Kind Kindle Reader Is Good For The Environment
Did you know that the carbon footprint of the average book is 7.5 kg of CO2 over its lifespan? However, if you get in your car and drive to the bookstore, buy your book and then drive home again – which is exactly what many of us do – then the carbon footprint associated with that book doubles.
Every year, 125 million trees are felled to produce the paper required for America’s books magazines and newspapers. Apart from the trees, the paper making process uses huge amounts of water (which is treat and recycled of course), energy and chemicals. It’s something to think about.
Considering the above, you might not be surprised to learn that e-book readers such as the Amazon kindle reader are better for the environment as the electronic books that they use don’t require paper, ink, bindings or delivery by road transportation.
Of course, materials are used in the production of such readers and, although there is no physical product to deliver, storing e-books on the internet and making them available for wireless download does use some energy. However, even when these materials and energy requirements are taken into account, e-book readers and e-books are still significantly better for the environment than the conventional equivalent printed and bound paper versions.
That won’t be the primary reason why most people buy e-book readers of course, but it is nice to know that as their popularity increases and usage grows – which seems likely in the short to medium term – there will be significant environmental benefits.
