This piece was originally published in the November 2024 issue of Pandora Curated.
Pre-loved books, kindle or fresh paperbacks?
The old-school bookworm in me gravitates towards paperbacks—the smooth and glossy textures of the cover, the grainy yet velvety feel of the pages inside, and the welcome respite from screens! It is all incredibly hard to resist. And if we’re being honest, who does not want a library in their study?
As part of the environmentally-conscious youth grappling with climate guilt, however, I also wonder how damaging the publishing, or at least the print publishing industry, is. According to sustainability expert Professor Mike Berners-Lee, writing for New Scientist, a typical paperback produces an equivalent of 1 kg of carbon dioxide (CO₂e)—roughly the same carbon impact as watching six hours of TV.
E-readers like the Amazon Kindle are estimated to account for around 36 kg CO₂e, according to Berners-Lee, making them a more sustainable choice if used to read over 36 e-books. Berners-Lee also notes that “reading itself is a low-carbon activity because it is hard to shop or drive while you read.”
However, the 1 kg CO₂e figure for a physical book is contested. A 2012 study, Carbon Footprint Assessment of a Paperback Book, estimated the carbon footprint at 2.71 kg CO₂e per book. Such discrepancies are common in carbon impact assessments, reflecting the difficulties in accurately accounting for the entire production cycle.
For print books, calculations might start from the energy used to cut trees and end with how the life cycle of a book ends, either in a landfill, recycled or carefully preserved in personal library collections or larger institutions. Similarly, the life cycle of an e-reader also differs. It might start with the drilling of petroleum (which has an entire cycle of its own) to produce plastic for the various components of the reader to the production of lithium batteries and end with shipping costs to local stores.
The production cycle of e-readers introduces complex ethical and environmental challenges, particularly concerning the sourcing of their components. Beyond the inherent environmental harm caused by plastic usage, the extraction and manufacturing of lithium—present in most e-reader batteries—poses significant risks. Lithium mining is highly destructive to local ecosystems, often depleting water resources and degrading habitats.
Additionally, as reported by Inside Climate News, these operations frequently exploit Indigenous communities, disrupting their livelihoods and violating their rights. Such social and environmental externalities are rarely factored into carbon footprint calculations, further complicating the narrative of e-readers as a sustainable alternative.
The publishing industry is adopting different strategies to reduce emissions, lower production costs, and enhance sustainability. One notable effort involves producing lighter, smaller books by slightly reducing paper thickness. While these changes are subtle enough to be almost unnoticeable, they significantly impact sustainability on a large scale. Thinner paper reduces the weight of books, lowering transport costs and enabling more efficient shipping. Although this results in less durable paper, proper care and preservation can extend the books' lifespan, making this trade-off a necessary step toward sustainability.
Publishers are also optimising ink and space usage by adopting eco-friendly fonts and adjusting layouts to fit more words per page. This reduces the total number of pages in a book without compromising readability. For instance, HarperCollins reportedly reduced 200 million pages across its titles by implementing these strategies, as highlighted by NPR.
Further, books made of recycled paper are arguably, by far, the most sustainable form of new physical books as they prevent felling more trees. The question remains: how many publishers actually make an effort to use recycled paper, even if only partially? Unfortunately, the answer is unclear.
There is limited information available on the proportion of books made entirely from recycled paper versus those using virgin paper. Many books, including those in my own collection, are labelled “FSC Mix,” indicating they are made from a blend of materials sourced from FSC-certified forests, recycled content, and/or FSC-controlled wood.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting responsible forest management, explains that mixing materials is often the most practical way to enable more companies to produce certified products and participate in the FSC system.
Products are generally more sustainable if they are used extensively enough, eliminating the need for new products which would necessitate more energy and resources to manufacture. Books are such products. Buying used books, and borrowing from friends or the library, are some of the least carbon-intensive ways of consuming books.
For college students like me, it is also one of the most affordable ways to buy print books and for many, it is the most accessible and economic choice. It can make the difference between being able to buy three new titles or four to five used ones typically.
However, I find it uncomfortable to consume art without compensating its rightful creators, as is the case with purchasing pre-loved books. In such transactions, the authors and publishers receive no payment, even though their work is being consumed and recognised beyond the terms originally consented to by the first buyer.
Creating a book involves immense effort, from ideation, writing, and refining to cover design, marketing, and printing—all of which remain unrewarded in this practice. This raises ethical concerns about the fair acknowledgment and support of the individuals and teams behind the art we value.
It is additionally important to note that book sales statistics are regarded critically by the traditional publishing industry. Publishers often consider these figures to be reflective of the market potential of a book. This also explains why authors are seen to be increasingly promoting their books and especially new releases, urging viewers or readers to pre-order books—to signal to publishers that the book will be successful, can be printed in larger quantities in anticipation of sales and should be promoted further.
Book sales data, however, does not include the sales of used books. This means readers play a large role in determining the commercial success of books and consequently that of the authors’. The success of movies at the box office is much the same, determined by the money it brings its makers—and significant—even if it enjoys hype and anticipation that does not translate to ticket sales.
The issue of accessibility still stands though. So what can we as readers do to support authors we like while still being able to enjoy books as we’d like to? Buy books first hand whenever possible, especially if it’s from a debut or budding author and whenever that isn’t possible, purchase them second hand or borrow and spread the word to help increase sales elsewhere!
That the publishers rely on book sales data to decide which books to push further leads to lesser experimentation and publication of similar books, leaving little room for exploring newer genres, authors and stories. It accounts for yet another reason publishing houses need to rethink their approach and readers need to support wider literature and writers as much as possible.
An opportunity to adopt more ethical and sustainable book consumption practices lies in purchasing from local bookstores over e-commerce giants like Amazon. This choice reduces carbon emissions associated with shipping and excessive packaging. Importantly, supporting local bookstores helps sustain their businesses, fostering community engagement and diversity in the book market while countering the trend toward oligopolisation in the industry.
It is also important to note that sustainable business models such as print-on-demand need to be adopted on a larger scale. Print-on-demand, as the name suggests, is a model in which publishers do not print books until orders for them are placed, thereby drastically eliminating the possibility of vast amounts of books going to landfills if unsold. It prevents overproduction, saving costs and resources. Where demand warrants larger orders, mass production can be considered for efficient inventory management.
Moreover, while efforts by publishers to publish more sustainably are strides in the right direction, there are rightful misgivings. To make a significant impact, there’s a lot the industry can still do: use more recycled paper, transition to print-on-demand and employ local printers to minimise shipping or transport.
Importantly, the increasing use of AI, and generative AI in particular, in big publishing houses from Hachette, and HarperCollins to Penguin Random House remains a massive concern owing to the damaging environmental and ethical implications of AI. For one, as became mildly popular, ChatGPT consumes about half a litre of water for about 20-50 prompt responses, reflecting the environmental impact of AI.
According to a report commissioned by media conglomerate Bertelsmann (which owns Penguin Random House), the publishing industry has thus far been using generative AI primarily for marketing and personalised recommendations.
Further, the use of AI-generated content likely trained and modelled on human-made art and literature remains unethical and necessitates the protection of human writers’ and artists’ IP and copyright.
Having explored many—though not all—ethical and environmental implications of book consumption, I pause to reflect on the title of this piece and ask: how much of this burden is ours to bear? As end consumers, is it truly our responsibility? Shouldn’t the producers shoulder the weight and take accountability?
Ideally, yes. However, capitalism has shifted the onus onto consumers, compelling us to take action, demand better practices, and hold producers accountable. By withdrawing support from unethical and unsustainable systems, we challenge their power, forcing change. While the responsibility should not rest solely on consumers, our collective actions can drive meaningful reform.
Edited by the Curated Editorial Team
Thenthamizh (she/her) is the Co-founder and Managing Editor at Political Pandora. She is a student of Economics and Data Analytics.
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Keywords:
Sustainable Books, Carbon Footprint Books, E-Readers Vs Books, Pre-Loved Books Benefits, Recycled Paper Books, Ethical Book Consumption, Kindle Sustainability, Print-On-Demand Publishing, FSC-Certified Paper, Second-Hand Books, Supporting Local Bookstores, HarperCollins Environmental Efforts, Penguin Random House, Climate-Conscious Reading, Generative AI In Publishing.
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