The Emergent Market of E-Book Readers Contributes to Environmental Protection

From an environmental standpoint, introducing e-inkuse of e-Books reduce the need to produce ink,
technology into home use, school curriculum, librarypaper, and bindings, but it also reduces the pollution
facilities, and business use provides a win-win scenarioassociated with such activity. Moreover, e-Books are
with benefits to be had at all angles. Green readingeasier to transport at a lower financial and physical
reduces an individual's literary carbon footprintcost than traditional book transport.
intertwining human interaction and the planet's lifespanThe Facts about Paper Production of Books and
together on a favorable level. Traditional readingNewsprint
involves a greater cost on so many levels includingAccording to the Green Press Initiative, the United
production, storage, transport, and disposal. Not onlyStates is responsible for using more than twenty
must one consider the cost of making and keepingmillion trees to produce books each and every year
the book, but one must also consider the getting ridand that figure doesn't take into account the 95
of the book once it is no longer wanted.million trees estimated to be consumed by the
Electronic Books as an Alternative to Paper Booksnewsprint industry each year. As eBook reading
Up until recently, electronic books have only been agrows in popularity, it is hoped that these numbers
temporary alternative to paper books. In fact, thewill be reduced significantly.
creation of e-Books is simply another facet toThe Green Press Initiative has also stated that
improvements in digital technology and the need tolandfills hold a large amount of paper products to the
reach more people more quickly. Nonetheless,tune of approximately one fourth of the landfill's
developed partially as a means to obtaining a bookcontent. As if taking up so much space isn't bad
more quickly than waiting for it to be published inenough, the decomposition of paper products
paper format, eBooks were not originally intended toproduces a highly toxic greenhouse gas known as
replace hard copies be they paper or fully boundmethane gas. So not only does paper production
versions in hard cover.create carbon dioxide emissions during their
All of that is about to change as authors aremanufacture, but they also produce methane when
beginning to sign on for eBook versions of theirthey fall into a state of decay. These facts certainly
books only. Perhaps one of the most famous ofpoint to a better world with the production of
these authors is Stephen King who recently agreedeBooks on a global level.
to an eBook-only version of his latest publication,The Harry Potter series of books, one of the most
"Riding the Bullet." His eBook-only novella has metpopular series ever and enjoyed by children and
with tremendous success and is promoting the wayadults alike, is projected to reach a total of 290,000
for other such books to follow. Once a novel, novella,tons of paper in its production of more than 370,000
magazine, newspaper, or children's story can only bemillion books as estimated by Prime View
read as an e-Book, the choice will be an easy one.International. At a cost of 20 trees to produce one
The use of e-Book readers will becometon of paper to be used in the manufacture of
commonplace as a matter of course. According tobooks, this comes at the high cost of 5.8 million trees.
Digital Book Readers, the changes it would provideAccording to the U.S. Book Industry Study Group,
for the people and the nature are immense and vast,more than 12.4 million tons of carbon dioxide are
and certainly worth consideration.released into the atmosphere on an annual basis due
Benefits to Green Reading: Storage and Disposalto the mass production of books in hard copy
Since storage and disposal of e-Books is moreformat. This boils down to almost 9 pounds of
environmentally friendly than storage and disposal ofcarbon per book that is produced. Talk about leaving
traditional books, the environment will benefit greatlya carbon footprint on the world! While significant
from the incorporation of e-Books into daily livingchanges such as increasing the use of recycled paper
patterns. Not only will landfills grow at a less alarmingare being implemented, they cannot compare to the
rate, but trees will be cut down less frequently asbenefits that eBooks and eBook readers can
the need for paper diminishes.produce.
The world's forests will continue to grow whileAccording to the Green Press Initiative, many of the
continuing to provide cleaner, oxygen-rich air. Even ifworld's forests are becoming endangered due to the
these forests are allowed to grow once they havelogging that continues to occur. Indonesia's tropical
been cleared for their timber, the result is not asforests lose about 4.5 million acres each year to
good as it would have been had the forest beenlogging, some of it illegally culled. More than 2 million
allowed to grow. Studies have shown that older,acres of Canada's Boreal Forest are logged each year
established forests retain more carbon than theirwith 65% of that going for paper reading and writing
newer counterparts. Hence, the environment isproducts. In the southeastern United States, at least
better if human interaction with it changes through6 million acres of forests fall prey to logging
more responsible use of its resources.companies while this area along with 26 million
Plus, there are other benefits to be had as well,plantation acres is known as the largest paper
especially where the production of traditionalproducing area in the world.
ink-on-paper books is concerned. Not only does the