To Kindle or Not to Kindle
Amazon's Kindle 2
The growing use of electronic readers, such as Amazon’s Kindle, have left some pondering the true environmental impact of “e-readers” relative to their conventional, printed counterparts. Amazon.com, the Kindle’s creator, has marketed the device as an ecologically sensitive alternative to the printed publication. While the paper savings involved in ditching books for electronic reading devices would seem an obvious environmental boon, some have questioned if the Kindle doesn’t have a darker, less Earth-friendly, side. The Kindle’s most obvious liability is its need for electrical power, but the larger uncertainty that has clouded its potential ecological merits is its life-cycle costs; from the cradle to the grave, is the Kindle and its kind truly a step in the right direction?
The manufacturing of consumer electronics is notoriously resource and energy intensive. Whether it’s a cell phone or a laptop, these devices contain rare-earth metals. Rare-earth metals are, well, rare. Subsequently, they require large quantities of energy to mine and process. Because of this and other factors, 81% of the life-cycle energy costs associated with a single computer is from its manufacture, only 19% from its operation. In other words, the computer you’re using right now, in all the years you’ll own it, will never consume more energy than was required to create it. Because of this and other issues, the Kindle’s green acclaim has been doubted. However, until recently, no one had crunched the numbers. For those of you who own a Kindle, the news is good.
A report from the Cleantech Group dives into the nitty-gritty of the e-reader phenomenon. While it found the Kindle and other e-readers come with a high carbon footprint tied to manufacturing, this quantity would be offset within their first year of use. The Kindle, it turns out, is very energy efficient, but the more surprising statistic uncovered by the Cleantech study is just how carbon intensive books are. The average book represents the release of 16 pounds of carbon dioxide, almost the same amount created from burning a gallon of gas. What’s not factored into this report is the additional energy which consumers might expend in purchasing their books (driving to the mall, for example). Even leaving this added energy investment out of the equation, a single Kindle could prevent the release of 370 lbs of CO2 every year. As the Kindle and other e-readers become more popular, the Cleantech Group forecasts they could prevent the release of 22 billion pounds (9.9 billion kg) of carbon dioxide in the period between 2009 and 2012. That’s an impressive figure.
In a perfect world, walking to the used bookstore and purchasing a previously owned book would be the ideal “green” path to tread, but for many that isn’t always feasible. If you are a voracious reader who is also environmentally conscious, it might be time to consider making the leap into the realm of the digitally bound book.
Written by Marc Swanson
Editor, GoingGreenToday
Category: Green Business, Green Products
shopping through our 
It’s been a whereas since I scan a truly wonderful blog post. Not solely well written however relevant. Congratulations.
That was a excellent post,You discover new stuff each day.
Magnificent report,I look forward to some more post from you.
No spam, no joke, we simply really like your green blog and want to help people find it.
Going to repeat what everyone else has said, thanks and excellent article.
hi, this article was very interesting for me. But it was difficult to find it with ask. Maybe you should improve it with plugins for wordpress like headspace. (=
You completed some fine points there. I did a search on the matter and found most people will go along with with your blog.