Should We All Switch to an E-Reader?

If you love books as much as I do, you may find this article challenging to read.

Our apartment is full with my book stacks, and I would chose a paper copy over my e-reader any day. But recently it occurred to me that paper books must have a significant environmental impact and that an e-reader might be a smarter and greener choice. So I started looking into it, and here is what I've learned about it.

Facts & Figures

First of all, it is difficult to give exact figures as there are different sources and the quality of environmental data is difficult to grasp. The figures I’m sharing here are cross-verified from multiple sources.

• In 2022, over 788.7 million copies of printed books were sold in the US.

• Due to the pandemic, 2020 and 2021 were the strongest years for printed book sales this decade.

• In the US, the publishing sector consumes annually roughly 32 million trees for book production.

• Globally, the production of books emits over 40 million tons of C02 annually.

• When it comes to pulp and paper, the publishing industry has been categorized as the third-largest industrial emitter of greenhouse gases.

• It requires about two glasses of water to produce one page of a book.

Disclaimer: It’s important to note that this article does not serve as an in-depth analysis of the entire book industry. Rather, it focuses on the implications of paper books and explores whether transitioning to an e-reader is a necessary step.

Environmental Impact of a Printed Book

Let's take a look at the individual steps in the production of a printed book and how they affect our environment.

🪵 The production of paper is a significant driver of deforestation.

💡 Processing wood into paper requires a lot of water, energy and chemicals.

💦 Printing books produces emissions and uses a lot of water.

💨 The production of paper books produces carbon emissions at every stage, from the manufacture of paper in the paper mills, to the printing and binding of the books, to the various activities in the publishing offices and at the retail, as well as the transport emissions at different stages of the process. The production of a paper book emits about 7.5kg of carbon dioxide.

🚗 Transportation: Books need to be transported to bookstores which adds to the emissions.

🗑️ Disposal of books: An incredible amount of books end up unread in landfills every year.

So to sum up, the production of paper books results in carbon emissions, consumes natural resources, water and energy, and frequently leads to books being disposed of in landfills.

How Sustainable are E-Readers?

Let’s take a look at the production of an e-reader and its environmental impact. The production of an e-reader requires the extraction of minerals, the consumption of significant amounts of energy and water, resulting in toxic waste. They also use additional energy for charging. The carbon footprint of a e-reader is approximately 168 kg CO2.

An e-reader, on the other hand, requires no paper, is space-saving and therefore reduces transportation emissions and CO2 emissions per kg during distribution, requires minimal lighting to read and can replace large amounts of books.

But the answer to the question of whether an e-reader is MORE sustainable than paper books is not that simple. After all, both types consume lot of energy and natural resources. The answer to the question depends on the number of books you read.

• If you are a casual reader who only reads a limited number of books, an e-reader is less sustainable and you should probably stick with paper books. The environmental benefits of replacing printed books with digital books are not achieved.

• If you are a devoted reader, an e-reader is definitely the greener option.

As a rule of thumb, you can say that an e-reader has the same environmental impact as a printed book if you have read around 20-30 books on it.

Possible Solutions

One of the most sustainable solution is making the most of existing books by buying second-hand books or borrowing them from friends or libraries. Instead of buying a new book for a friend's birthday, get them a second-hand copy. I realize this this raises a whole other issue related to supporting writers, but this article focuses solely on the environmental challenge of books.

Audiobooks can also replace one or two paper books. I often reach for audiobooks for light summer readings, books I like to listen to while cooking, biking or walking the dog. I'm currently listening to "It Happened One Summer" (very light story :))

And if you are an avid reader, it might make sense to switch to an e-reader.

And what about me? I’ve realized that I've chosen the worst way. I have stacks of books AND an e-reader. And I haven't read 20-30 books on it yet. But most of the books I read last year were second-hand. I've since passed most of them on to friends, neighbors and colleagues. But there is definitely room for improvement.

How is your book stack situation or are you an avid e-reader?