Will Ebooks Jeopardize the Carbon Reduction Goals of the Book Industry?

Submitted by: The Two Sides Team February 17, 2011

The shift towards ebooks is having a significant influence on every part of the book industry, from publishers working to reinvent their value proposition to brick and mortar bookstores fighting for their future.

But what about the carbon footprint of the book industry? Does this shift represent an opportunity for the industry given the growing number of books sold without even one tree falling down? Or, maybe it is also a potential risk as ebooks can actually hurt the efforts of the industry to reduce its footprint? Well, apparently it can be both.
Raz Godelnik summises that, whether we like it or not, e-reading is becoming the key that will determine if the book industry will meet its carbon reduction goals. It can help the book industry to move ahead even faster, but it can also become an obstacle that will delay the 20% reduction benchmark in 5-10 years. Publishers and other parties in the book industry that are
involved in the efforts to reduce its carbon footprint should do whatever is in their power to get e-reader producers to get greener. It’s not an easy task as e-reader producers like Amazon and B&N don’t seem to be too interested in their footprint right now, but it’s a one we can’t avoid on the path to make the book industry greener.

Raz Godelnik is the co-founder and CEO of Eco-Libris (http://www.ecolibris.net), a green company working to green up the book industry in the digital age. He is also an adjunct professor in the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.

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