The Eco-Friendly Ebook

I had a small dispute with someone a few weeks ago, and decided that I can't really place my bets on something without knowing enough about it, so I started to do some research.

It all started in a chat room where someone asked about buying The Yellow Sun.  I told them it was available in print, but that I suggest getting the ebook because it's more eco-friendly.  I was met with a surprising response from one person.  They claimed that paperback books were more environmentally safe because they are biodegradable and "publishers plant trees to replace the trees cut down for printing". This sounded a bit far fetched to me, so I did a little digging to find out what really was the way that polluted less.

The first thing I searched was about the pollution used when creating e-book reading materials such as the Nook, Kindle, or even a laptop computer.  What I found was that while yes, these materials are heavy in pollution, if you contact the number given to you with the purchase before disposing of your electronics you can greatly cut back on the amount of materials wasted and the amount of hazardous materials being put into our systems.  Don't just throw away your laptop computer, contact the 800 number in your user manual.

Now, lets look at the hazardous materials used in printing.  I feel like it about evens out.  Between the trees lost in the paper-making process (no, most publishers do not use recycled paper), the ink used, the binding materials and the energy used to do the work, I feel like this evens out with the creation of the e-readers.

Next, lets consider the statement of publishers replanting trees.  When I searched for a publisher who did this I could turn up only a few.  Actually, I found only one, but thought that I should mention "a few" to give the benefit of the doubt.  When it comes down to it, the publishers aren't cutting down the trees, they're just using the materials made from said trees.  Less trees means less oxygen and more pollution that's left in the air.  E-books don't require paper, ink, or any of the other materials used in print creations.


Overall, I still feel that e-books are more eco-friendly and am still going to suggest to people that they buy the e-book rather than the print book.

What are your thoughts?