Enviromental Impact of Textbooks

Students spend, on average, $900 on textbooks each year but what is the cost of this system to our planet?

4 billion trees are cut down each year for paper production

According to the U.S. Toxic Release Inventory report published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pulp and paper mills are among the worst polluters to air, water and land of any industry in the country.

According to a report by National Wildlife Federation, USA, “Paper production ranks among the most resource-intensive and highly polluting of all manufacturing industries.” The report further considers paper industry as being “responsible for the release of persistent toxic pollutants like chlorine, mercury, lead and phosphorus into the environment, resulting in a number of health problems including cancers, nerve disorders, and fertility problems.”

Printing and writing paper accounts for almost 27,000 tons of wood pulp a year.

The planet is exposed to 250,000 metric tons of toxic pollutants from paper manufacturers each year.

In 2008, the U.S. book and newspaper industries combined resulted in the harvesting of 125 million trees, not to mention wastewater that was produced or its massive carbon footprint.

Solution:

The Cleantech Group forecasts that e-readers purchased from 2009 to 2012 could prevent 5.3 billion kg of carbon dioxide in 2012, or 9.9 billion kg during the four-year time period.

The same study finds that, on average, the carbon emitted in the lifecycle of a Kindle is fully offset after the first year of use.