Rumors of a Kindle 2.0 release before year-end have been squashed, but that doesn't mean that the interest in electronic books is fading. If anything, it continues to grow and hit new markets.
But is an eBook really greener than a regular, paper book?
Let's examine some of the issues:
Books are printed on paper. Paper requires trees and extensive chemical processing. But paper can be recycled, and a paper book can be read more than once, by more than one person. The more times a book is read, the "greener" it becomes. (Libraries, gotta love 'em!)
Books are heavy. Paper weighs a lot, especially if we're talking about hardcover books, books printed on glossy paper (say, graphic novels), textbooks, etc. The more a book weighs, the more expensive (and less green) it is to deliver it to a retailer or to your mailbox.
eBooks need energy. Every time you read an electronic book, you need to use some electricity. This need will be minimized as electronic paper technologies improve, but no matter what, you can't search for, buy, deliver or read an eBook without the "e."
Posted to RiverWired by John Platt
RiverWired is a network of sites and blogs with eco-friendly news, videos and community to help people live just a little greener – and have a lot more fun.
