Thread: How many trees?
View Single Post
Old 01-16-2012, 03:20 AM   #3
flipreads
Connoisseur
flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.flipreads ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 99
Karma: 433632
Join Date: Dec 2011
Device: iPad
I'd just like to point out that it's a more complex issue than you think (at least if we're talking about the overall ecological impact, rather than sheer number of trees left standing)

Against print, you also have to take into consideration books that get pulped (i.e. unsold copies), or if we're talking about carbon footprint in general, transportation of said books (including returns).

Against eBook readers, aside from the resources consumed in production of eBook readers, one element that often gets overlooked is electricity consumption. The value of a print book is that you simply have an "overhead" carbon footprint: once the book has been produced, delivered, etc., the carbon footprint it leaves ends there. With eBooks, however, if you're reading (or re-reading) a book, you're possibly leaving a carbon footprint since you're expending electricity (or rather, the device needs to be charged in order to be used). This actually depends on your local power supply, but unfortunately, fossil fuels are still prevalent (and arguably the most cost-efficient) sources of energy in many parts of the world.
flipreads is offline   Reply With Quote