Some people prefer paperbacks because they're easy to borrow and share. Others will go for e-readers. But which is the more environmentally sustainable option?
Whether it's better to read books in print or on a device is complicated, because of the complex interaction of the resources involved across the entire lifecycle of a published work: how books and devices are shipped, what energy they use to run, if they can be recycled.
On the one side, traditional print publishing comes with a high carbon footprint. According to 2023 data, 32 million trees are cut down each year to make paper for books. Then there's the energy-intensive processes of printing and shipping—to say nothing of the many books that are destroyed because they remain unsold. Although it's standard practice in the industry, publishers don't want to destroy books. So instead, many are donating unsold copies, switching to on-demand printing. Publishers are also rethinking book design, since certain fonts (字体) can be more climate-friendly by using less ink and less paper.
On the other hand, digital reading seems to have a considerable eco-advantage over print because it is paperless, so it saves trees and shipping. Moreover, tech companies that make e-readers such as Amazon offer recycling programs for old devices. But digital devices also come with a substantial carbon footprint, especially at the manufacturing stage. Their cases are made with plastics and the minerals in their batteries require resource-heavy mining.
Figuring out whether to take a digital device or a paperback to the beach ultimately depends on how much you read." If you buy an e-reader and you read loads and loads of books on it, then it's the lowest carbon thing to do," said Mike Berners-Lee, the author of The Carbon Footprint of Everything. "But if I buy it, read a couple of books, and decide that I prefer paperback books, then it's the worst of all worlds."
Yet Berners-Lee said that reading is still, relatively speaking, a pretty sustainable activity——regardless of whether you read using an e-reader, phone or old-fashioned paperback.
