was consuming and frequently for just a single read through (or if it’s a horrible book - less than). And when I factored in shipping, printing, and manufacturing, my beautiful books just… well suddenly suddenly my wall of books felt a lot less special.
Let’s talk about that for a moment - it’s uncomfortable for a book lover but it’s worth exploring. Books have a high carbon footprint (so does tech), between the harvesting of raw goods, the processing of said goods to turn them into materials like paper, ink, and glue, next comes the production of the book itself, and once it’s printed - the shipping and storing of it. Then if a book (or magazine) is not purchased, it may be pulped (destroyed), recycled, or dumped. If significant typos or factual error is found a publishing house may pulp tens of thousands of books.
It’s not fair to drag this all out without also discussing eReaders. Technology has it’s own carbon footprint - both Print books and eReaders may have toxic by products depending on the materials used as well. eReaders materials can change depending on the maker, which can make finding a definitive footprint challenging. And of course if you buy yourself multiple eReaders within a few years, well you’re not getting the most eco-boost you could out of them.
But which is worse? Well this quote from an Old New York Times article sums things up nicely:
The Cleantech study concluded that purchasing three e-books per month for four years produces roughly 168 kilograms of CO2 throughout the Kindle’s lifecycle, compared to the estimated 1,074 kilograms of CO2 produced by the same number of printed books.
Are eReaders greener than books?, JOE HUTSKO, New York Times
When’s the switch worth it?
Well, depending on the eReader you choose the numbers can change. But generally speaking folks seem to agree that if you’re purchasing over 30 books a year it may be helpful to seriously consider an eBook reader. To get the most lifespan out of your eReader, splurge on a more recent model and keep it simple, lower technology devices are less likely to break due to outdated software or a flawed update.
I buy a lot of books - and I read them quickly. So I :gasp: bought a kindle. The paperwhite to be specific which isn’t a traditional screen, it instead uses e-ink to help reduce your exposure to blue light. While the inner publisher in me cringed, I marveled at how light it was, how quickly it had loaded DOZENS of books (ouch sorry wallet!) and loved that I could switch books at a whim. I was hooked.
Let’s be clear - I still buy print and eReaders aren’t perfect either. So I try to strike a balance. I save print for books I know I will read over and over like cookbooks, crafting books, reference books, and classic reads I love to revisit. My many fiction/light reads stick to my kindle. It let me drastically reduce the amount of paper we consume, spared my overburdened bookshelves and lets me read more, faster.
Or for the BEST eco-friendly boost - use your local library whenever possible!
