E-books vs. paper books

Are e-books better than paper books in terms of environmental impact? the debate is still going on and the final word haven't been said yet. Eco-Libris is following closely the discussion and provides you with links to articles, researches and other sources of information that address this issue.

The links are brought to you in a chronological order. We hope you will find them useful!

Paper vs. paperless: Which makes reading greener?, Emerald City Los Angeles Times, Siel , June 2, 2008 - Are e-books like the Kindle) and Sony Reader more eco-friendly than paper books? Siel writes about the debate and the need to make a lifecycle analysis of the e-reader to get to riddle solved.

Would you like that book in paper or plastic?, Environmental Science & Technology, Erika Engelhaupt , May 7, 2008 - E-book readers save paper, but can a piece of plastic really be better for the environment? ES&T reporter Erika Engelhaupt is determined - very determined - to find out.

Screening environmental life cycle assessment of printed, web based and tablet e-paper newspaper, Center for Sustainable Communications at the Royal Institute of Technology, Asa Moberg, Martin Johansson, Goran Finnveden and Alex Jonsson, 2007 - Reading the newspaper 30 minutes a day on e-paper instead of a regular newspaper is environmentally preferable. If you read a Web-based newspaper instead, you can only read for ten minutes to produce the same load on the environment. This has been calculated in a study at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Amazon's E-Book Reader: Kindle, EcoGeek, Hank Green, September 11, 2006 - EcoGeek presents some of the environmental aspects of the Kindle's specifications.

Printed Scholarly Books and E-book Reading Devices: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Two Book Options, Center for Sustainable Systems University of Michigan, Greg Kozak , August 24, 2003 - This paper presents the findings of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of two different book options - electronic and print. It compared the life-cycle burdens and impacts of a college student reading 40 scholarly books and the equivalent amount of digitalized information using dedicated e-book reading device.

 

More infomation on the carbon footprint of paper made books can be found on:

Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry, Eco-Libris 3-part coverage of the the new report on the book industry's environmental footprint.

Toward a Greener Future, Publishers Weekly, Jim Milliot, March 10, 2008 - New industry study puts carbon footprint at 12.4 million tons and outlines measures to reduce publishing's environmental impact

Back to Eco-Libris green resources page

 

 
 
   
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2007 Eco-Libris. All rights reserved.