Stories and Sustainability
Are we reading with the planet in mind? A conversation about the earth, books and e-readers
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When I was a kid, unable to afford a lot of books, I convinced myself that reading online was eco-friendly. That I was saving the trees because I wasn’t buying physical books. At the time, I didn’t have the knowledge of how corporations work, or what the internet was responsible for when it came to environmental preservation. At 10 years old, I just consoled my want for books through the insurance of moral superiority.
Today, the same debate circles around because marketing often uses eco-friendliness as a selling point for e-readers. But is that true? Are E-books really the better alternatives? Or are old school books more eco friendly? Does the debate even hold any productive weight?
In today’s post, I will be discussing the real problem we forget when we talk about e-readers vs physical books.
The Physical and Digital World
Have you ever wondered about the disconnect between the physical and digital worlds?
This September, and most of August, the gap has been on my mind. The instinctive way we engage with content that pours out of our shinning devices while also having no knowledge of its physical properties. How do our google searches, AI prompts, social media scrolling, and most importantly our reading downloads just pop up with a command?
What happens in between? Right after we click, and before the information is presented to us?
Recently, I came across this reel:
I was already thinking of this gap, and I knew in the back of my mind that we have physical spaces where we store data, and that that data takes some hardware processing to get us what we get — but this reel helped put a lot of my research into perspective. Especially how an awareness of this is important to understand at whose expense we are utilising the internet, and ultimately, e-readers.
The Illusion of Eco-Friendly Reading
Today we have a booming publishing industry that has never been able to sell as many books, and e-books as it has today. The production of both is through the roof, and our consumption habits, marketing, and convenience are big factors that determine whether one or not one is more eco-friendly.
To discuss this, we need to acquaint ourselves with the entire progression of how physical books and e-readers come to be, as well as what becomes of them after usage.
The Life Cycle of Physical Books and E-readers
Physical books require a good amount of deforestation to make paper, chemical usage for ink, and the intensive process of binding and printing which requires energy. Afterwards, once the book is made, there is transportation and shipping. Physical books are recyclable, but according to research, many end up in landfills due to improper disposal.
E-readers on the other hand, require rare metals, plastics, and glass for manufacture, the extraction of lithium for batteries which has significant effects, a heavier manufacture process which requires more energy, and transportation and shipping once the e-reader is made. E-readers require long term energy use due to needing charging, and contribute to e-waste due to limited lifespans which require updating to a new e-reader eventually.
Research shows that it takes 30-70 physical books read on an e-reader to break even the environmental impacts of producing 1 e-reader.
The Common Reader
Today, the common reader is not someone who sits on either extremes of the e-reading to physical reading spectrum, on the contrary — the common reader has both physical books, and an e-reader.
The e-reader for the convenience of portability, more books on the go, and long battery life. An essential item for vacations, trips, and errands. At home though, the comfort of physical pages, a book in the hand, and the feel of the original experience is a must.
So do we manage to break even?
I don’t think so.
Manufacturing Goes On…
The way companies work today, the production of physical books is not going anywhere, neither is the invention of the newer better model of the latest e-reader going to stop anytime soon. That in itself means we aren’t even sure how we could ever break even the manufacturing debt we are accumulating with no urgency to do so.
We have started using both in practice today, and eco-friendliness was just a farce that echoed as a feel good sentiment when we made the decision for that initial purchase.
The Conclusion
There is an important need to take eco-friendliness into consideration when we consume books. Whatever format we use, there is a need to be aware of the finiteness of the planet, and the realisation of how whatever way we choose, there is an impact.
I believe in the power of the individual. Everything might not be in the hands of us consumers in the face of corporations and their functioning — but our behaviour is of our choosing, and enough accumulation of considerate consumption is a factor that is important in our fight for sustainability.
I believe stories are essential, but so is the planet, and I fear for a day we have to give up stories to try to sustain the planet because we went too far.
What are your thoughts?
Don’t Go Just Yet!
I’m working on an article about book piracy, and while the research is coming along well, I’d love to hear your real-time views. If you’re interested, please consider filling out my research survey.
Thank you for sticking with me to the end—I’ll see you in the next post!
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I bought an e-reader because I travelled a lot for work and couldn't carry as many physical books as I wanted while I was away. I have a huge e- and audiobook collection, but also own a great many print books, many bought secondhand - and in many cases, out of print.
I would read much more from a library if it were easier to get to one, though when I could, I still found that they didn't have all the books I wanted to read. And now, and most importantly, I find it hard to hold physical books, so I mostly read on my phone or my ancient kindle.
I bought a Kindle when they first came out because I didn’t have room for anymore bookshelves!