For moderate to heavy readers, e-reading reduces your ecological footprint

A company called Cleantech, an environmental consultancy, has calculated which is the greener: reading on your e-reader or doing it the old fashioned way. 

Although often associated with green causes (paper bags for groceries), paper is quite the opposite of a green material. Its production requires large amounts of water and often toxic chemicals as well.

Information technology, however, doesn’t score that well either. The semiconductor industry has passed the airline industry in the ranking of most polluting industries.

Furthermore, sustainability analyses are notoriously complicated and depend on many factors and the weight you attribute to them. How do you offset the use of water against greenhouse gas emissions and the use of chemicals? One way is to just separate each topic and make the comparison for each factor apart.

So, who comes out on top? The iPad or the paperback? That depends on how big a reader you are. The study finds that for most factors, like water, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, e-reading is best, as long as you read more than around 15-20 books.

Manufacturing, shipping and disposing of an e-reader is quite an invasive act towards mother nature. In terms of greenhouse gases, Cleantech estimates that a book produces 7,5 kilograms against 130 kg for the iPad and 168 for the Kindle. The impact of the energy use when e-reading is not factored in, but is relatively little in comparison. The iPad uses around 3 Watts when one is only reading, about 5% of a standard light bulb.

So when reading on an iPad, you are greener than paper from your 18th book onwards. For Kindle readers, this break even point lies at 23 e-books. 

According to estimates by Forrester Research, people with an e-reader averagely buy about 3 books per month, so after half a year, the eco-points start rolling in when looking at greenhouse gas emissions.

With water, e-readers score even better. Producing a paper book takes about 30 literr of water. Producing an e-reader about 12 times as much. The production and hosting of an e-book costs about 2 cups of water.

In toxicity, the difference is not so clear cut. While the production of ink and paper rely on some toxic and carcinogenic substances, the production of e-readers requires non-renewable metals that originate from conflict areas. The proceeds from these metals could support ongoing wars and dictatorships.