Everything Under the Moon

In the interest of seeing what others think of this topic, since it is becoming more and more a growing question for some people, I'm going to touch on this a bit.


What option is more environmentally friendly: New books, Used books or ereaders?

Considering the amount of trees, ink, and electric and chemical runoff that is generated when creating a run of new books, nobody has agreed that new books are particularly environmentally friendly when compared to the alternatives. Although there is the benefit of being able to reuse those books or recycle them if they become too ragged.

Ebooks will depend on what you're reading them on. Computer reading programs (which allow you to read the ebook on a computer screen) put off more energy and byproduct than a black-and-white ereader will (because they operate on an ink-point system that raises the letters and doesn't use a back-lit screen as computers do. You're saving trees, but not necessarily electricity by reading on a computer. On ereaders you're still using electricity, but it's not as much as a computer screen would.

The general concensus is that used books are the way to go when it comes to going green, to the best of your ability. The paper has already been made, and you're simply re-using something already in creation rather than spending the energy, chemicals, trees, etc... to create a new one of the same title. Not to mention, being a creation of paper products, they can be recycled.


What are your thoughts? Opinions? Any additional information that I've missed? (I am by no means an expert on environmentalism).

I may be old school but I really like the feel of a book in my hand, I not really a fan of reading from a tablet...the light bugs my eyes after a while. It may be a way of storing some data...I don't think we should put all our eggs in one basket. I'm not a huge fan of the computer age because of this...what happens when it goes down? so does everything. Your book, your car, your cash register, the gas pump, your home, your bank acct....and on and on.
Used books whenever possible, and push for recycled paper and friendly ink if new ones are to be printed. Course books don't last forever and neither will data stored on disks and what not.
I guess chisel in stone!
Anyway that's my 2 cents.
BB, Firebird

I will admit, there is nothing quite like having a real book in your hands.

More and more I'm buying books for my kindle, but the environmental factor is only probably 1/3 of the equation. The other part is that I've lived in 3 different countries so far, which means I've moved across an ocean a few times, and I'll be doing so again soon. After a point, you start to realize that shipping books across an ocean costs a fair bit of money and it's more rewarding to spend money on a book that you want to keep when you know you'll be able to keep it no matter when and where you to move without having to worry about the hassle.

I personally prefer used books and always try to buy them second hand (sadly only online - no used book stored around here).
I own a kindle but haven't really started using it. Maybe I should! Since I'm a "read a book on the bench mom" whenever we go to the playground.