Are e-readers more environmentally friendly than paper books?

[HarryT]

I don't think I'm being too profligate here, Wiz:

- The phone (which is now nearly 4 years old) is for making phone calls.
- The iPad is for watching movies, web browsing, and reading things which benefit from a colour screen.
- The eInk Kindle is for reading fiction.
- The Surface Pro is for doing "real work" on a Windows laptop/tablet.

All different usages. None of the devices could replace any other.

[wizwor]

Don't worry Harry -- I have a lot of toys too. I'm just pointing out that it is unreasonable to compare the 'footprint' of a single device to a life of reading books. Over the course of a lifetime, we have a LOT of devices. Left in a pile at the edge of the woods, the impact of the devices will be far more adverse than the impact of the books.

[ilovejedd]

Which is greener? I guess that really depends...

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

Don't know, nor do I care. LOL.

I was watching a documentary about I think it was Sumatra and the massive deforestation taking place. They set up cameras. One night a tiger would be walking through it's habitat, the next next it is walking through a barren devastation, it's habitat destroyed. At this rate there will be nothing left for them in a matter of years.

Please, at the very least, recycle paper wherever possible.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I was watching a documentary about I think it was Sumatra and the massive deforestation taking place. They set up cameras. One night a tiger would be walking through it's habitat, the next next it is walking through a barren devastation, it's habitat destroyed. At this rate there will be nothing left for them in a matter of years.

Please, at the very least, recycle paper wherever possible.

Not wood used for paper... paper produced from trees grown for paper (and replanted when harvested)... common myth but tropical hardwoods and other trees not used for paper - recycle all you like, won't make a scrap of difference to trees being chopped for agriculture - and I believe that places such as Sumatra are clearing a lot of jungle areas to grow biofuel producing agri-products... because they're so green...

[crich70]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Paper manufacture is not a terribly environmentally-friendly process. See:

Environmental Impact of Paper

With readers, the main pollutant is the manufacture of the battery and the screen. In essence, you're swapping one polluting manufacturing process with another. It's difficult to compare environmental impacts directly, because they're different types of pollution.

Ah but what are the percentages involved? I mean Does it make more pollution to create one battery & screen or more making the paper? And maybe one day better batteries will be made that don't have as big an impact as those that are currently used.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Personally I don't buy readers because I think they are better for the environment, but because they let me carry around lots of books at once.

That is it in a nutshell for me as well, Harry. When I visit my cousin in the Boston area, I usually buy a couple of pbooks at the Harvard bookstore but they certainly add weight to the suitcase. I love being able to carry around a library with no problem via ereader.

As to being green, I am all for trees. I am sure ewaste (as some pictures in this thread have shown) is a big problem and will only continue to be so. I suspect there are far too many humans for the way we live in developed countries now to be remotely sustainable whatever we do.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I suspect there are far too many humans for the way we live in developed countries now to be remotely sustainable whatever we do.

It seems time for a new modest proposal for fashioning displays and possibly signal towers from the poor. It will take a lot of them to get enough trace metals, but there are always a lot of them, aren't there?

[ProfCrash]

Recycle your electronics and you are doing the world a favor. The amount that the people on this board read probably makes an e-reader more environmentally friendly then paper books with all of its costs (making the paper, transporting the paper, ink, making the book, transporting the book to all the locations before it gets to you, your transporting the book).

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Recycle your electronics and you are doing the world a favor. The amount that the people on this board read probably makes an e-reader more environmentally friendly then paper books with all of its costs (making the paper, transporting the paper, ink, making the book, transporting the book to all the locations before it gets to you, your transporting the book).

I recycle religiously when options are available. I also donate anything still working to the Salvation Army Store. I have no children or even nieces or nephews so no personal vested interested in the viability of the planet but I do it because it is right in my view.

I think it is a case of much too little being done though. I live in a supposedly enlightened country but just try and recycle Styrofoam or electronics/appliances or even plastic bags. Good luck with that there. Sure you can do it (except for the Styrofoam which costs more to recycle than they get paid for the recycled product) but not easy. Could be easier I think.

At the very least many non-recyclable items such as certain plastics which may contain lead (pudding cup containers for one) should either not be allowed or collected separately and compacted and stored until recycling becomes viable.

Helen