Comments on: Are ebooks reducing our carbon footprint?

By: Rob Preece, Publisher

Rob Preece, Publisher — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:13:00 +0000

Agree that we need to try to be green with our electronics. Considering that much printing takes place in Asia, with non-renewed trees, and that books are then shipped around the world. I really think the analysis has to come out in favor of eBooks being environmentally sound.

Of course, we should be sensible in our energy consumption, but eBook readers are low profile compared to computers or many other electronic devices.

Rob Preece
Publisher

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:43:14 +0000

I care about being ‘green’ (even though that word is simply a marketing term not), but being ‘green’ or not is never a factor in my electronics purchases.

By: Marilynn Byerly

Marilynn Byerly — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:21:59 +0000

Anyone who looks at the figures offered by the Green Press Initiative would have a hard time accepting this man’s view that paper is better than digital.

http://www.greenpressinitiative.org/

By: Michael Pastore

Michael Pastore — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:00:10 +0000

Here is Mr. Carli on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kzRLhNwg5E

It is very important to consider the environmental impact of computers and all the associated technology, and to make these products and their ecosystems as green as possible.

Nevertheless, paper products destroy trees, and lots of them. Even those of us who love paper-books — and want paper-books to co-exist harmoniously with ebooks — need to face that inconvenient fact.

I agree with the comments of Jon and Steve.

When Carli writes:

… much of print media is based on comparatively benign and renewable materials.

… I would wonder about his classifying of trees as “renewable materials.”

Solar energy is renewable; wind and water, too.

Trees can be harvested and re-planted thoughtfully, but to call them renewable — especially in light of the problems caused by massive deforestation, and the wasteful practices in much of today’s print industry — is more than a bit of a stretch.

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks

By: Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:31:15 +0000

Like so many others, Carli’s making a 1-to-1 comparison to a device that can, in fact, store hundreds to thousands of books, and largely dismissing the paper industry’s polluting qualities (they are also powered primarily by coal-fired plants)… not to mention the industrial misinformation that they are producing trees as fast as they are cutting them down.

No sale.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:14:26 +0000

This analysis may apply to dedicated ereader devices, but it’s not fair to put the entire carbon footprint of a computer on digital publishing. He also makes no mention of the decrease in the carbon footprint because digital books don’t need to be stored or shipped.

I’m all for making cleaner computers and other electronics, but the demonizing is going both ways here.