#EcoMonday tip 19: Get An E-reader!
August 30, 2010
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![#EcoMonday tip 19: Get An E-reader!](https://cdn.xingosoftware.com/elektor/images/fetch/dpr_1,w_800,h_460,c_fit/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elektormagazine.com%2Fassets%2Fupload%2Fimages%2F0%2Fe-reader.jpg)
It must come as no surprise to you that the print industry (books, newspapers and magazines) has a huge carbon footprint due to the production (cutting down trees for raw material) and distribution. You are already taking a step in the right direction by reading TechTheFuture (hopefully from your laptop or mobile device? :P).
But of course there are more rigorous ways to take action. One of them would be to start using an e-reader to replace your paper books! However, like our collegues at Ecogeek I wondered how the e-reader's carbon footprint, resulting of the production (raw material and sending small parts around the world) and distribution of it, compares to that of paper books. Luckily for both of us, a company called the Cleantech Group crunched the numbers, and came with the answer: by buying 22½ e-books, you compensate for the e-reader's production and power usage. Any book over this magic number and your carbon footprint starts to shrink! (This particular study was conducted with Amazon's Kindle, but I think it's safe to say it won't differ much between different e-readers. Go e-ink!)
But of course there are more rigorous ways to take action. One of them would be to start using an e-reader to replace your paper books! However, like our collegues at Ecogeek I wondered how the e-reader's carbon footprint, resulting of the production (raw material and sending small parts around the world) and distribution of it, compares to that of paper books. Luckily for both of us, a company called the Cleantech Group crunched the numbers, and came with the answer: by buying 22½ e-books, you compensate for the e-reader's production and power usage. Any book over this magic number and your carbon footprint starts to shrink! (This particular study was conducted with Amazon's Kindle, but I think it's safe to say it won't differ much between different e-readers. Go e-ink!)
Photo by ceslava.com
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