In the past I’ve written a lot on this blog about being a greener writer. I’ve written about determining how green you are as a writer, fixing your bad un-green habits as a web writer and using green social bookmarking. However, I have not written a whole lot about green reading.
A great article on ways to green your reading that I just saw made me realize that I was remiss in not addressing this specific topic since most writers are also readers and that’s definitely another area of our lives and work where we can all stand to be a bit more green.
The article mentions three great ways to green your reading - using Paperback Swap sites, using Kindle and reading eBooks instead of regular books. The main goal with all of these methods of greener reading is to reduce your consumption of new books because this reduces the need for more trees to be cut down to make those books.
When choosing these methods, there are some things that you need to take into consideration. You need to consider the energy usage of your computer and Kindle reading so that you don’t waste energy here and reduce the greenness of the act. You need to think about the materials that you use when shipping books for a swap because if these aren’t green then you aren’t being as green as you could be.
In addition to greening your reading in these ways, there are other things that you can do to be a green reader. Make sure that you read up on green topics. Try to buy books made from sustainable or recycled materials. Make sure that you give away or recycle books and never trash them. Buy used as often as possible. Buy from sellers that are concerned about green issues. Only buy books that you actually might want to keep and keep going back to. Use the local library - and walk there instead of driving! Use a low-energy reading lamp instead of the light in the room when reading in bed.
The important thing is to think about your consumption of books and how green it is (or isn’t). Then come up with creative green ideas for making sure that your life as a reader is greener tomorrow than it was today.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:27 am
[...] People who are concerned about green issues may wonder if there is any area of their life which they haven’t gotten green enough with yet. Even if you’re really eco-friendly in your home, you can probably find new areas for green improvements. Maybe one of those areas is in your reading. Are you a green reader? [...]
March 19th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I have been thinking about getting the Kindle 2, but I already work at the computer for a living, so it’s nice to be able to use my eyes in a way that’s a bit different from looking at a screen. Also, I’d be afraid to take an ebook reader in the hot tub or bathtub, which is where I do a lot of my fiction reading, heh.
I’m all for being green and encouraging people to save money, but at the same time, the author doesn’t get paid if you get a book second hand or check it out from the library. While I read many library books myself, I always try to support my favorite authors!
@Lindsay … Great point about supporting your favorite authors. Although I have published books, I make most of my money from web writing so I forget about things like this.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:16 am
[...] almost never read new bestsellers because I almost never buy books. One of my contributions to the green reading movement (and to my own personal need to save money where I can) is that I get my books from the [...]